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Hanging By A Moment - Lifehouse

Written by Danny Poole | 03 May 2009

This is a well constructed song using some old and new techniques. One old trick it's using as well as dropping the thick E string down to a D note, is dropping the entire tuning of the guitar down a semitone. That means that the strings are now Eb (1st-thin), Bb (2nd), Gb (3rd), Db (4th), Ab (5th), Eb (6th-thick), the guitar is still tuned normally but has the sound of being 1 fret lower. Bands do this for a couple of reasons, the first and main reason is for the vocalist. If every song is a semitone lower there will be less strain on his voice through out the night. This technique it mainly used by cover bands because the vocalist usually has to copy about 50-60 different singers styles in a night. Some bands do it just because they like the lower tones the guitar produces.

When you try to play along with the CD you will be out of tune with it because they're tuned a semitone lower, all midi examples on this page are in normal tuning.

Intro Riff

The intro riff is easy enough to play, all I could say for this is watch out for your picking direction. Nine out of ten times your picking direction is governed by what string you're playing next. For example the first note you're picking here is 6th string open, the next note is 5th string open, it is only common sense to pick downwards when playing the 6th string because the next string you're playing is the 5th (picking towards your next string). And naturally if you're playing a note on the 4th string open and the next note is 5th string open, then pick up on the 4th string. If your picking the same string a few times over just use normal alternate (down, up) picking.

Q: Why use alternate picking for songs that are slow enough for me to pick all in one direction.

A: Even though you can pick some slower riffs all one direction you should try to use alternate picking as much as possible. Remember, every time you learn a new song you make the next one easier in some way. If you employ the correct methods on simpler songs then you don't have to worry about them as much when you attempt more difficult pieces of music. Then you can focus more on the difficult parts of that song.

Intro Chorus

This part doesn't sound like much when played by itself, so listen to the Lifehouse version on the CD to see where it comes in. Try and let the notes ring out as much as possible, this riff has a chord sound to it.

Play the 1st note (3rd string, 7th fret) with your 3rd finger and 2nd note (2nd string, 5th fret) with your 1st finger. When you play the 3rd note (2nd string, 7th fret) use your 4th finger, the only fingers you'll have to move will be your 4th finger then.

Use these fingers for the 8-7-5-7 at the end of the 2nd bar below.

2nd string 8th fret (4th finger)
2nd string 7th fret (3rd finger)
2nd string 5th fret (1st finger)
3rd string 7th fret (3rd finger)

Pre Verse

You can play this part when the drums come in, it is a simple (D DU UDU) rhythm pattern over a D chord.

Chorus

The chorus is using a distorted effect on the guitar playing only 5th chords, at the end of the second bar there is a small riff to lead you back into the repeat. Listen to the CD to get the correct amount of times to play through the repeat.

Play this next part just before you go onto the variation.

Variation

Control the string with this part of the song, don't let strings ring out over the top of others. The D note on the 4th string 0 fret (open) will keep on sounding when you go back to play the 4th hammered on to 5th on the lower two strings. Stop the D note from sounding by laying your fingers a little flatter across the strings when playing the 4th to 5th hammer on.

Use your 1st and 2nd fingers for the 4th to 5th hammer on.