The Chain by Fleetwood Mac | acoustic
An acoustic guitar lesson on how to play "The Chain" by Fleetwood Mac. The song was first released on the 1977 album "Rumours". It got new life with the live "The Dance" version released in 1997.
This lesson is a hybrid of the acoustic guitar part from the "Rumours" version and the live "The Dance" version. I combined several of the licks from both of those versions. I always enjoy working on Lindsey Buckingham's acoustic guitar parts. He's a really unique and great guitar player and I always learn a lot from studying his playing. The basic nature of this tune, like a lot of his stuff is the travis picking. This one alternates mostly between the E string and the D string with the thumb although it goes to the A string at certain times. The song on the album is in double drop D with the capo on the second fret, putting the song in Em. I don't know for sure, but it looks like the live version is just drop D and there's no capo. My version is using the original tuning. It seems so basic, but having your thumb play four beats on alternating strings while your fingers are doing something different is nowhere as easy as it looks! It's a lot like patting your head with one hand while rubbing your stomach with the other. At first you have to really think about what you're doing and concentrate hard, but once you "get it" and just go with it, concentrating will actually screw you up! You need to get it to the point where you're not thinking about the travis pick at all and that'll only come with many hours of practice. Once you get it, it's amazing how much sound can be generated with a single guitar! It's awesome. Anyways, I hope you enjoy my version of the tune and I hope my lesson helps you to understand the song a little better. Cheers Andy. |
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