The Ultimate Landslide Guitar Lesson

Want to learn fingerpicking guitar?

Well, here’s a great song that is perfect for beginner and intermediate students wanting to get into fingerpicking.

One of the best ways to get started playing fingerstyle guitar. Is to learn a few simple fingerpicking patterns. 

Learning a few patterns like what I am going to share in this lesson below can give your playing a whole new sound.

You can use these patterns to make any chord progression sound new and interesting.

It also helps develop your fine motor skills and jumpstarts your fingerpicking hand

So grab your guitar, tune-up, and let’s dive into this Landslide guitar lesson.

Who wrote Landslide?

"Landslide" is a hauntingly beautiful song written by Stevie Nicks. It first appeared on Fleetwood Mac's self-titled 1975 album, recorded at Wally Heider Studios in Los Angeles. 

Despite not being released as a single initially, "Landslide" resonated deeply with listeners and has become a fan favorite.

Some of its credits include

• Reaching No. 61 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1998.
• Ranking No. 89 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.
• Being covered by numerous artists, including Smashing Pumpkins, Cyndi Lauper, and the Dixie Chicks.

Landslide Guitar Lesson Chords

To play the guitar part and chords for “Landslide” we’ll use a capo on the 3rd fret. I will be saying the capo chords below. If you do not have a capo. You can still play the part. It’s just going to sound slightly lower in pitch. So you won’t be able to play along with the original recording. But you can still play the patterns and chords. (More on that below.)

Lindsey Buckingham’s fingerpicking style in this song draws inspiration from “Travis” picking, and banjo/folk style. 

But Buckingham puts his own spin on these classic styles.

The main guitar part for the verse only uses 3 chords C, G/B, and Am7.

I play all these chords in a standard open position folk style.

For C, I play from the 5th string down like this:

For G/B, I play this one on just the middle strings. 

The final chord is Am7. For this one, I’ll play from the 5th string down like this:

These 3 chords make up the bulk of the song.

Once these shapes feel comfortable on their own. Next, try putting them into the verse progression.

Start by strumming once on each chord. Practicing changing smoothly between them.

The progression for the verse spends 2 beats on each chord like this:

C, G/B (1 bar)

Am7, G/B (1 bar)

Now, I would like to point out that the song is in the key of G major. But it starts on C. It is starting on the C (the IV chord).

Notice the bass motion. It walks down the G major scale from C to B, to A. 

Then it walks back up from A to B, to C

It just goes in a circle over and over for the verse.

Those 3 chords cover the verse progression.

Then there are 3 more chords you’ll need for the chorus section. These 3 chords are G, D7/F#, and Em.

For G, I use a folk-style G chord with my ring finger of the fretting hand on the 6th string (root note) like this:

Then D7/F# I play like this:

And finally, Em is played using all 6 strings like this:

The chorus chord progression follows the same walk-down pattern as the verse progression.

It begins with 2 beats of G and 2 beats of D7/F#.

G, D7/F# (1 bar)

Then we play 4 beats of Em.

Em (1 bar)

Notice again the bass motion. Here the bass notes are walking down the G major scale from G to F#, and then E

Then you play the verse chord progression in the chorus. But you change the last chord to D7/F# like this:

C, G/B (1 bar)

Am7, D7/F# (1 bar)

Then the whole chorus repeats again but you change the last progression to

C, G/B (1 bar)

Am7, G/B (1 bar)

This transitions you right back into the verse for the guitar solo.

Landslide Fingerpicking Pattern

The fingerpicking pattern Buckingham uses is loosely based on a “Travis” picking style. He puts his own spin on it though. The entire fingerpicking pattern is just 2 beats long.

Let’s start by learning it on the C chord.  

The pattern begins by hitting the strings 5, 3, 4, 2.

The fingerpicking hand goes thumb, index, thumb, middle.

Again you want to hold down that C chord and let all the notes ring over. This creates that arpeggiated fingerpicking sound.

Rhythmically, we’ll be playing sixteenth notes. Sixteenth notes can be counted like this:

1 e + a 2 e + a 

Etc…

Each pluck should be played evenly. Start slow. Don't try to rush into playing them super fast. Practice counting and playing them at a comfortable pace before increasing the speed.

That is the first beat of the pattern. Then beat 2 does the exact same thing except for this time we’ll leave off the final note. 

The strings being plucked are going to be 5, 3, 4,

This will be played (in the fingerpicking hand) as thumb, index, thumb

Altogether the fingerpicking pattern goes like this:

So the final note in the pattern is played as an eighth note. While all the other notes are played as sixteenth notes.

If I counted this out and bolded the when you play it would look like this 

1 e + a 2 e + a

So the final “a” you do not play on. You just let the note right before ring over. 

Landslide Fleetwood Mac Guitar Lesson No Capo

One of the questions students ask all the time is, “Jon what if I don’t have a capo?”.

Well, the answer is just to play the song without one until you get one.

As you can see from the lesson above. Playing simple chords and using fingerpicking patterns can get you a beautiful sound.  

But sometimes in a band or when working with a singer. We have to play in keys that fit the singer or the sound we are looking for. 

And this song is in the key of Bb concert. So if we were to play the chord progression in (non-capo chords) the main chord progression would go Eb, Bb/D, and Cm7.   

These are going to be all bar chords and a nightmare to bar and play smoothly even if you are a pro. No matter how good you get at barring. It still won’t sound like those easy open chords. 

Using the capo enables you to play all those bar chords as simple open position chords. That’s why the capo is used. It’s just a tool. 

Conclusion: 

From the melancholic lyrics to Lindsey Buckingham's beautiful fingerpicking, "Landslide" has moved audiences all over the world. 

And whether you're a seasoned player or just starting your fingerpicking adventure, "Landslide" offers a rewarding challenge and a gateway to a whole new way to play.
Keep working on your fingerpicking patterns. And for more great fingerstyle lessons check out this Fast Car guitar lesson or Can’t Find My Way Home guitar lesson next.