The Fleetwood Mac Collection
What's included
- All tab
- Chords
- Chart
- Guitar pro files
$28.87
Full Lifetime Access to this package
Fleetwood Mac has been one of the greatest bands of the last half-century. This package features songs from each of their iconic incarnations–ranging from the Peter Green beginnings, through the Bob Welch years, and continuing with the Stevie Nicks/Lindsay Buckingham era.
This is every Fleetwood Mac song we have lessons on here at TotallyGuitars — and what makes it really interesting is that it spans at least three or four completely different eras of the band.
We start with the Peter Green era — Oh Well Parts 1 and 2, and Albatross. Now, Albatross is in one of the most unusual altered tunings I've ever used. I guarantee it's one you've never tried unless you've played my arrangement.
Then we move into the Bob Welch era — Sentimental Lady is in there, a beautiful piece from that period that doesn't get nearly enough attention.
And finally we get into the classic era. Lindsey Buckingham had some of the most interesting guitar parts in popular music — Never Going Back Again, Big Love, Go Your Own Way. Flashy, technically demanding, and really satisfying once you get them under your fingers.
I'll throw Landslide in the easier category — although that lesson includes the kind of solo work Lindsey would do when he and Stevie performed it just as a duo. Really beautiful stuff.
Some of these songs are quite challenging. I want to be upfront about that. But some are pretty approachable. And honestly — this set of Fleetwood Mac tunes could keep you busy for years.
Everything comes with tab, lyrics, and chord charts. Check it out.
Lessons
Lesson 1: Rhiannon
In 1975 Fleetwood Mac revamped their line up with the addition of guitarist Lindsay Buckingham and vocalist Stevie Nicks.
Rhiannon became one of their biggest hits with a great guitar riff backing Stevie’s haunting vocals. This lesson goes over the fingerstyle riff with a steady bass line and the chords to the chorus, as well as tab to Neil’s chord solo arrangement as heard in the Play Through segment.
After a couple requests for a video on the way I played Rhiannon in the first segment, I figured it was easy enough to get to it. Part 11 walks through the tab to the Play Through pointing out some of the things to pay attention to, like open bass notes just before chord changes, the percussive strums, and the slides and hammer-ons in the closing fill.Lesson 2: Oh Well Part Two
Oh Well Part Two is the second half of an interesting medley by Peter Green and Fleetwod Mac, and is from the 1970 album Then Play On. Oh Well Part One has been a part of the Target Program since the early days. Part Two is a completely different song, more of a classical guitar piece. It really needs to include an element of improvisation and the lesson goes over some ideas along those lines, as well as specifically what Peter played in the only known recorded version.Lesson 3: Albatross
Albatross is an instrumental written by Peter Green and released as a single by Fleetwood Mac in 1968. It later appeared on various compilation albums. The original had multiple guitar parts over Mick Fleetwood and John McVie's rhythm backing, which brought up hints of sounds of the sea and surroundings.
The lesson keeps McVie's steady bass part rolling while adding the guitar parts over it. The first section uses a couple chords in the key of E with some spacious melodies. This part was part of the inspiration for John Lennon's Sun King. The second section was another spacious melody played by two guitars in mostly parallel thirds. The last section was played with a bottleneck in the highest reaches of the guitar. This is done with artificial harmonics in this solo acoustic arrangement.
Lesson 4: Sentimental Lady
In 1971 Fleetwood Mac went through quite a few personnel changes, one of which completely changed their sound from Peter Green's blues vision to a smoother rock sound with the addition of Bob Welch on guitar. Bob and Danny Kirwin directed the double guitar lineup, complimented with a much greater contribution from Christine McVie.
Sentimental Lady is a beautiful tune from Bob Welch that Neil has played instrumentally for years. Some recent requests got him interested in looking back at the original and doing a lesson on the way it appeared on Bare Trees in 1972, and a few years later on Welch's album French Kiss.
The song is in the key of E and uses all six primary chords. The lesson also looks at a couple different approaches to playing the intro. One is simply the way Bob played it live in 1981 but the other combines multiple guitar parts and tries to cover three independent lines.Lesson 5: Go Your Own Way
Fleetwood Mac has been bringing the world great rock tunes since the mid-1960s. Their 1977 release, Rumors included *Go You Own Way, *a simple but driving song by Lindsay Buckingham. This lesson looks at the electric guitar opening, played with a syncopated muting technique, the acoustic guitar accompaniment (played with a capo at the third fret), and even a bit of the first lead, played over the verse.Lesson 6: Oh Well Part One
Oh Well is from the early days when Fleetwood Mac was a British Blues Band led by guitarist Peter Green. Its distinctive opening riff, as well as the rest of what is called Oh Well Part One are covered in this lesson.Lesson 7: Never Going Back Again
This lesson was one of our Original 50 when we launched Totally Guitars in 2009. We have now added segments on how Lindsay Buckingham plays it in Dropped D, as well as one on a solo he added in live performances over the years.
The 2009 Intro
The follow up album by the same line up that did Rumours was 1977’s Fleetwood Mac. One of the songs featured on this was Lindsay Buckingham’s short guitar piece Never Going Back Again. It is a basic fingerpicking piece that Lindsay played in Dropped D Tuning but this lesson presents an arrangement in a C Tuning- CGDGBE. This has the 5th string lowered 1 step and the 6th string lowered 2 steps. It is also known as C Wahine in the world of Slack Key Guitar. Using a capo at the 6th fret allows you to play the exact same notes Lindsay played with a little less stretching required.
Lesson 8: Big Love
Big Love was first released on Fleetwood Mac's 1987 album Tango In The Night. Lindsey Buckingham had written it for a solo album he was planning before the band tried to reunite. Their version was a hit in the day but it has since become a staple in Lindsey's solo performances. This lesson is based on some of those versions. Lindsey plays it with a capo at the third, and sometimes fourth fret.
The song starts with a mono bass pattern, which continues throughout the main sections. It is quite fast and will be a challenge for almost all guitar students. The verse follows a basic chord progression in A Minor but then the chorus introduces a few more chords, changing twice as fast, and includes a very tricky syncopation in a couple measures.
Next up is a solo that starts with a basic blues lick while the chords change, followed by another different progression with syncopated melody notes, before settling into a rapid, and repetitive line of partial chords up and down the neck. The bass patterns here are more in the alternating style but not the normal two notes back and forth. The song ends with more fast moving chords strummed loudly and energetically.
All in all, this is a great piece for anyone looking to expand their fingerpicking skills well beyond generic Travis-type patterns and the best approach is to master everything very slowly before working on the speed.
Lesson 9: Landslide
This fingerpicking song by Stevie Nicks has been a favorite of Neil’s students since it was released in the 1970s. It uses a very regular Travis-style pattern and only open chords. In the Play Through segment Neil plays an instrumental version that incorporates the melody into the picking, a chord solo. Tab to this arrangement is included as well.Lesson 10: Gold Dust Woman
*Gold Dust Woman,*by Stevie Nicks and from Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album, is a song that can be played many ways. This lesson looks at fingerpicking it in Dropped D Tuning as well as a simplified way, strumming it in standard tuning. The fingerpicking version is mostly a basic pattern but includes a couple of more sophisticated techniques as well.Lesson 11: The Chain
This Fleetwood Mac song is ultra rhythmic and really fun to play. It is in Drop D tuning and utilizing a few arpeggio patterns. This tune goes from single note playing to chord strumming and back. This lesson will not only having you strumming along in no time, but it will also break down the harmony and chords so you know more detail about the notes your playing…a must learn tune for any Fleetwood Mac fan!