New Song: Don’t Dream It’s Over

Let’s learn this beautiful and memorable tune! Though it was written in the 80s, you’ll notice it has a timeless quality, with a perfectly-written melody and chord progression that somehow feels distinctive and unique yet familiar and natural. One musical idea to look out for is the octave between the notes for “don’t” and “dream” in the chorus. This is a great way to memorize the sound of an octave – notice it in a memorable song (like this, or the start of “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”), and you’ll be able to recall it when needed and recognize it by ear in other songs.

“Don’t Dream It’s Over”, made famous by Crowded House, is now available in Yousician for Guitar, Piano, Bass, and Singing.

Don’t Dream It’s Over for Guitar
by: James Neilson, Music Education Designer for Guitar

In the cowboy chords exercise (level 5) you’ll play the main chords of the song, using C, Am, E, F, and G. Pay attention to the syncopated strumming pattern, and start slow if needed to get the groove. You’ll notice it stops at the solo which introduces some more difficult chords, but with this exercise, you’ll still be able to play the main verse and chorus sections – it’s handy to have in your repertoire for jams and sing-alongs!

In the melody exercise (level 7) you’ll play the main vocal and instrumental melodies throughout the song. The most difficult part is the guitar solo, which features lots of double-stops. Make sure you start slow to get it under your fingers, otherwise it will be too quick to sight-read.

In the barre chords exercise (level 8) you’ll play the full rhythm guitar part, using lots of barre chord shapes. In addition to the standard major and minor shapes, this song features a sus2 chord. This is a beautiful and versatile sound, and definitely worth adding to your chord vocabulary.

Don’t Dream It’s Over for Piano
by: Arttu Juntunen, Music Education Designer for Singing

Melody exercise (level 4)This song has a really nice vocal melody to play with a piano! You also start by playing the solo part of the song, as it has a really beautiful organ melody. You need to use many hand positions in this one, so pay extra attention to fingerings.

Accompaniment exercise (level 5)This is a basic version of the piano accompaniment, where there are only two notes played simultaneously with the right hand. Once you get the feel of the song, you can also try the level 6 accompaniment!

Accompaniment exercise (level 6)I recommend you first open this song at practice mode and just go through all the chords with your right hand. There are only 4 chords in each part, so I’m sure you’ll learn them fast! After that, try playing the song with both hands in a slow tempo.

Solo Piano exercise (level 6)The left hand of this arrangement is really simple, so I recommend you start by learning the melody. You can try singing it first, this way the rhythms will be a lot easier to play! You can start by learning the chorus, or the beautiful organ melody in the solo part.

Don’t Dream It’s Over for Bass
by: James Neilson, Music Education Designer for Guitar

In the basic bassline exercise (level 2) you’ll follow the main chords of the song, playing the ‘root note’ (lowest note) of each chord. Watch out for the string skips from the A-string to the G-string – string skips can be tricky!

The main bassline exercise (level 4) contains all the fundamental parts of the original bassline. Almost the whole song is played in the first position, which can be a stretch for your fingers – remember to warm up first. There are also a couple of quick string skips from the E-string to the G-string, so watch out for those.

The full bassline exercise (level 7) includes the recorded bassline. The song itself is fairly straightforward, but there are lots of little details in the bassline so practice those slower at first if needed. The hardest parts are the fills at the start and end of the song. This song is in the key of Eb, and all strings are tuned down a half step to Eb tuning.