Passed down from the late 1800s, the folk ballad “John Henry” tells the story of a Black steel driver who dies in an effort to best a steam drill in laying down steel for the construction of a railroad. Henry is thought to have been a real person, whose proof…
"Are You Lonesome Tonight" was a big hit for Elvis. For this easy guitar arrangement in the key of G major, we’re going to concentrate on just the main body of the song.
This arrangement is taken at a relaxed tempo, using a handful of open and first-position chords—C, F, A7, D7, G7—along with a couple more sophisticated but easy-to-play shapes.
Some of the chords you'll play in this guitar arrangement of Rogers & Hart's classic tune "Manhattan" are a bit sophisticated, but they’re all pretty easy to play.
“Beautiful Dreamer” was originally written in the key of Eb major. Our arrangement transposes it to the more guitar-friendly key of C, with just a handful of chords.
The title of “It Had to Be You” instantly calls its famous melody to mind. Written by Isham Jones and Gus Kahn in 1924, it has been covered countless times.
Learn a simple acoustic guitar arrangement of "Let Me Call You Sweetheart," a 1920s chart topper that's been revisited by countless musicians over the years.
Back in 1912, when ragtime was still a part of the musical zeitgeist, the second best-selling song of the year was “Ragtime Cowboy Joe,” a bouncy Western tune recorded by Bob Roberts. Telling a whimsical tale of a cowboy who sings ragtime music to his herd, the song’s lyrics were…
“Oh Shenandoah,” sometimes called “Shenandoah” or “Across the Wide Missouri,” is an American folk heirloom which, ironically, was most likely written by French-Canadian fur traders in the 16th century.
This classic murder ballad chronicles the 1866 death of one Laura Foster, in Wilkes County, North Carolina, and the capital punishment of her lover and assailant, Tom Dula—a story that received widespread national attention when it was published in newspapers such as The New York Times.
To work up “This Little Light of Mine,” first make sure that you are familiar with all the chord shapes and can switch between them with relative ease.