Honestly, if you’ve ever sat down with an acoustic guitar and tried to tackle "Never Going Back Again," you know the specific kind of frustration I’m talking about. Your fingers tangle. Your thumb refuses to stay in its own lane. It’s a mess. Most people think they can just strum along to a Greatest Hits record and call it a day, but to truly play the best of Fleetwood Mac, you have to realize you’re dealing with three or four completely different musical philosophies happening at the same time.
You’ve got Lindsey Buckingham’s manic, finger-killing folk-rock hybrid. You’ve got Christine McVie’s steady, soulful blues-pop piano. Then there's the rhythm section—Mick Fleetwood and John McVie—who basically invented the "California Sound" by playing slightly behind the beat. It’s a lot.
The Lindsey Buckingham Finger-Picking Nightmare
If you want to play the guitar parts, put your pick away. Throw it in the trash. Lindsey hasn’t used one in decades. He famously switched to a custom Rick Turner Model 1 guitar because it gave him a "fatter" sound that responded better to his percussive fingerstyle than a Stratocaster ever could.
The biggest mistake beginners make? Trying to play "Landslide" with a plectrum. It sounds thin and lacks that "rolling" texture. You need to master Travis Picking. This is where your thumb is doing the heavy lifting, bouncing between the low E, D, and A strings in a steady eighth-note pattern while your index and middle fingers pluck the melody.
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"Never Going Back Again" is the final boss of this technique. It’s in Drop D tuning, capoed way up on the 4th or 6th fret depending on the live version you're watching. Your brain has to separate into two halves: one for the steady bass line and one for the syncopated triplets on top. It’s hard. Like, "cramping your hand after three minutes" hard.
Mastering Christine McVie’s Piano Foundation
While Lindsey is busy being a guitar virtuoso, Christine McVie was the band’s secret weapon. Her style is deceptively simple. If you’re looking to play the best of Fleetwood Mac on a keyboard, you’re looking at songs like "Songbird" or "Don’t Stop."
Christine wasn't a "shredder" on the keys. Her approach was rooted in British Blues. For "Songbird," the trick is in the F major and D minor transitions. It’s a very "open" sounding arrangement. You aren't playing huge, dense chords; you're playing broken triads that let the vocals breathe.
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Pro Tip for "Everywhere":
That shimmering intro isn't just one keyboard. It’s a layered mess of 80s synth glory. If you’re playing it live in 2026, most players are using something like a Nord Electro 7 to get that specific crystalline bell sound mixed with a warm pad. Don't play it too heavy. It needs to feel like it’s floating.
The Rhythm Section: The "Chain" that Holds it Together
You can’t talk about playing this music without mentioning the bass. John McVie is a master of the "less is more" philosophy. Take "The Chain." Everyone knows that iconic bass solo at the end. It’s not complex—it’s just a driving, growling E-minor riff—but it works because of the tone.
To get that 1977 Rumours sound:
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- Use a P-Bass or a Jazz Bass.
- Roll off the tone knob to get rid of the high-end "click."
- Play with your fingers, not a pick, and stay slightly behind the kick drum.
Mick Fleetwood’s drumming is equally eccentric. He doesn’t play like a metronome; he plays like a heartbeat. On "Dreams," he’s barely doing anything, but his snare hits are perfectly placed to give Stevie Nicks’ vocals space to haunt the track.
Why the "Rumours" Tone is So Hard to Mimic
If you're trying to record covers or play live, you've probably noticed that getting the guitar tone for "Dreams" is weirdly difficult. It’s clean, but it’s not clean. It’s got this slight "hair" on it. Lindsey often used a Boss OD-1 or an Alembic Blaster to boost his signal just enough to make it pop.
In 2026, most digital modelers like the Boss GX series have presets for "Go Your Own Way," but they usually have too much gain. Turn the distortion down. Turn the volume up. Let the dynamics of your fingers provide the "crunch." When Lindsey hits the strings harder during a solo, the guitar barks. When he plays softly, it purrs. That’s the secret.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Practice Session
- Tune to Open D: If you want to play "Over My Head" or "The Chain" accurately, stop trying to do it in Standard E tuning. The open strings are what give the songs that massive, resonant drone.
- Slow Down the BPM: Take "Big Love" (the acoustic version) and set your metronome to 60 BPM. If you can't play the thumb pattern perfectly at that speed, you'll never hit the 120+ BPM Lindsey does on stage.
- Layer Your Vocals: This band was all about the three-part harmony. If you’re a solo performer, invest in a vocal harmonizer pedal. You need that blend of Stevie, Lindsey, and Christine to make the choruses feel "Mac-like."
- Use a Capo: Many of their best tracks use capos to change the voicing of the chords. "Rhiannon" is often played with a capo on the 1st or 2nd fret in live settings to accommodate vocal shifts over the years.
Don't just learn the chords. Learn the feel. Fleetwood Mac wasn't a band that played on the grid; they played with emotion, tension, and a healthy dose of 1970s drama. If your version of "Gold Dust Woman" feels too polished, you're doing it wrong. Let it be a little gritty. Let the strings buzz. That’s where the magic is.