“Looking Out My Backdoor” by CCR is one of those songs everybody knows the words to. Released in 1970, it’s a perfect singalong tune — and the strumming patterns are more interesting to play than you might expect.

The original recording is technically in B major because John Fogerty tuned his guitar down a half step. We’re going to play it in standard tuning using C, Am, F, and G. If you want to play along with the record, just tune down a half step.

The Chord Progression

The verse uses four chords: C, Am, F, and G. The first eight bars go: two bars of C, two bars of Am, one bar of F, one bar of C, then two bars of G. The second eight bars are almost identical — the only difference is the very last bar.

For the F chord, Colin recommends playing the full bar chord shape. You can get away with a simplified F, but the full bar gives you that low bass note on the 6th string, which matters when you start adding the bass note variations later.

The Verse Strum

The verse uses a muted stroke on beat 1, followed by open strums on beats 2, 3, and 4. It goes: mute, strum, strum, strum — or “1 (muted), 2 and, 3, 4.” That muted hit on beat 1 gives the verse its distinctive clipped feel.

To mute, lay your fretting hand fingers flat across the strings between the 3rd and 5th fret so nothing rings out. Then strum through. You get a percussive “chunk” instead of a chord.

The Chorus Strum

The chorus opens up with a busier pattern: “1, 2 and, 3 and, 4 and” — that’s down, down-up, down-up, down-up. It has more energy than the verse strum, which is exactly the contrast you want.

The chorus progression goes: two bars of G, one bar of F, one bar of C, then into C, Am, G, and back. Once you’ve got both strums down, switching between them is what makes the song feel alive.

Adding Bass Notes

Here’s the bonus move: instead of strumming the full chord on beat 1, pick just the bass note. For G, that’s the 6th string. For F (full bar chord), it’s also the 6th string. For C, it’s the 5th string. For Am, it’s the open 5th string.

This gives the strum a boom-chick quality — bass note on 1, then strums on 2, 3, 4. It sounds way more polished than straight strumming and it’s not hard once you know which string to hit.

The Key Change

Part 2 of the lesson covers the key change, which moves everything up a whole step to the key of D. The chords become D, Bm, G, and A. There’s a descending bass line that walks you from the muted intro section into the new key — a cool little transition that sounds great once you get the timing right.

For Bm, you can play the full bar chord, or simplify it by dropping the bar and just fretting the top three or four strings. Colin shows three different options in the video.

The second half of the verse in the key change drops to half tempo before building back up with two bars of muted strokes and finishing with the last four bars of the progression. It’s a nice arrangement detail that keeps things interesting.

If you’re working on more CCR songs or other singalong tunes, check out how to choose a strumming pattern for any song. For core technique, the beginner strumming patterns page covers the fundamentals. And for the full library, visit the strumming patterns hub.