Chords for Lodi - Creedence Clearwater Revival Free Guitar Lesson

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ [A] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _
_ _ _ _ [Am] _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ [E] _ Hey, I want to talk about a really [N] fun sing-along song, part of the Campfire versions that we have here.
I'm not going to talk too much about that little riff because we're talking Campfire versions, but John Fogerty has some great sing-along tunes.
Today I want to take a really short look at Lodi
because it's just a very simple strumming song in the key of G and it has one or two nice little things that can
dress it up with a little bit.
And at the end, if I have time, I might talk a little bit about that intro
because it's really a second guitar part.
So we've got to have two guitar players to do that.
Notice the part I was playing, I didn't always have enough rhythm going on while I was playing the lead.
_ So for Lodi, all you got to do, it's in the key of G now, he actually does it higher than this.
This is kind of cool because his is, I believe, in B-flat, which would be the equivalent [G] of having this capo to the third fret.
But by bringing it down to open,
it might put it in a reasonable key for mere mortals to sing it.
_ _ _ Just about a year ago
_ [C] I set out on the [G] road
_ So [F] real simple [G] strumming pattern.
Hit a bass note on the first beat, down up on the second beat,
very soft bass note on the third beat, and then up down up.
Bass, down, up, softer bass, up, down, up.
_ Changes [C] to C. _
_ [G] C.
_ _ Now a nice little descending bass part.
_ _ [Em] _ _ _ _
[G] So for that line, you definitely, you hit the G in the bass, down, up, then add F sharp in [F#] the bass by moving your
second finger to the second fret of the sixth string.
[G] _
That's the second half of that [Em] measure.
_ _ [C] C. _
_ [G] Back to G.
Does the same descending bass thing again.
_ _ [Em] _ _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ [G] _ _ Oh,
[F] by the way, there was a D in there that I just missed.
That's okay.
I just want to talk about that little section anyhow.
So, then we have the [G] last line.
Oh Lord, D,
[D] Suckin' low [C] di again.
_ [G] Now this is a one section [F]
song.
There's really only this one 16 measure section.
You can see right there on the page.
Hopefully you have it there in [E] front of you.
So we've [G] got G,
_ number two measure, it's a C.
[C] _ _ _ _ [G] Our descending bass part.
_ _ [Em] _ _ _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ Same descending bass part.
[G] _ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ _ [C] _
_ And [G] then kind of the punch [N] line.
So what really amounts to being a chorus in this song is just that he sings that line,
Oh Lord, Suckin' low di again.
So that's the fourth line of every verse.
Not really enough to call it a chorus, but it's what really ties the song [G] all together.
Oh Lord, [D] Suckin' low di [C] again.
_ _ [E] Now with really simple songs like this, a [N] really, a very common thing to do in a recording to make a little bit more
interesting, some songs that do this are The Gambler, John Lennon's Woman,
_ _ _ _ Oh, why are no more coming to my mind right now?
Doesn't matter.
But, oh, Morning is Broken, which works in a completely different way.
So I may elaborate on those some other time.
_ _ _ The thing that happens here is John now wants to modulate and have the whole thing move into the key
a whole step higher.
So instead of using G's, C's, D's, and E minors, four chords in the key of G, one, four, five, and six,
he now wants to run through the [A] last verse
in [D] the key of A.
It kind of beefs the whole thing up, adds a lot more intensity to [A] it.
If I only had a [G#] dollar.
So now it's going to be A's, D's, E's, and
you got it?
A sharp minor, right?
[A] _ [D] But totally unnecessary for the campfire version.
But the cool thing that happens in here is there's a quick little modulation.
He just runs through a couple of [G] chords.
He finishes the last verse [D] on G. _
_ _ _ _ [D] _ _ [C] _ _
_ [G] He goes to a D chord.
Now we're trying to get to the [F] key of A,
but the D chord here ends up being what we call a [D] pivot chord.
So he hits D
to [A] A,
and that A sounds a little weird now because it's not in the key, but [E] then he hits another chord in the key of A,
E,
[A] and then A.
So that modulation, the way it changes keys from the key of G [Em] to the key of A,
is it [D] hits a D chord, which is common to both [G] keys, [A] comes to the A chord, our new
tonic [E] chord, hits an E [A] chord, and then the A again.
_ By the time you're in the second measure of A, it's just cooking [N] along and you don't even know anything's different. So,
_ anyway, so Lodi is a really cool tune.
Very simple, easy to play, and you don't have to do the modulation at the end,
but if you want to_
Oh, does he do this in Looking Out My Back Door?
No, it doesn't.
Sorry.
But it happens in a few other Creedence tunes. _ _
[G] Anyway, that's it for
[N] today's campfire look at Lodi.
You got the words, you got the chords, you got the guitar, you got the pipes, get some friends,
_ and sing the tune. _