Centerfield Intro

Here’s the instantly recognizable guitar intro to Fogerty’s ode to baseball.

How To Play Centerfield

The most important part of playing the opening riff from “Centerfield” is that you must make sure to let your open strings ring out. It takes a little practice. After all, you’re fretting notes all around those ringing strings. Give it a try and you’ll see what I mean!

The riff suggests an underlying chord progression of  C, D, G. This progression is just two measures long, and then it repeats. C gets two beats, D gets two beats, and G gets four beats.

Determining which fingers to fret the notes is another big factor in playing it smoothly. So, here’s how I suggest you do it:

You can use your 1st finger to fret any note on the 2nd fret. For the most part, you can use your 2nd finger to fret all of the notes on the 3rd fret and your 3rd finger to fret notes on the 4th fret.

The only exception is the first two notes in the 2nd measure. You may want to use your 1st and 2nd fingers, but your 2nd and 3rd fingers will work too.

Centerfield Guitar Tab

Learn how to play the rest of the song by downloading the music and tab notation below:

Complete Transcription To “Centerfield” (PDF)

Complete Transcription To “Centerfield” (Power Tab)

By the way, here’s a great live performance of John Fogerty performing Centerfield in 2005.