John Mayer shows you how to play his most difficult song on guitar

John Mayer
(Image credit: Robert Knight Archive/Redferns)

John Mayer (opens in new tab) joined TikTok (opens in new tab)this week, but the real story is he's used it to give us insider tips on how to play his most difficult song – Neon. 

Anyone who's ever tried to grapple with this cut from his 2001 album Room For Squares will know the riff is a real finger twister. Even guitar YouTube king Paul Davids (opens in new tab) finds it hard. But Mayer's tip on approaching it should help players approach it in the right percussive way.

"It's one smooth roll," says John, illustrating his percussive right hand technique to use the thumb and index finger on what looks like his signature Martin OMJM acoustic guitar (opens in new tab)

@johnmayer (opens in new tab)

Guitar tip: Neon #guitar #guitarist #guitartok

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John Mayer

(Image credit: Paras Griffin / Getty)

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We hope this is going to be the first of many tips from Mayer, a star player who seems more in touch with paying it forwards to other players than most, as he proved on Instagram (opens in new tab) Live in the past. Maybe there will be more insanely catchy comedy songs (opens in new tab) too. 

He's even giving you the chance to trade licks with him and his PRS Silver Sky (in the new Lunar Ice (opens in new tab) finish) in the new clip below. 

@johnmayer (opens in new tab)

Get your guitar, let’s gooooo #guitar #guitartok #beats #music

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Rob Laing
Guitars Editor, MusicRadar

I'm the Guitars Editor for MusicRadar, handling news, reviews, features, tuition, advice for the strings side of the site and everything in between. Before MusicRadar I worked on guitar magazines for 15 years, including Editor of Total Guitar. I've currently set aside any pipe dreams of getting anywhere with my own songs and I am enjoying playing covers in function bands.