Never Going Back Again Guitar Lesson

If you’re looking to level up your fingerpicking game, 'Never Going Back Again' is an absolute gem. Written by Lindsey Buckingham and featured on Fleetwood Mac’s legendary Rumours album, this track is deceptively tricky - but super rewarding once it’s under your fingers.

It’s got that bright, bouncy acoustic tone and groove that just pulls you in. The real challenge (and charm) lies in the right-hand picking pattern and the quick chord changes. Buckingham’s playing style is fast, fluid, and a little unconventional. So, we’ll break it down into bite-sized chunks to make it manageable and fun.

If you've read any of our previous lesson write-ups, you'll know that there won't be any tabs available. The video below should be your main resource, as Thomas does a fantastic job of breaking down all the details into bite-sized chunks. The write-up is here to support all the points that Thomas makes to allow you to break it down even further at your own pace.

With that said, let's hop right into it - grab your guitar and let's get learning!

Essentials

There are a few important things we need to set-up before we get playing. The first is that we need to tune our guitar to drop-D. If this is a new concept, all we need to do is tune the low E-string (the thick one) down a whole-tone to D. The other strings stay in their normal tuning - giving us this for drop-D tuning: DADGBe.

The second important feature is that we need to place our capo on the 4th fret - and from here on out, any frets mentioned will be in relation to the capo placement.

And finally, before we start learning the chords and embellishments, let's take a look at the fingerpicking technique used throughout the track - Travis-picking.

Travis-picking makes use of the thumb alternating between the low strings (usually the E-, A- and D-strings) to pluck the bass notes. The fingers are in charge of plucking out the melody and harmony notes on the higher strings.

Most of the time, you'll just be using your first and second fingers to move across the higher strings. However, sometimes you'll also need to add your third finger to help pluck more notes needed within the harmony or melody. I've provided a handful of Travis-picking exercises below to help you get used to the technique before tackling the track:

Section A

With that all said and done, let's break down the two main sections that outline this terrific track. As there is a lot of information within each section, we're going to break it down one step further, and look at the four individual bars that create each section.

Bar 1

We're immediately greeted by the playful acoustic guitar when we first click 'play' - more specifically, by a bouncy Travis-picking pattern over a D major chord. This D major is not played in the open position, but instead in the C position. If talk of chords in different positions has you scratching your head, don't worry! Not only is there a chord chart below, but I've also provided links to our various courses that give you all the knowledge you need to master chord voicings!

As you've probably spotted in the chord chart, D major isn't the only chord shape we're playing - we're very briefly playing an A major. The reason that the A chord is written out as a barre chord, is to make the quick, hammer-on transition between the A and D chords seamless.

The third chord in the image above is the slight change we need to make in the second half. All we need to do is add our fourth finger to the 5th fret of the E-string. This is a bit of an awkward shape to catch, as quite a bit of strength is required in the fourth finger. So, if you're having difficulty with this one, try strumming four counts of the first D major shape, then four counts of the second shape, and repeat. This will act as a shortcut for your muscle-memory, and make the shape far more comfortable!

Thomas mentions that some of the chords need to be played staccato. Staccato is a musical instruction to make the note (chord is this case) short and detached, leaving a bit of space before the following note. The most efficient (and best sounding) way to create this effect is by using a muting technique called dampening.

Dampening is the technique where you release pressure from your fingers, so that you're still touching the strings, but you're no longer making contact with the fretboard. Not only does this mute the sound, but it allows you to stay in position and quickly catch the chord again.

Bar 2

The second bar is incredibly similar to the first, with just one added chord shape - an A7. The reason this A7 doesn't hold as much tension as a 'normal' dominant 7 chord is due to the fact that we're omitting the third degree. The harmonic interaction between the 3rd and b7 degree is what creates the signature tritone tension in a dominant 7th chord. So, this is a slightly less 'aggressive' way of creating the perfect cadence of the V7 chord to the I chord.

Bar 3

This next bar is all about a relatively tricky chord to catch - an A13(no3). What a horrible, complex looking name! We won't go into too much detail now, but this chord name is an instruction to play an A major without the 3rd degree (no3), and to add the b7th and 13th degree on top. Technically, if we were to be very literal, we'd need to add the 9th and 11th degrees as well, but as the guitar is limited to a maximum of six notes, (one per string), we have to pick the notes that are most important to the sound we're trying to create.

As we're just holding one chord for the duration of the bar, the Travis-picking is what's adding the character and musical interest. The pattern changes up a bit from the previous two bars, so please be sure to turn to the video for guidance!

Bar 4

This might just be the trickiest bar of the section, as we're not only adding yet another chord, but we're having to work in an intricate slide between to chord shapes.

Starting once again with D major, we want to move up to the A7 voicing, but we want to approach it with an awkward slide. The reason it's awkward is because we need to catch the 5th fret on the B-string, but keep the 4th fret on the D string down. Then, once you've plucked the D- and B-string together, slide up from the 4th fret to the 5th fret to create the A7 voicing. I've attached a diagram to try and make this a bit more visual!

Once we've successfully slid into the A7 position, we're going to move up two frets on both strings (to the 7th frets on the D- and B-strings) to play an F# minor. This particular shape/voicing is a minor sixth interval - which is an incredibly popular and effective voicing to create a more spacious, gentler sound. And if it helps to visualise it, a sixth interval is an inverted third.

We then finish the bar with the second D major voicing before moving on to the next section. All the chord transitions demand different Travis-picking pattern, so once again I ask you to learn from Thomas in the video!

Section B

Get ready, because we're about to jump all the way up the fretboard to catch some of the new chord shapes for this second section! We're once again going to break it into four separate bars, and I'll provide the needed chord charts as we progress. As always, I'll leave the picking patterns to Thomas in the video.

Bar 1

Let's get straight to the chord shapes, as this has a very similar vibe to the previous section.

The big challenge here is squeezing your fingers into the right position for the smaller fret. Other than that, this bar, and fortunately, the next 3 bars are all very similar. So, if it seems like we're not going into as much detail, it's purely because by this point in the lesson, you'll be well equipped with all the tools and techniques to breeze through the rest of it!

Bar 2

You have probably already guessed what I'm about to say (being predictable is a good trait, right?!) - bar 2 is very similar to bar 1, we're just including an extended voicing of A7 - A11. Nicely for us, we can pretty much stay in the same position for all of these chord shapes, making the tight squeeze a bit more manageable!

Bar 3

This is going to be the easiest section of a lesson I'll ever have to write - the third bar is exactly the same as the first bar! Who doesn't love a bit of repetition?!

Bar 4

To play the final bar, we need to slide back down the fretboard to catch a B minor chord, using a barre across the 2nd frets of the top 5 strings. After we've played the necessary picking pattern over the Bm, we transition to an F#m7 chord - see below for the chord shapes:

The F# minor 7 chord looks a bit strange, and probably quite different to any minor chord voicing you've seen before. This is because of the drop-D tuning - making the 4th fret an F#, rather than the 2nd fret for standard tuning.

The very final chord we need to look at is a B minor 7. This is a slight adjustment to the Bm shape - we need to bring our pinky across to the 5th fret on the high E-string. By doing so, we're playing A (the note) on both the G and E string, which adds the minor 7th degree to our minor triad.

From there, all we need to do to wrap up the section is to go back to the same hammer-on transition between A and D major. This takes us perfectly back into section A, and we simply repeat these two sections again in order!