Scroll down for full video lesson (with tab) of Rhiannon by Fleetwood Mac
Rhiannon was written by Stevie Nicks from the globally successful band 'Fleetwood Mac' in 1975. The song appears on their self-titled album 'Fleetwood Mac' and was released as a single in '76. It went on to reach number 11 in the U.S.A and has become one of the band's best known songs.
Rhiannon is no. 37 on my Top 60 Fingerpicking Songs of ALL TIME list. If you've not seen the list be sure to check it out and sign up to my weekly email lesson. That way you won't miss learning any of these great fingerstyle songs.
The main riff to Rhiannon is a real classic among guitarists, it is great fun to play and sounds so good. However, having said that I see so many people (90%+) play it wrong.
If you listen carefully to the riff you'll hear that the bass notes aren't just playing on each beat. They're actually quite syncopated, and this is what many people get wrong. All will be taught in the video lesson.
The song is made up of just three very simple chords - Am, C and F. Like Street Spirit (Fade Out) that we looked at in the last lesson, Rhiannon is another 3 chord pop masterpiece.
You can of course just strum the chords if you're going to be singing the song, but in this lesson we're mainly focusing on a fingerstyle arrangement of Rhiannon. By far the most important thing to achieve when playing any arrangement is that you are 100% true to the melody line of the song. As you learn Rhiannon, really focus on getting that just right.
Rhiannon Song Details:
- Key - A minor
- Tempo - 129 bpm
- Tuning - standard
- Difficulty - intermediate - advanced
The Lesson
Riff:
This is the part that most people seem to get slightly wrong. If you do find the syncopated bass line really difficult, then just play the bass on each beat. Later on, come back and try and get that awkward bass line correct.
Want to really take your fingerpicking to the next level?
Verse:
Chorus:
Bridge:
Want to really take your fingerpicking to the next level?
If you want to make sure that you're really on the right track with fingerpicking, then try one of my fingerstyle guitar courses - find out more here.
If you have any questions or want to share anything at all, then please leave a comment below.
I hope you've found this lesson useful and thank you for reading.
Amazing course, really helpfull
Thank you, glad you found it helpful.
Excellent course where have you been all these years?
Glad you like it George!
Do you have a complete tab in a printable format?
I’m afraid not, due to copyright laws.
Awesome lesson, it has been helpful!
Looking at your 2nd and 4th course C chord sections, I can’t seem to match the Tab up to your video. Could there be a mistake?
Thanks Sam, as I teach the lessons I follow the tabs, so they should match up.
Great lessons but I don’t think they match up either. You bass notes in the tab for the chorus are not all quarter notes but in the video they are all quarter notes.
Hi Zach, it’s been a long time since I made this lesson but I can tell you that it will work either way – quarter notes or quavers. Play it whichever way sounds best to you.
In the “verse” section you said its trimmed back. What is different between the tab above and what is played in the song?
In the actual song it won’t be played like this at all as this is an arrangement. In the song it’s likely just the chords being strummed underneath the vocal.