Simon and Blue

Rob Simonsen’s music (aptly named) is perfect for this style of movie. With ‘Simon and Blue’ he seemingly uses every cliche chord progression, texture, and melody from the 80’s. I love every minute of it. This song is so expertly crafted — it’s obvious why Rob Simonsen is a sought after composer for indie-drama-comedy films.

I did a guitar cover of Simonsen’s music for the film, The Spectacular Now. It was was picked up for an iPhone commercial in The Netherlands. On a side note, you wouldn’t believe how lucrative these things are. It’s a popular commercial and KPN licenses the performance rights from me once per year. I’m so thankful the director stumbled upon my YouTube video.

How to play Simon and Blue | fingerstyle guitar

Save for the shape at 0:29 of the video, I would characterize Simon and Blue as easy to play. Sure the fingerstyle might me a bit complicated for beginners, but overall, the chord shapes are really easy. This song is perfect for intermediate guitar players.

The guitar tab for Simon and Blue is two pages long and beautifully written. My order of play, in accordance with the guitar tab, goes like this: Intro, Main Passage 2x, Interlude (follow arrow) Breakdown — Main Passage 2x, Interlude, End.

Enjoy, the guitar tab is available below:

Simon and Blue is played one 1/2 step down. You’ll tune your guitar like this, from low to high: Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb. Depending on your tuner, it might look like this: D# G# C# F# A# D#.

**Simon and Blue for classical guitar