A Comprehensive Guide on How to Learn Landslide on Guitar

A Comprehensive Guide on How to Learn Landslide on Guitar

We’re going to start by actually working on the finger-picking part, and I’m going to show you exactly which fingers on your picking hand you’re going to be using. From there, we’ll get into the chords, and from there, we’ll get into verse and chorus and whats not.

The right hand, this is your thumb obviously It’s named P in classical guitar speak, this is I and this is M for index and middle. These are the three fingers that you’re going to be using Just take your thumb on your picking hand, just put it on the strings, closest to the ceiling, the A string, and just pluck that string. Now, we’re going to add a note, you’re going to pluck the G string with your index finger.

The next pattern in this series is the thumb is going to play the D string. The next pattern and the next finger to use in this pattern is the middle finger on the B string, which I kind of jumped the gun here, don’t forget that you need a capo on fret 3. If you don’t already own a capo, I would highly recommend the G7 capo, they’re incredible I just absolutely love those capos so much, and even capo 3. Back to our finger-picking, it’s got thumb, index, thumb, middle, A string, G string, D string and B string.

Then, we’re going to repeat almost all of that. We’ve got thumb, index, thumb, middle, thumb, index, thumb, and stop there It’s a 7-note repeating pattern. This pattern gets repeated throughout the entire song. The thumb is going to change strings during the chorus part of the song, but for right now, just keep it on these same strings, the 4 strings in the middle.

So, thumb, index, thumb, middle, thumb, index and thumb. If you can get the picking pattern into a bit of a loop without any chords, that’s a great place to start. Let’s approach the chords. For the first chord, you’re going to do a C which if you’re about 20 or 25 songs, and I’m assuming that you know what a C chord is, lift up your ring finger, take your middle finger up one string, and take your pinkie or your ring finger, I prefer my pinkie, on the third fret of the B string, and keep your first finger down. It’s going to help, I promise, but this is a G over B.

Next chord is, you lift up your pinkie, take your middle finger down, and just play this, which is an A minor 7. Then, we’re going to go back to the one with the pinkie, which again is a G over B, and then it’s a C. Okay so, once again, this is one of those times where it’s just going to loop endlessly. You got C, G over B, A minor, G over B, C, four chords, C, G over B, A minor 7, G over B Repeat.

That’s 85% of this song, literally Now, if you have the picking part together and you have the chords together, it’s time to sync those up. Do this slowly at first, okay? If this is you first finger-picking song, chances are you’re going to hear some muted notes, and that’s actually a really good thing because finger-picking really tightens up your left-hand fingering It forces you to be really super on your fingertips, and it forces you to be right where they need to be, positioning-wise on the frets. Anyways, if you can get this into a loop at any speed, that’s perfect, that’s everything that you need right now.

So far, so good Now, this is the verse part of the song. Like I said, it’s about 85% of the song. The next part is the chorus part.

The chorus part is a bit of a loop, it’s not as much of a loop as the verse part, but I’m going to set it up for you so that it starts and ends on C. I’m just going to play the chords to the chorus. It’s C, G over B, A minor, D7 over F#, G, D7 over F#, E minor, A minor, and then C. Once again, and this is a loop once again. You want to keep on looping this one.

Here is how to play the chords. Of course, the chorus is going to start off in the same exact way as a verse would, on a C chord. It’s going to go to G over B, but instead of an A minor 7, the chorus is going to go to an A minor chord. Now, in my mind, I think of this chord as a pivot chord. You’re going to use this chord to pivot to the next part which is actually really surprising, A minor chord, you’re going to take your middle finger, put it on the string closest to the ceiling on the second fret.

This is a D7 over F#, lift up everything but your middle finger, slide that up one fret to the third fret, and this is basically a G chord If you do the right muting and everything, then you hit the right strings that’s G chord, you’re going to go back to a D7 over F#, which is middle finger string, string closest to the ceiling on the second fret, ring finger, second fret string, third closest to the floor, first finger, first fret string and second closest to the floor. Then, an E minor for two measures Once again, C, G over B, A minor, D7 over F#, G, D7 over F#, E minor, and then C. Then, you’re going to start adding the plucking part to it.

This is where things will get a little bit crazy because your thumb is going to be moving to different strings I’ll show you. For the C chord,it’s going to be business as usual, strings 5, 4, 3, and 2. For the G over B, business as usual, 5, 4, 3, and 2. Then A minor, same exact thing. Now, this is where it’s changing, we’re going to a D7 over F#. You’re thumb is going to start on the low E string. That’s going to skip over the A string.

Same thing for a G chord, it’s going to skip over the A string. Same thing with the D7 over F#. The same exact thing with the E minor. Once again, C, G over B, A minor, D7 over F#, G, D7 over F#, E minor and E minor. In all instances of this song, the chorus is repeated twice.

Now, that’s basically it If you can get that part into a loop, you’re in great shape Just take it slow. It’ll challenge you if this is your very first finger-picking song, and that’s okay. Next things next, I wouldn’t actually recommend that you start playing along with the song, or trying to play along with the song yet.

If you’re like most people, chances are you’re probably just playing this rather slowly, and just keep in mind that as you’re playing it slowly, you’re playing this song at your tempo, the tempo that works for you. There’s nothing wrong with taking this at a slower tempo, and even slower tempo in practicing at a slower tempo. Just keep that in mind. If you can get the verse up to speed with the song, if you’re playing along with the song, and you’re like, dude, I’m killing it, I totally play it along with the verse, right? Then, you’re going to have a little bit of trouble trying to figure out when the chorus is coming in. Again, I have to come back to something here that I mentioned earlier and it’s just that if you’re very familiar with this song, you’re going to know when the chorus is coming in. Personally, I listen to this song and I think, okay, I’m going to listen for her going. Then, I’m in the chorus, there it is, right? Then, I listen for the guitar solo and then I wait for that to go through four times.

I’m like, okay, right back into the chorus. That’s basically the way that I think about it or whatever, but again, it’s just something that if you’re really super familiar with it, you’re going to be just fine. Once again, just listen to it, memorize the lyrics, understand it, hear it, get it in your heart, that’s really what’s going to help you get through it and to be able to play the parts along with the record. Now, overall, finger-picking, if this is your first song and everything, then finger-picking is probably a bit of a challenge for you, and that’s okay. One big thing that I’m going to recommend for you is to take this slower, and slower, and slower.

You can get finger-picking patterns inside of you really quickly if you take them slower and just focus on the mechanics. The speed always comes later It always comes second, honestly. When I’m learning something new, I always take it slower, and slower, and slower, and slower until I can just barely not stand it, and then, I take it up really, really fast from there I’ve got a troubleshooting section on my blog for this song and everything.

There’s a bunch of ways that you can do that, and I’ve kind of pointed the way there. If you’re interested check out that blog, it’s got a full troubleshooting section. I’m trying to think what else here. Yes, one more thing, if you have taken this slow, and you can take this a lot faster, and you’re working it faster, and this is your first finger-picking song, at some point, these fingers, they need to start working like the gears of a clock. They just got to work really super well together, and it’s got to be a well-oiled machine.

It’s got to be a system that doesn’t break down in the middle of it, that means that you can’t focus on just your thumb, or just your index finger, or just your middle finger, and just plucking them one at a time, they have to work together, all together. This will be working one at a time. It’s obviously really slow, but to speed it up, they’ll have to work really well, and in tandem with each other.