Gordon Lightfoot Pack

Lessons

• Lesson 1: Carefree Highway

  Carefree Highway is one of dozens (maybe even hundreds!) of great songs by Gordon Lightfoot. This Campfire Lesson goes through the chords in the key of E, which include a few from the barre families, and some thoughts on strumming patterns.

• Lesson 2: Early Morning Rain

  *Early Morning Rain*was written by Gordon Lightfoot and recorded by Peter, Paul & Mary, effectively bringing Gordon up the ladder into public view. His first record for United Artists, Lightfoot, presented his versions of many of his early tunes. This song is really more of a Campfire song, using a basic strumming pattern and a simple set of three chords in the key of D. It is done in Dropped D Tuning.

• Lesson 3: Sundown

  Gordon Lightfoot's Sundown was one of his biggest hits, as well as one of his easiest songs to play. It was released in 1974 and got him back on the musical map as it had been a few years since his last hit, If You Could Read My Mind. It uses just a few open chords and is done with a simple rock strum.

• Lesson 4: If You Could Read My Mind

  Gordon Lightfoot was a well-known songwriter in the mid 1960s but in 1970 he became a household name with the release of *If You Could Read My Mind*. It features a gentle, rolling arpeggio fingerpicking pattern, and a relatively easy set of chords backing a beautiful melody. This guitar lesson looks at Gordon’s repetitive pattern as well as how to expand and improvise a bit around it. There is also a short interlude that incorporates the melody into the accompaniment. The song is fingered in the key of G but with a capo at the second fret, putting it in the key of A. The lesson is done without the capo.

• Lesson 5: Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald

  The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald was a big hit for Gordon Lightfoot, from his 1976 album Summertime Dream. The song is a recount of the sinking of the freighter on Lake Superior in 1975. The lesson is mostly strumming open chords but we take a look at the opening lead fill as well.

• Lesson 6: Beautiful - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

  In the early 1970s Gordon Lightfoot was churning out hit song after hit song in a series of great albums. His 1972 entry, Don Quixote included Beautiful, one of a handful of songs he still plays at every concert. There is elegant simplicity in the unusual, but short chord progression, and as well as melodic phrasing that seems to complicate the song.
  
  The accompaniment features a common picking pattern that is not your normal, Travis style alternating bass but a rolling pattern using three bass note in each measure. Overall this is a very accessible lesson to all students but I encourage everyone to experiment and embellish the right hand patterns.

• Lesson 7: Affair On 8th Avenue - Acoustic Guitar Lesson

  From Gordon Lightfoot’s 1968 album Back Here On Earth, Affair On 8th Avenue is a great example of what you can do with a simple arpeggio accompaniment over some very basic chords, especially when you throw in a haunting melody and compelling lyrics.
  
  The progression is pretty straightforward, with really just one section, a verse, but the intro really sets the stage for this song. It was originally done with two guitars but this lesson looks at a couple ways of playing a solo version of the intro.
  
  There are also quite a few varied arpeggio patterns that can be used and the student is encouraged to play it a little differently every time.