BAD MOON RISING - CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL

Beginner’s Course Grade 1, Module 2

This is a simplified beginner’s version of Bad Moon Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival, and another song that can be easily expanded on as your skills increase.

This is a really good beginner’s song as it only has three chords, A and D and G, but if you do not know your G chord yet there is a second option that uses a capo at the fifth fret so you can play the song with just the A, D and E chord shapes. I’ve also added in some strumming options and a chord embellishment suggestion so that this song can grow with you as your guitar abilities increase.

Bad Moon Rising

Chords:

Strumming Pattern:

If you are a beginner who does not know the G chord yet then as an alternative you can place a capo at the fifth fret. The narrower frets do make it a little more challenging, but practicing higher up the fretboard definitely makes life a little easier when going back down to the lower frets.

If you take this approach play an A chord shape instead of the D chord, an E chord shape instead of the A, and a D chord shape instead of the G chord.

4/4 timing, 4 beats to the bar

Verse and intro simple beginner strumming pattern, all down strums:

Chorus beginner strumming pattern, which for a little added interest includes an up strum between the third and fourth beats:

Or add an up strum after the third and fourth beats, but having an upstrum after beat 4 does not allow much time for the chord change, so this is a little more advanced.

Lyrics and Chords:

Embellishments:

Experiment with adding additional chord changes such as introducing sus chords. For instance, adding a Dsus4 chord when before a D to A chord change can sound good.

This is the author’s own work and represents his interpretation of this song. It’s intended solely for private use and study only and is presented to aid in learning how to play the guitar.

I do not provide or distribute any printable chord charts and lyrics. All The chord charts that are presented do not represent how the original artist intended the song to be played and are here only to support online learning. If you need a more accurate version of the song then I highly recommend you purchase music from Hal Leonard or another reputable online sheet music store.