Lindsey Buckingham - Big Love

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TGNeil
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Fri May 27, 2022 11:16 pm

Hey Folks,
Thanks to a request from a student I took a detour from my plan to put together a lesson on Lindsey Buckingham's flash fingerpicking tune 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.


PaulC
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Sat May 28, 2022 12:24 pm

He's in my top 10 all time best guitarists and this song...is insane. Going to buy this lesson and sure it will keep me busy for months. Neil, your playing and lessons are top notch, so glad I found this site. It's funny because I was reading about the new Martin SC13 E guitar and it would be perfect for this song.


clarksvok
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Sun May 29, 2022 5:52 am

I don’t understand the capo being on the third fret for Big Love. When I play along with the original live version, the capo is on the fourth fret. Please explain.


TGNesh
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Sun May 29, 2022 8:57 am

One of the great advantages when using a capo is you can place it anywhere you want, and still play the same chordshapes. Putting the capo up or down a half step or whatever is often done for vocal-reasons. On the 3rd fret it is obviously vocally a bit easier. The song has quite a few high notes to sing in there, at least for a male it would is. I'm pretty sure that would be the reason for him to sometimes take it down a half step. (especially when you perform/sing often)

Just my two cents.

Ness
clarksvok wrote:
Sun May 29, 2022 5:52 am
I don’t understand the capo being on the third fret for Big Love. When I play along with the original live version, the capo is on the fourth fret. Please explain.


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