Clear As the Driven Snow-Doobie Brothers/Patrick Simmons

If you know of a song that you think would make a good lesson, here is the place to bring it up. As of May, 2015 we have over 800 song lessons but are always on the lookout for more. Be sure to point out what about the song makes it a good candidate, unique or unusual, a particular part that interests you, or just that you think a bunch of members would enjoy it. An embedded video would be helpful as well.
lonely
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Thu Jul 24, 2025 12:21 pm

A song that has really gotten into my head lately is "Clear As the Driven Snow" from the Doobie Brothers great album "The Captain and Me". This song features some great playing by Patrick Simmons. The early Doobie albums always seem to include a great finger picking song or two by Patrick and this one doesn't disappoint. From what I gather this is in an open C5 tuning (CGCGCC) which has a beautiful droning open chord sound (I'm not sure if the C5 tuning is correct or not, as It could be also a double drop D tuning?). I've been starting to discover some new open tunings and the sounds that you get from some of these tunings are incredible! There is a lot going on in this song with the alternate bass notes on the 6th and 4th string, use of harmonics and it's all over the fingerboard (in a wonderful way)! I would love to see a lesson on this song, if possible. I'm a big Doobie fan and I know that you are as well so I wonder if it would be possible to add an acoustic version of this song to your already terrific of cannon Doobie Brother songs.



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TGNeil
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Thu Jul 24, 2025 11:19 pm

Hey there,

Thanks for the suggestion and I will keep this on the list of potentials. Sounds like Open D to me at first hearing, but the live version is tuned down.

A sideline you may not know is that Patrick and I were taking lessons at the same time from Alan Beilharz in Los Gatos in the late 1960s. He was about 7-8 years older but I do recall sitting in with a couple of Alan's older students when I was 11 or so working on some things together. In any case, we learned the same techniques from a great teacher.

Neil


lonely
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Fri Jul 25, 2025 11:29 am

Hi Neil,

Yes, I was aware that you were taking lessons from Alan Beilharz at the same time as Patrick. I learned that from your fantastic "Ivory Salamander" lesson (which I'm still trying to master!). That is so cool and it is why I think that you are one of best and most informed when it comes to the music of Patrick and the Doobie Brothers in general. You sort of have first hand knowledge! And you are so good at teaching which I appreciate. I've always loved the Doobie Brothers and I appreciate them even more now after all of these years. There are some musical acts that I appreciate less as I age and there are some like the Doobie Brothers that I appreciate more as I age. They still sound as fresh as ever and I am continuing to learn from them. Thanks for considering this song and I will keep an eye out to see if this song eventually makes the cut.

Thanks & Cheers
Gary


lonely
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Fri Jul 25, 2025 11:31 am

P.S. and thanks for including the videos of this song in your reply!


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