Alright, so I wanted to learn “Fortunate Son” on guitar. You know, that classic Creedence Clearwater Revival tune? It’s got such a killer riff, I figured it was time I finally tackled it. I’m no guitar god, just a regular dude who likes to jam, so I needed some help.
First thing I did was fire up the internet and start searching for “fortunate son tabs”. I figured there’d be tons of options, and I was right. I found a bunch of different versions.
Digging Through the Tabs
- Some were way too complicated. Like, seriously, who can play that stuff? I’m talking crazy stretches and weird chords. Nope.
- Others were too simple. They just had the basic chords, and that’s not what I wanted. I wanted the riff, man! The intro, the whole shebang.
- Then, I finally found one that looked promising. It seemed to be a good balance of accuracy and playability.
Putting in the Practice
So, I printed out the tab and grabbed my guitar. I started slow, just getting the basic finger positions down. The main riff is pretty repetitive, which is good for learning. It’s basically just a few power chords and some sliding around on the E and A strings.
I spent a good hour just playing that main riff over and over. My fingers were starting to hurt, but I was getting it! It’s all about muscle memory, you know? Just gotta keep repeating it until it becomes automatic.
Jamming Along
Once I felt comfortable with the main riff, I started trying to play along with the actual song. That’s where things got a little tricky. Keeping up with the tempo was a challenge, especially during the faster parts.
I had to slow down the song a few times using a program. This is a neat trick i use all the time. That helped me get the timing right, and then I gradually increased the speed until I could play along at the normal pace.
I’m still not perfect, but I can play most of the song now. It’s so satisfying to finally be able to play a song I’ve loved for years. It just goes to show that even if you’re not a pro, you can still learn to play some cool stuff with a little bit of effort and some good tabs.
