Creedence Clearwater Revival Electric Pack

Lessons

• Lesson 1: Bad Moon Rising - Electric Guitar Lesson

  Bad Moon Rising is a popular song from Creedence Clearwater Revival's album "Green River" released in 1969. This one had a standard 60's style bouncy rhythm consisting of large major chords. It incorporates chord shifting all over the neck, so you'll need to be able to shift and change chords with all your fingers at once, as opposed to moving one at a time. It uses a common rhythmic motif through the song that carries throughout all parts of the song, even during the solo. Unlike many solos that are based around single string playing and sometimes double stops, this one is based around chords, making a solo that harmonizes with itself, which is pretty unique and fun to play.

• Lesson 2: Born On The Bayou - Electric Guitar Lesson

  Born On The Bayou is one of Creedence Clearwater Revival's more popular songs from their second album "Bayou Country" released in 1968. This song uses arpeggios in its rhythm parts, fingering a chord but instead of strumming the notes all at once, strumming them individually to create a phrase around that harmony. The solo is extremely simple and a really good example of using thoughtful phrasing with a simple idea or method. It bounces back and forth between two main notes, filling in the space with just a few other sparse related notes. There are also sliding double stops on the first two strings all over the neck that are really fun to play, so lets get started!

• Lesson 3: Fortunate Son - Electric Guitar Lesson

  Fortunate Son was another popular song by Creedence Clearwater Revival from their album "Willy And The Poor Boys" released in 1969. This song always reminds me of Forrest Gump where it's featured in the movie. It has a very iconic introduction that's very rhythmic oriented and has a great groove. The two notes it plays in the intro are very powerful and a really good example of how effective just a couple of notes can be if placed in the right spot. The rest of the song revolves around power chords. These build a solid groove that also leaves space for the singer or melody to take over.

• Lesson 4: Down On The Corner - Electric Guitar Lesson

  Down On The Corner is a fun song by Creedence Clearwater Revival off of their 1969 album "Willy And The Poor Boys". This song is partly based on a single string rhythmic pattern, where the main motif rings through the simple riff. This is accompanied by the rhythm guitar part holding it down with chords, filling in the space similarly to how an organ player would. There's a unique interlude that uses double stops that are usually played on upper strings, but in this case it's in the lower to mid-range strings, giving a similar effect but in the low register. This gives you an interesting build up of low frequency sections that open back up into the main riff, ultimately making this a really dynamic song that's interesting to play.

• Lesson 5: Up Around The Bend - Electric Guitar Lesson

  Up Around The Bend was a major hit by Creedence Clearwater Revival as the A-side to their 1970 release "Run Through The Jungle". I've always thought this was a really cool song because it has a lot of guitar tricks in it. The intro starts with a repetitive riff that shifts around into different shapes so you end up with a effect where you play the same riff in different keys so it outlines different chords, which has a very interesting and unique sound. You also have some double stop riffs throughout the song, along with open chords that help keep the groove of everything moving. You'll need to keep a really loose right hand and be able to strum effectively while keeping the tempo and rhythm solid. The solo incorporates the idea of simplicity, revolving around repeating a simple melodic idea or phrase with slight alterations. It's a very blues based solo that revolves around two or three strings and incorporates string bending and slurs which will be great practice for expressive playing.