The Rise And Reign Of The Unsung Guitar Legend Lyndsey Buckingham

Figuring Out How To Play Like Lindsey Buckingham

Most people who try to play Buckingham's parts end up frustrated. The issue isn't that the songs are hard in a traditional sense. It's that his approach to the guitar doesn't follow standard rock patterns. He treats the instrument more like a percussion engine layered with melody. When I first sat down to learn Go Your Own Way, I spent three weeks trying to get the intro riff right using standard E major shapes. It was pointless. The track uses a modified open tuning that shifts the string relationships entirely. Once I figured out he's essentially playing in open D with a capo on the second fret, everything clicked into place within an afternoon. Buckingham's reputation as a guitarist exists in this strange gap where everyone acknowledges he's important but very few can actually explain what makes him different. He's not a shred player. He doesn't do sweeping arpeggios or 16th note runs. What he does is construct rhythmic beds that function as both harmony and percussion simultaneously. The famous opening to Don't Stop is a perfect example. Those four-chord phrases aren't just chord changes. Each strum pattern is deliberately leaving space that makes room for the vocal, and the slight accent on the upbeat of beat three creates a forward momentum that never quite resolves. I've seen countless guitar tutorials break down Buckingham's parts into static chord shapes. This misses the entire point. His playing is defined by motion. Even when he's holding a D major shape, his right hand is constantly modulating between alternating bass notes and mid-range strums. The left hand fingers roll across strings rather than pressing cleanly. This creates that characteristic shimmer where individual notes blur slightly into each other.

The Tuning Problem Nobody Talks About

Here's something most articles skip: Buckingham rarely plays in standard tuning. Not because he's showing off, but because his chord voicings are built around open string resonances that standard tuning simply can't produce. Songs like Tomorrow Never Knows from the Buckingham Nicks era use tunings like D A D FA D or variations that put the guitar in a drone-based framework. When I tried to reproduce the solo on The Chain, I kept coming up short. The studio version has layers of guitar that don't exist in any published tab I could find. What I eventually realized is that Buckingham often records two or three guitar parts that together create a harmonized texture no single guitar can replicate. My workaround was layering an open string D major with a higher voicing on the B and G strings, then panning them slightly. This gets you about 80 percent there. The remaining 20 percent is in the timing feel, which is impossible to capture through tabs alone. You also need to understand that his picking hand technique is non-standard. He uses a combination of flatpick articulation and finger attachment that creates a bell-like attack. If you're using a standard thumb-and-pick grip, you'll sound stiff. Buckingham often lets the pick ride through multiple strings in a single motion while simultaneously dampening with the palm edge. It's a coordination challenge that takes real time to develop.

What Actually Works When You're Learning This

Start with acoustic. Buckingham's electric tone comes from doubling acoustic tracks, so learning his parts on a hollow body or dreadnought will teach you the underlying structure. His rhythm work on Rumours album tracks is mostly acoustic guitar recorded with minimal processing. The electric guitar parts were often added as counter-melodies in post-production. Piece by Piece is a good starting point. It's one of his simpler compositions rhythmically, but it showcases his signature open-string drone technique. The main figure uses an A major shape with the high E string ringing open throughout, creating a suspended quality that never quite resolves. Try playing just the chord changes slowly without strumming. Listen to which strings ring freely and which need damping. That balance between resonance and control is his entire approach. For songs like Leather and Lace, the challenge is entirely in the fingerstyle arrangement. Buckingham plays a walking bass line with his thumb while the index and middle fingers handle harmony and melody simultaneously. This requires significant independence between hands. I recommend breaking it into two separate practice sessions. One session where you only play the bass notes slowly enough to hit every single one cleanly. Another where you isolate the upper voices. Combining them comes only after both are solid separately.

The Production Side Most Guitarists Ignore

Buckingham was as much a producer as a performer, and this matters because his guitar sounds are inseparable from his production choices. The thick rhythm tone on many Fleetwood Mac tracks comes from double-tracking with slight timing variations between takes. When you try to replicate this by playing fast, you lose the human feel that makes the parts work. The solution is to record two takes with intentional micro-variations in timing and dynamics rather than trying to play perfectly in time on a single pass. His solo work and collaborations reveal an even more experimental side. The album Law and Order features tunings and textures that go well beyond standard rock guitar. If you want to understand his full range, listening to this record alongside the Fleetwood Mac catalog gives you the complete picture. He wasn't a one-trick guitarist. The bottleneck for most players is that they encounter him through Fleetwood Mac only and assume his entire contribution was rhythm playing. The solo material shows a musician willing to deconstruct what a guitar can do entirely.

Where This Approach Falls Short

The honest assessment is that Buckingham's techniques don't transfer easily to modern playing contexts. His style is rooted in 1970s singer-songwriter and folk-rock traditions that rely heavily on open tunings and acoustic resonance. If you're playing in a high-gain modern band or doing metal-influenced work, most of what makes Buckingham special won't apply. The open tuning approach creates beautiful chords but can be limiting when you need to modulate quickly or play in keys that don't align with your capo positions. There's also the question of whether studying his approach too deeply can hinder your own voice. I've watched players spend years trying to exactly replicate his parts and end up unable to write anything that sounds like themselves. The useful takeaway is the philosophy behind his playing. Treat the guitar as a rhythmic and melodic tool simultaneously. Favor open strings over closed positions when possible. Let the arrangement breathe rather than filling every space. These principles apply everywhere. Copying his exact fingerings does not. If you want a more direct pathway into his sound without getting lost in tuning complications, focus on learning the vocal melodies alongside the guitar parts. Buckingham's guitar writing is fundamentally servent to the song's vocal line. Understanding that hierarchy changes how you approach every song you play, not just his.