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About This Lesson
In today’s lesson I’ll teach you to play Free Fallin’ by Tom Petty, which I consider an all-timer as far as guitar songs go. On the surface, this song may seem simple: just three chords and a repeating two-measure chord progression that’s used the entire time. But make no mistake, there’s plenty of ways you can level things up. I’ll walk you through the colorful chord voicings Tom Petty uses (in the Key of D and Key of E), as well as several strumming & rhythm tricks to make sure the repeating progression never gets stale. Let’s jump on in… enjoy!
- 0:00 Lesson Overview
- 1:19 Campfire Version (no capo)
- 3:55 Fancy Chords: Capo 3
- 6:58 Fancy Chords: Capo 1
- 11:50 Strumming & Rhythm
- 15:34 Performance Tips
- 17:50 Playthrough
Quick Links
Practice Notes 3 pages
Lesson Discussion
Bonus Videos
Here’s a few extra videos, made in thanks to those supporting me with Premium membership here on my Song Notes website. To those showing your support, you have my true thanks and appreciation — and I hope you find these additional videos helpful!
Play-Along Cover
Here’s a video of me putting it all together, into a full song performance. Pay attention to the ways I approach the strumming: start simple, build it up, hit full intensity durin the chorus, and dial it back down again. I use all the strumming & rhtyhm tips taught in my main tutorial. Because this song uses a single chord progression, it’s incredibly important you bring a sense of dynamics and “swell” to your playing… otherwise things risk sounding repetitive.
Strumming & Rhythm Practice Track
Here’s a play-along jam track I made in GarageBand you can use when practicing strumming, chord changes, or anything else. This loops over the chord progression used throughout the entire song, with a two-measure count-in. You can play along using capo 3 (Key of D chords) or capo 1 (Key of E chords). The chord changes are shown on screen in real time, so you always know what’s coming up. You can hear this track in the beginning (and end) of my main tutorial. I
Vocal Range and Free Fallin’
I share a few times for finding the perfect capo position or chord family (key) to make this song fit your vocal range. I can’t sing quite as high as Tom Petty, so capo 3 (using Key of D chords) doesn’t work. Even when I lower things by playing with no capo, it’s still slightly too high. Are there other options? Yes! I demonstrate some other approaches, and explain the compromises inherent with each solution.
Related and Recommended
Here’s some lessons I’ve made tackling the techniques required to play this song. The pyramid strumming drill is one I’d absolutely recommend, especially if you want to make the most of the 16th note strumming pattern I demonstrate.
If you’re after more Tom Petty tutorials, here’s all the ones I’ve made!
Browse Related Lessons
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