Play along

Danny Boy: guitar chords and tab for beginners

Ireland, 1855

Danny Boy

by Traditional (Londonderry Air)

Tempo
72beats per minute
Count
4beats in each bar
Key
C majorthe home note
Level
1 of 3easiest
Bar 1:1 of 17Tap play to turn sound on
Key C major
0
Higher or lower, to match a voice.
Tempo72beats per minute right now

Level 1. Strum one chord per beat. Start here.

Chord names above, strum arrows below. Down arrow = strum down toward the floor, up arrow = back up.

0102030405060708091011121314151617CCFCCG7CCC7FCG7CCG7CAmFG7CFCCAmFG7C↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑
Where your fingers go● press here · the number is which finger
EADGBeopen12345678910111232010

Hold this chord

C×321EADGBe

Numbers are fingers: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 pinky.

Space bar plays and pauses. Left and right arrows jump a bar.

The chords

The chords in Danny Boy

5 chords, all open shapes: C, F, G7, C7, Am. 4 beats in each bar, 72 beats per minute, in C major.

About the song

The tune was collected in County Londonderry in 1855; Frederic Weatherly added the Danny Boy words in 1913. It climbs high in the second half, so the melody reaches up the thin e string. Take it slowly: the whole point is the long, singing line.

More

More songs