the cinematic orchestra
Photo: Nathan Anderson | Unsplash

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Priscilla Mojica

Priscilla is a 23 year-old singer/songwriter from Palm Springs who is currently based in San Francisco. She got in touch with me about a possible collaboration a few months ago.

I checked out her YouTube channel and was blown away by her ethereal voice and overall allure. 

One of Priscilla’s suggestions was, To Build a Home, by The Cinematic Orchestra. That song was a perfect fit for my style — as I mostly do film score work, or pop music in the vein of Radiohead and Lana Del Rey. 

Please check Priscilla out her YouTube channel, and her Facebook page. She’s posted an alternate video where she’s featured more prominently. My pasty bald mug is only for guitar players to see what I’m doing. Most will want to see Priscilla more prominently.

Priscilla on Facebook

Priscilla on YouTube

Gear Used

For my guitar part, I used my Strat to get more of a Jeff Buckley vibe. My Fender Stratocaster is a modified Eric Clapton signature model. The original pickups have been replaced with Mojotone 58 Quiet Coil pickups. I’m running straight into a Vox AC 10 amplifier. You can find all of my gear here.

How to play ‘To Build a Home’ for guitar

To Build a Home is fairly easy to play. However, there’s one voicing of the E chord (about 5 seconds in) that is a bit of a stretch. If you’re a beginner guitar player, it’s ok to just play a regular E major chord there.

Throughout the verse, I’m using an arpeggiated fingerstyle technique that I picked up from playing Gustavo Santaolalla songs. I line up my thumb, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd fingers on each of the strings — then I peel them of like a can opener.

Within the chorus, I pluck the bottom note with my thumb then swipe the upper half of the chord with my second finger. You could easily use your 1st or 3rd finger too. Whatever works best for you.

To Build a Home is played in standard tuning. Enjoy, the guitar tab is available below:

*To Build a Home for guitar*

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