Chords for Acoustic Guitar Lesson - Elizabeth Cotten-style Lesson
Tempo:
127.1 bpm
Chords used:
C
G
D
A
B
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret

Start Jamming...
[D]
[Gb] [Gm] [D]
[G]
[Gm] [C]
[B] [A] [D]
[G] [C] [B] [C]
Hi, my name is Orville Johnson, and I'm a contributing writer to Acoustic Guitar Magazine, and I'm here to play the musical example
that is in Acoustic Guitar's 20th anniversary lesson on Elizabeth Cotton.
Now she began her career when she was
68 years old and became a key artist in the 1960s folk revival, not just because of her
you know, fantastic and unique
guitar style, which I'm gonna demonstrate a little snippet of, but also because she was a great songwriter,
and she wrote probably one of the most enduring
songs of the folk revival that we all know, Freight [Bb] Train, [Gb] and
[Eb] so I'm gonna [F] demonstrate
her guitar style in this example.
Her guitar playing
encompassed bits of ragtime
styles, Piedmont blues,
dance rhythms, dance tunes, and marches, and
she played with a delicate touch and
a beautiful [C] sound, and
so let me play you the example that is written out in the
magazine.
Over here in front of me.
Let's give her a go.
[B] [C]
[Em] [E] [G]
[C] [A] [D]
[G] [C]
[B] [A] [D]
[G]
[C] [D] [C]
[Bb]
So
that's the example, and so let me just point out a couple of things about it that make it
kind of Elizabeth [B] Cotton style.
One is that change that I put right in the beginning, the [C] C [E] to the E7,
which of course is in Freight Train, and it's in a bunch of her other [C] songs as well.
If you explore her
catalog, you'll hear that change a bunch, and
that's the 1, C being the 1, to the 3 [E] chord, and then
[Am] F back to [Cm] C, and then she plays, or I guess I should say I play, [Gm] this
passage that [B] goes
[Bb] [A]
[D] [G]
[C] [Ab] going [A] down to the A chord, the 6 chord,
[D] D, the 2 chord,
[G] and the [F] 5 [C] chord back to the 1, so a 1-6-2-5.
[Bb] type of progression there, which is characteristic of a lot of ragtime music, and
then to finish up the piece, I
played this run,
[F] [Gb] [G]
[Gm] [Gbm] [G]
[D]
which is also typical of her playing, to
[Bb] sort of put in,
[Eb] spice up her playing [F] with little bass [C] runs that go in between the sections where she's playing the constant alternating bass,
[E] [F] [Gbm] [G]
[C] and [A] then at the very end I use one of her
classic endings too,
where she uses the open strings just out of the C chord position.
She played a lot of songs out of the C
position, and G.
Those were two probably most common chord positions and key positions that she would use,
[Gb] but that's how this ending goes.
C chord with a little [Gb] emphasis on the low string on the [Cm] root,
then the open [Am] fifth,
[C]
sixth string at 3, and then the open 6, and then finishing on the root,
[A] [Em]
[C]
all the while
plucking the chord with it.
[Eb] So you can see the sheet music that accompanies this example, and
the article that goes with it in [C] the Acoustic Guitar
20th Anniversary Edition or AcousticGuitar.com
online.
So for Acoustic Guitar, this is Orville Johnson.
[C] [D]
[G] [Gm]
[Gb] [Gm] [D]
[G]
[Gm] [C]
[B] [A] [D]
[G] [C] [B] [C]
Hi, my name is Orville Johnson, and I'm a contributing writer to Acoustic Guitar Magazine, and I'm here to play the musical example
that is in Acoustic Guitar's 20th anniversary lesson on Elizabeth Cotton.
Now she began her career when she was
68 years old and became a key artist in the 1960s folk revival, not just because of her
you know, fantastic and unique
guitar style, which I'm gonna demonstrate a little snippet of, but also because she was a great songwriter,
and she wrote probably one of the most enduring
songs of the folk revival that we all know, Freight [Bb] Train, [Gb] and
[Eb] so I'm gonna [F] demonstrate
her guitar style in this example.
Her guitar playing
encompassed bits of ragtime
styles, Piedmont blues,
dance rhythms, dance tunes, and marches, and
she played with a delicate touch and
a beautiful [C] sound, and
so let me play you the example that is written out in the
magazine.
Over here in front of me.
Let's give her a go.
[B] [C]
[Em] [E] [G]
[C] [A] [D]
[G] [C]
[B] [A] [D]
[G]
[C] [D] [C]
[Bb]
So
that's the example, and so let me just point out a couple of things about it that make it
kind of Elizabeth [B] Cotton style.
One is that change that I put right in the beginning, the [C] C [E] to the E7,
which of course is in Freight Train, and it's in a bunch of her other [C] songs as well.
If you explore her
catalog, you'll hear that change a bunch, and
that's the 1, C being the 1, to the 3 [E] chord, and then
[Am] F back to [Cm] C, and then she plays, or I guess I should say I play, [Gm] this
passage that [B] goes
[Bb] [A]
[D] [G]
[C] [Ab] going [A] down to the A chord, the 6 chord,
[D] D, the 2 chord,
[G] and the [F] 5 [C] chord back to the 1, so a 1-6-2-5.
[Bb] type of progression there, which is characteristic of a lot of ragtime music, and
then to finish up the piece, I
played this run,
[F] [Gb] [G]
[Gm] [Gbm] [G]
[D]
which is also typical of her playing, to
[Bb] sort of put in,
[Eb] spice up her playing [F] with little bass [C] runs that go in between the sections where she's playing the constant alternating bass,
[E] [F] [Gbm] [G]
[C] and [A] then at the very end I use one of her
classic endings too,
where she uses the open strings just out of the C chord position.
She played a lot of songs out of the C
position, and G.
Those were two probably most common chord positions and key positions that she would use,
[Gb] but that's how this ending goes.
C chord with a little [Gb] emphasis on the low string on the [Cm] root,
then the open [Am] fifth,
[C]
sixth string at 3, and then the open 6, and then finishing on the root,
[A] [Em]
[C]
all the while
plucking the chord with it.
[Eb] So you can see the sheet music that accompanies this example, and
the article that goes with it in [C] the Acoustic Guitar
20th Anniversary Edition or AcousticGuitar.com
online.
So for Acoustic Guitar, this is Orville Johnson.
[C] [D]
[G] [Gm]
Key:
C
G
D
A
B
C
G
D
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _
[Gb] _ _ _ [Gm] _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
[Gm] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
[B] _ _ _ [A] _ _ [D] _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ [B] _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ Hi, my name is Orville Johnson, and I'm a contributing writer to Acoustic Guitar Magazine, and I'm here to play the musical example
that is in Acoustic Guitar's 20th anniversary lesson on Elizabeth Cotton. _
Now she began her career when she was
68 years old and became a key artist in the 1960s folk revival, not just because of her
you know, fantastic and unique
guitar style, which I'm gonna demonstrate a little snippet of, but also because she was a great songwriter,
and she wrote probably one of the most enduring
_ songs of the folk revival that we all know, Freight [Bb] Train, _ _ [Gb] and
[Eb] so _ I'm gonna [F] demonstrate _
her guitar style in this example.
Her guitar playing
_ encompassed bits of _ ragtime
_ styles, Piedmont blues, _ _ _
dance rhythms, dance tunes, and marches, _ and
she played with a delicate touch and
_ _ a beautiful [C] sound, and
so let me play you the example that is written out in the
_ magazine. _ _ _
_ Over here in front of me. _ _
Let's give her a go.
_ [B] _ [C] _ _ _
[Em] _ _ _ [E] _ _ [G] _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ [G] _ _ _ [C] _ _
[B] _ _ [A] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [C] _ _ [D] _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Bb] _
So
that's the example, and so let me just point out a couple of things about it that make it
kind of Elizabeth [B] Cotton style.
One is that change that I put right in the beginning, the [C] C [E] to the E7,
_ _ which of course is in Freight Train, and it's in a bunch of her other [C] songs as well.
If you explore her
catalog, you'll hear that change a bunch, and
that's the 1, C being the 1, to the 3 [E] chord, _ _ _ _ and then
_ _ _ [Am] F back to [Cm] C, and then she plays, or I guess I should say I play, [Gm] this
_ _ passage that [B] goes
[Bb] _ [A] _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ [Ab] going [A] down to the A chord, the 6 chord,
[D] _ _ D, the 2 chord,
[G] and the [F] 5 [C] chord back to the 1, so a 1-6-2-5.
_ [Bb] _ type of progression there, which is characteristic of a lot of ragtime music, _ and
then to finish up the piece, I
played this run,
[F] _ [Gb] _ [G] _ _
[Gm] _ _ _ _ [Gbm] _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _
which is also typical of her playing, to
[Bb] sort of put in,
[Eb] spice up her playing [F] with little bass [C] runs that go in between the sections where she's playing the constant alternating bass,
_ [E] _ [F] _ [Gbm] _ [G] _
_ _ _ [C] _ and [A] then at the very end I use one of her
classic endings too, _
_ _ _ _ where she uses the open strings just out of the C chord position.
She played a lot of songs out of the C
position, and G.
Those were two probably most common chord positions and key positions that she would use,
_ _ [Gb] but that's how this ending goes.
_ _ C chord with a little [Gb] emphasis on the low string on the [Cm] root,
then the open [Am] fifth,
_ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
sixth string at 3, and then the open 6, _ and then finishing on the root,
_ [A] _ [Em] _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
all the while
_ plucking the chord with it.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Eb] So you can see the sheet music that accompanies this example, and
the article that goes with it in [C] the Acoustic Guitar
_ _ 20th Anniversary Edition or AcousticGuitar.com
online.
So for Acoustic Guitar, this is Orville Johnson.
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _
[Gb] _ _ _ [Gm] _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
[Gm] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
[B] _ _ _ [A] _ _ [D] _ _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ [B] _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ Hi, my name is Orville Johnson, and I'm a contributing writer to Acoustic Guitar Magazine, and I'm here to play the musical example
that is in Acoustic Guitar's 20th anniversary lesson on Elizabeth Cotton. _
Now she began her career when she was
68 years old and became a key artist in the 1960s folk revival, not just because of her
you know, fantastic and unique
guitar style, which I'm gonna demonstrate a little snippet of, but also because she was a great songwriter,
and she wrote probably one of the most enduring
_ songs of the folk revival that we all know, Freight [Bb] Train, _ _ [Gb] and
[Eb] so _ I'm gonna [F] demonstrate _
her guitar style in this example.
Her guitar playing
_ encompassed bits of _ ragtime
_ styles, Piedmont blues, _ _ _
dance rhythms, dance tunes, and marches, _ and
she played with a delicate touch and
_ _ a beautiful [C] sound, and
so let me play you the example that is written out in the
_ magazine. _ _ _
_ Over here in front of me. _ _
Let's give her a go.
_ [B] _ [C] _ _ _
[Em] _ _ _ [E] _ _ [G] _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ _ [G] _ _ _ [C] _ _
[B] _ _ [A] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [C] _ _ [D] _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Bb] _
So
that's the example, and so let me just point out a couple of things about it that make it
kind of Elizabeth [B] Cotton style.
One is that change that I put right in the beginning, the [C] C [E] to the E7,
_ _ which of course is in Freight Train, and it's in a bunch of her other [C] songs as well.
If you explore her
catalog, you'll hear that change a bunch, and
that's the 1, C being the 1, to the 3 [E] chord, _ _ _ _ and then
_ _ _ [Am] F back to [Cm] C, and then she plays, or I guess I should say I play, [Gm] this
_ _ passage that [B] goes
[Bb] _ [A] _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ [Ab] going [A] down to the A chord, the 6 chord,
[D] _ _ D, the 2 chord,
[G] and the [F] 5 [C] chord back to the 1, so a 1-6-2-5.
_ [Bb] _ type of progression there, which is characteristic of a lot of ragtime music, _ and
then to finish up the piece, I
played this run,
[F] _ [Gb] _ [G] _ _
[Gm] _ _ _ _ [Gbm] _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ [D] _ _ _ _
which is also typical of her playing, to
[Bb] sort of put in,
[Eb] spice up her playing [F] with little bass [C] runs that go in between the sections where she's playing the constant alternating bass,
_ [E] _ [F] _ [Gbm] _ [G] _
_ _ _ [C] _ and [A] then at the very end I use one of her
classic endings too, _
_ _ _ _ where she uses the open strings just out of the C chord position.
She played a lot of songs out of the C
position, and G.
Those were two probably most common chord positions and key positions that she would use,
_ _ [Gb] but that's how this ending goes.
_ _ C chord with a little [Gb] emphasis on the low string on the [Cm] root,
then the open [Am] fifth,
_ _ _ _ [C] _ _ _ _
sixth string at 3, and then the open 6, _ and then finishing on the root,
_ [A] _ [Em] _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
all the while
_ plucking the chord with it.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [Eb] So you can see the sheet music that accompanies this example, and
the article that goes with it in [C] the Acoustic Guitar
_ _ 20th Anniversary Edition or AcousticGuitar.com
online.
So for Acoustic Guitar, this is Orville Johnson.
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ [Gm] _ _ _ _