John Sebastian – Goodnight Irene Guitar Lesson Info
Learn how to play John Sebastian – Goodnight Irene note-for-note on guitar with our John Sebastian – Goodnight Irene Guitar Lesson.
John Sebastian’s version of Leadbelly’s Goodnight Irene, from his early ’70s live album Cheapo Cheapo Productions…, is a wonderfully relaxed and intimate take on this timeless song. Stripped back to voice and guitar, it lets the fingerpicked accompaniment do exactly what it should — support the melody without ever getting in the way.In this lesson, you’ll learn Sebastian’s fingerpicked guitar part as played on the live recording. The picking pattern is gentle and very approachable, making this an easy and enjoyable piece to get under your fingers. There is one thumb-over F chord, which I explain clearly, and once that shape feels comfortable the rest of the song flows naturally.
You’ll receive:
-A clear, step-by-step video lesson
-A full performance play-through video
-Accurate tab, chords, and lyrics sheets
By the end, you’ll be able to play Goodnight Irene in the same warm, unhurried style that John Sebastian brings to his live performances — a simple, satisfying fingerpicked arrangement that honours the song’s roots while feeling completely natural on solo guitar.
- Difficulty level: Easy
- Barre chords: No
- Thumb over chords: Yes
- Playing Style: Fingerpicked
- Tuning: Standard
- Separate Solo: No
- Separate Bass Part: No
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John Sebastian – Goodnight Irene Download Details
The complete lesson contains a lesson video and a performance-standard play-thru video. It also contains the guitar tabs as PDF files and a songsheet with the chords and the lyrics of the lesson (if applicable), also as PDF files.
The videos are MP4 format and will play on PC’s, Macs and most mobile devices.
You’ll receive an email with a Zip file containing a total of 4 files as follows:
- Part 1: Guitar Video Lesson
- Part 2: Performance-standard Playthru Video
- Part 3: Songsheet with tabs & lyrics
- Part 4: Guitar Tab
Total Download size: 285.7 Mb
You’ll need to extract the MP4 and PDF files from the Zip file/s to be able to use them and you’ll need software to do so. If you don’t have a Zip program on your PC you’ll need to install one to open the file. I use Peazip which you can get free, here.
If you want to download to an iPad or iPhone you’ll need an app to do so, please read here to know more about it.
John Sebastian – Goodnight Irene Lesson Previews
Playthru & Intro
Tab Preview
Chords & Songsheet Preview
Return to Individual Songs page
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