The Rain Song Guitar Lesson – Led Zeppelin
In this The Rain song guitar lesson, I will show you in-depth how to play this classic track by Led Zeppelin.
In my opinion, this is one of Jimmy Page's finest moments as a songwriter. The guitar lines he created for "The Rain Song" are simply so unique and gorgeous it is hard to put it into words.
In this The Rain Song guitar lesson, I will show you how to play all of those guitar chords and licks in the order they appear in this now classic song.
As you probably know already, the tuning for this track is quite unique, you will need to tune your guitar starting from the 6th string to (D G C G C D).
There is also a couple of guitar tracks going on at the same time, one electric and one acoustic. What I have done in this lesson is show you the most prominent guitar part at all times. 90% of the time both guitar parts are playing pretty much the same thing. However, there are some chords that are being strummed on the acoustic guitar while they are being arpeggio picked on the electric guitar. For those pars of the song I will show you the various ways you can pick it and also show you any of the licks that are played on the electric guitar.
For the most part, you can play these electric guitar licks while still performing the acoustic guitar parts. It sounds great when you put them together and have a cohesive piece that can be played on just one guitar.
Also, even though I am using an acoustic guitar for the entire lesson, it can also be played just as effectively on the electric guitar as long as it is in the right tuning.
I think I would rate "The Rain Song" as my all-time favorite Led Zeppelin song. The mood it creates and the great detail that went into creating the guitar parts are simply second to none. I think after learning this great song you will come to that very same conclusion. Have fun!
Carl...
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The Rain Song Guitar Lesson - Led Zeppelin
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Oh my goodness I can’t believe what I am seeing and hearing! One of the most beautiful pieces ever. I can’t wait to dig into this song. Also one of my all time favorites. At least I got the open tuning right years ago now with your help I can play all the notes proper. Merry Christmas Carl
nicely done, glad I joined
I would like to post a request and I hope this is the correct way. Your lessons are succinct and accurate, you make the hard to play possible for me at least and I thank you for that. To my requests, maybe Little Martha by the Allman Brothers Band, Embroynic Journey by Hot Tuna ad Black Mountain side by Led Zeppelin. Keep the lessons coming as they are a great resource.
Hey Carl! Thanks for teaching me basically everything I know about the guitar. Is there anyway you could do some Coheed and Cambria lessons? Thanks!
Howdy Carl.
The Rain Song Guitar Lesson – Led Zeppelin is missing.
Can you advise?
Thank you.
It is something between the song’s publisher and YouTube. It is out of my control unfortunately. Hopefully it will be back soon.
Hi Carl,
I just read your intro narrative to your Rain Song lesson…just a quick note to share with you that I agree that this tune is for me almost in a beautiful category all its own among all Page originals…and how original..! If our old friend Plato could have heard this tune, no doubt he would have said “Truth = Beauty, and so does listening to the Rain Song”…
Thank you for the lesson…
Rick
I’m really sick of youtube they keep muting and deleting some amazingly helpful lessons could you maybe have a downloadable video on your website? that would be great.
I am gonna try to remove the performance at the beginning of the video and re-upload. I have to wait until the video editor gets back in town though. Hopefully I will find a way around this.
Thank you for your time, Keep up the good work!
great lesson one of my favorite Song By Zeppelin !!!
Carl, what brand/model acoustic guitar do you use? I can’t make out the name on the headstock. It sounds fantastic. Thanks
Hey Rich, this guitar was by a company called Great Divide. I am not sure if they are still in business.
But, I have been using Faith acoustic guitars now for about the past 3 years or so. 🙂
Carl, I’ve been trying to figure out the live version of The Song Remains the Same. It’s a tough one since it’s so different from the studio. If you could do a lesson on this one sometime I would be ecstatic! Thank you and have a great Christmas. I love this membership!
Btw I bought a 6 and 12 string Faith guitar since my last question. Awesome guitars.
Amazing job! This was the first song lesson I found from you and, since then, you have been my go-to source for new material.
Thank you for taking the time to do these… wishing you much success for the future!
Cheers!
According to Rock and Roll lore, The Rain Song was written by JP in response to a comment George Harrison made to John Bonham that Led Zeppelin never wrote any ballads. In response to that, JP put together this luscious piece. As you strum the first 3 or 4 chords of The Rain Song, try singing the words to “Something”. There’s some genius going on here. A+ lesson, Carl. (I’ve been working on this song for 50 years now!)