Have You Ever Seen the Rain
by Creedence Clearwater Revival • Lesson #269 • Dec 6, 2019
Video lesson
Print-Friendly Song Sheet 1 page
Follow along with my print-friendly guide for this song! It’s available for purchase at Musicnotes.com, the web’s leading provider of licensed sheet music.
On the fence? Here's a guide I made showing the purchase & print process, including answers to common questions about my song sheets.
Buy at Musicnotes.comEditor’s notes
Hello my friends! In this lesson I’ll be showing you how to play “Have You Ever Seen the Rain” by Creedence Clearwater Revival. This is one of the first songs I played at open mic nights back when I was getting confidence with my guitar skills - and it’s been a blast to pick it back up again. I’ll teach you the basics, as well as plenty of intermediate and advanced stuff (double strumming, percussive strum pattern, chorus walkdown, etc). As always, I sincerely hope you find this helpful in learning this fun tune.
Here’s my timestamps for this lesson:
- 0:00 Lesson overview
- 1:12 Chords needed
- 2:18 Strumming (simple)
- 3:00 Chord progressions
- 4:55 Chorus walk-down chords
- 8:07 Strumming (intermediate & advanced)
- 12:53 Double-strumming in the intro
- 14:49 Farewell
I hope you enjoy! If you’re hungry for more CCR, I also have lessons for this song:
Play-along cover (#270)
Here’s a video of me playing the the entire song, with chords and lyrics shown for context.
Techniques I reference in this lesson
Percussive “slap” strumming:
Playing the F chord with a wrapped thumb:
The official CCR version
If you want to listen to the CCR album version, here you go:
Of the countless covers of this song, the most recent one I heard that caught my ear was from Callista Clark, who combines an absolutely killer voice with a very authentic (and literal) front porch vibe.
Lyrics w/ chords
Intro
| Am . . . | F . . . | C . . . | G . . . |
| C . . . | G . . . |
Verse
C
Someone told me long ago... there’s a calm before the storm
G C
I know... and its been coming for some time
C
...When its over so they say... it’ll rain a sunny day
G C C7
I know... shining down like water
Chorus
F G C C/B Am C/G
...I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain
F G C C/B Am C/G
...I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain
F G C
...Coming down a sunny day
C
...Yesterday and days before... sun is cold and rain is hot
G C
I know... been that way for all my time
C
‘Till forever on it goes... through the circle fast and slow
G C
I know... and I can’t stop, I wonder
F G C C/B Am C/G
...I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain
F G C C/B Am C/G
...I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain
F G C C7
...Coming down a sunny day... ahhhh!
F G C C/B Am C/G
...I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain
F G C C/B Am C/G
...I wanna know, have you ever seen the rain
F G C (end on C)
...Coming down a sunny day
Enjoy my lessons? Buy me a beer!
If this and my other lessons have proven helpful to you, please consider making a one-time donation to my tip jar. Contributions of any amount help make this project possible (including the many, many hours I put into it).
Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made
Subscribe to my YouTube channel
Be sure to never miss a lesson by subscribing on YouTube. I put out 2-3 new videos every week. These include full song lessons, as well as covers, practice tips, behind-the-scenes updates. Thanks!
Recent Lessons
-
April 18, 2024
"Moonshadow" by Cat Stevens
-
April 9, 2024
Chords & Music Theory... 9 New Lessons!
-
March 30, 2024
Gordon Lightfoot's "Carefree Highway"
-
March 22, 2024
Lead Guitar & the F1 Theme Song
-
March 15, 2023
Pink Floyd's "Breathe" - with Simpler Chords Included
-
March 6, 2024
Q&A: 8 Tips to Avoid Muting Strings
-
March 1, 2024
Blues Shuffle Riffs - Using Just 2 Strings!
-
February 16, 2024
Soulful Lead Guitar with "America the Beautiful"
-
February 8, 2024
Country Honk by The Rolling Stones
-
January 31, 2024
Beginner Blues - New Course Sneak Peek!