“Rhiannon”
“Rhiannon” is Stevie Nicks’ 1975 breakthrough with Fleetwood Mac — a song about
a Welsh witch that became one of the band’s signature live moments. For a song
with this much atmosphere, the chord chart is remarkably straightforward: it’s built on
Am and F rocking back and forth, with C appearing only in the refrain.
That means three chords total, and two of them carry almost the whole song. The
work here isn’t in the changes. Rather, it’s in the steady, hypnotic pulse that makes
those two chords feel like they’re going somewhere. Let’s dive in!
The Chords You’ll Need
Chord Chart
Intro Am F x2 Verse 1 Am Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night, F and wouldn't you love to love her? Am Takes to the sky like a bird in flight, F and who will be her lover? Refrain 1 C F All your life you've never seen a woman; taken by the wind C Would you stay if she promised you heaven; F will you ever win? Verse 2 Am She is like a cat in the dark, F and then she is the darkness Am She rules her life like a fine skylark, F when the sky is starless Refrain 2 C F All your life you've never seen a woman; taken by the wind C Would you stay if she promised you heaven; F will you ever win? F Will you ever win? Chorus 1 F Am F Am F Am F Am Rhiannon, Rhiannon, Rhiannon, Rhiannon Verse 3 Am She rings like a bell through the night, F and wouldn't you love to love her? Am She rules her life like a bird in flight, F and who will be her lover? Refrain 3 C F All your life you've never seen a woman; taken by the wind C Would you stay if she promised you heaven; F will you ever win? F Will you ever win? Chorus 2 F Am F Am F Am F Am Rhiannon, Rhiannon, Rhiannon, Rhiannon Taken by the Sky F Am F Taken by, taken by the sky Am F Taken by, taken by the sky Am F Taken by, taken by the sky Vamp Am F x7 Outro Am F Dreams unwind and love's a state of mind Am F Dreams unwind and love's a state of mind . . . .
Song Notes
A two-chord song, essentially
Am and F carry the intro, every verse, both choruses, the vamp, and the outro. C
shows up only in the refrain — that “All your life you’ve never seen a woman”
section — and it’s the one moment the song lifts out of the vamp. If you can
change cleanly between Am and F, you can play Rhiannon. The same Am-to-F backbone
drives Californication,
so the two songs reinforce each other nicely.
If the F barre is giving you trouble
F is half of this song, so it’s worth some patience. Fmaj7 substitutes cleanly and
needs no barre — and because Rhiannon lives on a repeating vamp rather than sharp
chord punches, the softer Fmaj7 voicing suits it well while you build strength for
the full barre.
Practice Tips
- Loop Am to F and back until it’s automatic. That single change is the entire song. Get it smooth and everything else is just words on top.
- C appears only in the refrain. Practice that section separately, since it’s the one place your left hand does something different.
- The x2 and x7 markings mean “repeat the Am–F figure that many times.” The long x7 vamp near the end is where the live versions stretch out. Take as many passes as you like!
- Keep the pulse steady and hypnotic rather than dramatic. This song builds through repetition, not through dynamics. The trance is the point, and rushing it undoes the effect.