Buddy Holly Pack

Lessons

• Lesson 1: That'll Be The Day - Guitar Lesson

  *That'll Be The Day by Buddy Holly* is a classic from the early days of Rock & Roll. This short Campfire Lesson goes over the chord progression, played using mostly power chords with a shuffle-type riff, and a quick look at the opening guitar lick.

• Lesson 2: Peggy Sue - Guitar Lesson

  Peggy Sue is one of Buddy Holly’s most popular songs and, typical of his style, it only uses a few chords. However, also typical of his style there are some unusual chord combinations. This lesson is done in our “Work It Out” style to improve ear training so I recommend only printing the lyrics before watching the videos. There is also a chart that includes the chords, as well as tab to the short solo.

• Lesson 3: Not Fade Away - Guitar Lesson

  Not Fade Away is one of Buddy Holly’s most recognized and covered tunes. It really just consists of a quick syncopated chord change that is played over E and A chords, then A and D. The Rolling Stones released their version as a single in 1964 and The Grateful Dead kept it in steady rotation throughout their career. The lesson teaches Buddy’s strumming pattern as well as the short solo.

• Lesson 4: Everyday - Guitar Lesson

  Everyday is one of Buddy Holly's earliest songs, recorded in 1957 and released as the B-side of the Peggy Sue single. The arrangement was a simple combination of Buddy’s acoustic guitar, stand up bass, hand slap percussion, and a celeste that sounded like a glockenspiel. This lesson unlocks common misconceptions about the chord progression and presents a solo much like the celeste played.

• Lesson 5: Words Of Love - Guitar Lesson

  Words Of Love is a Buddy Holly favorite, particularly of John Lennon’s, who had The Beatles cover it on Beatles For Sale. Their version pretty much copied Buddy’s note-for-note. It is a very basic 3-chord progression with a few simple runs played over the D and E chords. The lesson also covers the guitar solo, which is based on small voicings of the chords played in harmony on the first and second strings.

• Lesson 6: Well… All Right - Guitar Lesson

  Well… All Right is one of Buddy Holly’s most basic songs. Of course, this didn’t prevent it from being covered by Blind Faith (Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood), Santana, and a host of others over the years. It is a simple set of four chords revolving around D, although he does capo it to the fourth fret to put us in the key of F#. This lesson looks at the strumming pattern and the short bass runs into the D chord.

• Lesson 7: Crying, Waiting, Hoping

  Crying, Waiting, Hoping is a song written by Buddy Holly and originally recorded privately at home. 

  The song was released after his passing and there are a few different versions of it. It was covered by many artists including Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, Chris Isaak and even the Beatles. It was also included in the movie La Bamba, featuring Marshall Crenshaw. 

  This lesson breaks down the original version by Holly himself in particular, but also takes a look at a few other versions. 

  There are only three chords in the key of A, where the guitar is tuned down a half step down.  The challenges are the quick chord changes and the fast strumming. Other than that, it's a really fun song to play!