Led Zeppelin, "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" — In Deep Video by Andy Aledort

In this video from the vast Guitar World archives, Andy Aledort shows you how to play "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You," a track from Led Zeppelin's debut 1969 album.

An acoustic masterpiece, this song features a bittersweet circular chord progression presented as ringing, fingerpicked arpeggios. Particularly noteworthy is the way Jimmy Page spins numerous subtle melodic variations on the theme throughout the song (check out the one at 3:40 in the original recording), sweetening the aural pot with dramatic dynamic contrasts.

This might be one of the most perfectly recorded and mixed acoustic guitar tracks ever. Notice how, in the song’s intro, the “dry” (up-front and un-effected) acoustic guitar is in the left channel while the right channel is mostly “wet,” saturated in cavernous reverb.

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Guitar World Staff

Since 1980, Guitar World has been the ultimate resource for guitarists. Whether you want to learn the techniques employed by your guitar heroes, read about their latest projects or simply need to know which guitar is the right one to buy, Guitar World is the place to look.