How to play California Dreamin’ by The Mamas & the Papas
California Dreamin’ by The Mamas & the Papas is one of the defining hits of the ‘psychedelic Pop’ era. The #1 rated song in the USA in 1966 it grew into one of the biggest global hits of the 1960s and, in the decades since has become emblematic of the ‘West Coast sound’ from that era. With it’s signature guitar intro, strong rhythm progression and memorable melodies California Dreamin’ is a great song for acoustic guitarists.
Chords: Am G F C Esus7 E : This creates the key of A Minor but the original is in C# Minor (C#m B A E G#sus7 G#)
Do I need to use a capo? Yes, if you want to play California Dreamin’ in the original key you need a capo at the 4th fret. If you are singing, or accompanying singers, you may need to adjust the pitch by moving the capo up or down to suit the vocal range. Capo 5th fret gives you the key of D Minor ; Capo 3rd fret creates C Minor, and so on.
Pick or Fingers? Use a pick for the rhythm strumming. The intro can be played completely with the pick, or with ‘hybrid-picking’ ; pick on the lower notes and middle and ring fingers on the high notes. If playing nylon strings just use your fingers.
Acoustic or Electric? Definitely an acoustic steel-string number, this one. Works on nylon-strings too, especially if you want to adapt the chord progression to a finger-style pattern (works well).
Is the intro right? The guitar introduction suggested in this chart is an amalgam of two guitars for one player. It highlights the obvious melodic notes to maks a satisfying, complete sounding intro for one guitar.
How does the strumming work? The rhythms in California Dreamin’ are standard down-up strum patterns. The one thing to be careful with is the tied strum that regularly appears in the Esus7 to E bars. Most important here is that the tied strum takes away a downstroke ; the following strum must be an upstroke.
Relevant pages in Modern Guitar Chord Styles 1 : To learn more about the chords and rhythms used in California Dreamin’ see pages 8, 10, 13 - 14, 17 - 20, and pages 36 - 37 for a detailed look at using the capo to change the key of a song.
Need a bit of help?
Modern Guitar Chord Styles 1 is the perfect companion for our song guides. It will teach you how to read the rhythm slash notation used in our charts (and in professional theatre and studio charts) and is specially designed to help beginners speed up their chord changes, master strumming patterns, and many other techniques.
