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Yankee Doodle: guitar chords and tab for beginners
United States, 1750s
Yankee Doodle
by Traditional
- Tempo
- 116beats per minute
- Count
- 4beats in each bar
- Key
- C majorthe 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
Coming up: G7
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 Yankee Doodle
3 chords, open shapes apart from F: C, G7, F. 4 beats in each bar, 116 beats per minute, in C major.
C major
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →G seven
3 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →F major
barre, 4 fingers
Fingers, notes, sound →
In words: C major is x 3 2 0 1 0. G seven is 3 2 0 0 0 1. F major is 1 3 3 2 1 1 (finger 1 flat across fret 1). Numbers are frets, thick string to thin, and x means do not play that string.
About the song
A marching tune from the 1750s that both sides sang in the American Revolution. It is a march, so every note lands square on the beat, and the chorus moves down to the middle strings for a change of colour.
Questions people ask
- What chords are in Yankee Doodle?
- Three chords: C, G7 and F. F needs a finger laid flat across the neck, which is the hard part of this one.
- What key is Yankee Doodle in?
- C major. 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 Yankee Doodle easy to play on guitar?
- It is a step up from the first songs here: three chords at 116 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 Yankee Doodle?
- Six strums in each bar: down, down, up, up, down, up. There are 4 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 Yankee Doodle 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 Yankee Doodle?
- Traditional. United States, 1750s. The music is old enough to be in the public domain, so it is free to learn, play and record.
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