“Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” - Led Zeppelin

Over the years I’ve noticed that serious guitar players approach Led Zeppelin songs with a great deal of fidelity if not reverence. I was a little surprised that the TAB book deviated so much from the what is some of the most indelible fingerpicking ever recorded. For my version I chose to play the proper intro instead of the book’s simplified version. I also just had to include the more rawk strumming part & some of the other fun parts that come in at the tail end. The result is still an abridged version, but hopefully one that captures some of the dynamic qualities of the original.

I learned to play the intro riff years ago & guitar students often specifically ask me to go over it with them during lessons. It’s a twist on the classic Andalusian Cadence - which is a sort of bass line walk from A (La) down to E (Mi). The TAB from the book really helped me to add the vocal melody during the verse. Overall, I’d say this arrangement is a bit of a challenge. As you can see in the video, over-the-top thumb technique in the fretting hand is used very often in this one, & is essential to keep the bass moving while allowing longer melody notes to be held out on the higher strings.

ps : Sorry i wasn’t able to include some of that Spanish-style acoustic soloing that you hear on the original. I was tempted to try & add that as well. But then I remembered that I have 97 more songs to get to sooo…. hopefully this is enough to call this one done. I’ll be back tomorrow with another classic song!