Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon - Guitar Lesson

Fleetwood Mac

1975 4:13

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About Rhiannon

Few songs in Classic Rock have a guitar part as deceptively simple yet immediately recognizable as "Rhiannon." The whole track is built on a lean, hypnotic Am-based groove, and keeping that groove locked in at 138 BPM without letting it drag or rush is the real challenge. Lindsey Buckingham's rhythm work here is a study in restraint: the strumming pattern has a behind-the-beat quality that pushes the song's moody feel, so use the Practice Toolbar to loop the verse figure slowed down until your right hand internalizes the pulse rather than fights it. The song stays in A minor throughout, which makes the chord shapes accessible, but the feel demands that you sit inside each chord rather than just change through them. Fleetwood Mac recorded this with a clean, mid-forward electric tone, so a bright single-coil sound will get you closest. D Standard tuning drops everything down a step, giving the chords a slightly fuller, darker resonance than standard pitch.

• The song is played in D Standard tuning, which lowers each string by a full step and adds a darker quality to the open Am-based chord voicings.
• The rhythm guitar part relies on a repetitive, hypnotic strumming pattern in A minor, where consistent right-hand feel matters far more than technical complexity.
• Looping the verse groove slowed down with the Practice Toolbar is the most effective way to internalize the behind-the-beat pocket that defines the track's tone.