In this blog article you will learn Landslide by Fleetwood Mac (see the complete chord progression of the song at the end of this article). The song uses the travis picking technique throughout. In this technique, the thumb (named p) of the hand plucking the strings, plays eighth notes on the bass strings and the second (i), third (m) and fourth (a) fingers play the treble strings.
The Main Pattern
Shown below is the part played in the intro, mostly throughout verse 1, verse 2 and verse 5. To play along with original audio recording, you will need to place a capo on the third fret of your guitar. Practice it slowly using the given fingering until you can comfortably play it up to the tempo (speed) of the original recording.
End of Verse 1 and verse 3 bars
At the end of verse 1 and verse 3, there is a variation to the pattern above. Below are the last 2 bars of verse 1 and 3 showing you the variation on the second bar.
Instrumental Section (bars 3 and 4)
Below is an excerpt showing you bars 3 and 4 of the first instrumental section in the song (instrumental 1) which occurs after verse 2. Instrumental 2 (after verse 3) is similar to instrumental 1 with the exception that the first 2 bars (which consists of chords C, G/B, Am7 and G/B) repeat 3 times before proceeding to bars 3 and 4 shown below.
Verse 3 – Bars 1 and 2
The chord progression in verse 3 includes chord G and E minor as shown in the chord charts at the beginning of this article. Below are the first 2 bars of verse 3.
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)
capo fret 3
[Intro]
C G/B | Am7 G/B | (2 times)
[Verse 1]
C G/B | Am7 G/B | (3 times)
C G/B | Am7 G/B | (pattern variation)
[Verse 2]
C G/B | Am7 G/B | (4 times)
[Instrumental 1]
C G/B | Am7 G/B |
C G/B | Am7 D/F# |
[Verse 3]
G D/F# | Em |
C G/B | Am7 D/F# |
G D/F# | Em |
C G/B | Am7 G/B | (pattern variation)
[Instrumental 2]
C G/B | Am7 G/B | (3 times)
C G/B | Am7 D/F# |
[Verse 4]
G D/F# | Em | C G/B | Am7 D/F# |
G D/F# | Em | C G/B | Am7 G/B |
C G/B | Am7 G/B |
[Verse 5]
C G/B | Am7 G/B | (4 times)
C G/B | Am7 G/B | (pause on bottom note of G/B on the 5th string )
C G/B | Am7 G/B |
C G/B | Am7 || (pause on bottom note of Am7 on the 5th string)
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