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Scarborough Fair: guitar chords and tab for beginners
England, 17th century
Scarborough Fair
by Traditional
- Tempo
- 104beats per minute
- Count
- 3beats in each bar
- Key
- A minorthe home note
- Level
- 1 of 3easiest
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.
Hold this chord
How to read it
- Red cross: don’t play that string. Skip it when you strum.
- Green circle: play that string open, with no finger on it.
- Number: press there with that finger. 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 pinky.
- Letters: the strings, thickest (low E) on the left to thinnest (high e) on the right.
Space bar plays and pauses. Left and right arrows jump a bar.
The chords
The chords in Scarborough Fair
4 chords, all open shapes: Am, Em, D, Em7. 3 beats in each bar, 104 beats per minute, in A minor.
A minor
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →E minor
2 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →D major
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →E minor seven
1 finger
Fingers, notes, sound →
In words: A minor is x 0 2 2 1 0. E minor is 0 2 2 0 0 0. D major is x x 0 2 3 2. E minor seven is 0 2 0 0 0 0. Numbers are frets, thick string to thin, and x means do not play that string.
About the song
An English ballad that goes back at least to the 1600s. The tune has an old-world sound because it is in the Dorian mode, a minor scale with one raised note. We play it in A so the three chords are all open shapes.
Questions people ask
- What chords are in Scarborough Fair?
- Four chords: Am, Em, D and Em7. All of them are open shapes, so some strings ring without a finger on them.
- What key is Scarborough Fair in?
- A minor. The key control on this page moves it up or down, and tells you where to put a capo so you can keep the same easy shapes.
- Is Scarborough Fair easy to play on guitar?
- It is a step up from the first songs here: four chords at 104 beats per minute. Slow it to 50 percent, and try Ode to Joy and Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star first if it fights back.
- What is the strumming pattern for Scarborough Fair?
- Five strums in each bar: down, down, up, down, up. There are 3 beats in every bar. The arrows above the chord boxes move with the sound, so you can see the pattern as you hear it.
- How do I play Scarborough Fair on guitar?
- Three ways on this page, all from the same arrangement. Chords mode strums one chord at a time, Melody mode picks the tune from the tab, and Fingerstyle mode plays the bass with your thumb under the tune. Start in Chords mode at 60 percent speed.
- Who wrote Scarborough Fair?
- Traditional. England, 17th century. The music is old enough to be in the public domain, so it is free to learn, play and record.
Learn more
How to read guitar tabs
How to read guitar tabs: six lines are the six strings, numbers are frets, left to right is time.
Basic guitar chords
The basic guitar chords every beginner learns first: C, G, D, A, E, Am, Em and Dm, with diagrams you can hear and the order to learn them in..
Standard guitar tuning
Standard guitar tuning is E A D G B E, thick string to thin.
Beginner guitar keys
Beginner guitar keys explained: what a key is, the five easiest keys on guitar, the chords in each one, and how a capo moves a hard key into an easy one..
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