Give an enthusiastic kid a guitar and three chords and watch him create a new genre of music! That’s what Ricardo Esteban Valenzuela Reyes aka Ritchie Valens did. Pioneer of the Chicano rock movement, his recording career lasted a mere eight months. This week at the 3 Chord Club we learn three of Valens’ classic three-chord songs.

At the 3 Chord Club we choose three songs from a specific artist, label or genre of music that we’ll learn by ear. All the songs will contain three chords or less! Since you know the song only has one to three chords, try to figure out the changes, or chord progression by ear. Here’s a hint, most of the time the chords will be the I-IV & V or V7 chords. In the Key of C, that’s C-F-G or G7. Remember, the sound examples may be in various keys. For bonus ear training, try to figure out the original key!

La Bamba
(Hint: Start at V)

Donna
(Hint: Turnaround IV-I)

Come On Let’s Go
(Hint: I-IV-V-I)

Songs presented are for educational purposes only and used under the fair use doctrine of United States copyright
law.