This song is a classic from the first album from the psychedelic folkgroup Pearls Before Swine and was released in 1967. All their material has been reissued on cd. See their official website. Many guitar teachers use the traditional House of the Rising Sun too soon to get their pupils practise that seemingly incredible F-chord. Here’s a TAB that’s easier to make the step from small chords to the F. You don’t even have to play a full barre chord for the F in this song.

The fingerpicking patterns for each chord are merely based on the first bars of the song. You may want to use the alternate pattern for singing the song while making the picking easier to yourself. Use your favorite search engine to get the lyrics elsewhere. I can tell you how to play this song but I’m not allowed to show the complete score because of copyrights.

standard tuning, no capo

  D                     C

E |-------2h3p2---------|---------0----------|
A |-----3-------3-------|-------1------------|
G |---2------------2----|-----0--------0-----|
D |-0-----------------0-|----------------0-2-|
A |---------------------|-3----------3-------|
E |---------------------|--------------------|

    t i m r     m  i  t              t i t t

  F                       Am

E |---------1-----------|----------3p0-------|
A |-------1----1--------|-------1-------1----|
G |-----2---------2-----|----2---------------|
D |-3---------------3---|-2---------------2--|
A |---------------------|--------------------|
E |---------------------|--------------------|

alternative picking:

  D

E |-------2---------2--|
A |-----3---3-----3----|
G |---2--------2-------|
D |-0------------------|
A |--------------------|
E |--------------------|

    t i m r m  i  m r

fingers plucking the strings:

t - thumb
i - index finger
m - middle finger
r - ring finger

Chord progression of the song:

intro:

D D

verses:

D C D C D C D C

chorus:

D C D F Am

intro:

D D

A perfect song to start picking with your thumb, ring finger, middle finger and fore finger. The TAB has two parts. In the first part you move your left hand up and down the neck. In the second part you move your left hand only down the neck.

The fingering of the chords remain the same. Although this is simple to do, it may take some time to master how to relax your left hand while gliding up and down the neck, so you’re not playing cramped.

As for the right hand you may want to rest your thumb on the A-string after striking the low E-string. This will give you the opportunity to let your fingers flow freely. Just like the river does.

Wait 10 seconds before the tune starts. The first measure should be repeated several times at the start and in between.

E -----3-------3------||---6-------6-----|----5--------5------|
B -------3-------3----||-----6-------6---|------5--------5----|
G ---------0--------0-||------0-------0--|--------0---------0-|
D --------------------||-----------------|--------------------|
A --------------------||----------------|---------------------|
E --3----------3------||-6-------6-------|-5--------5---------|

E ---10---------0-----|---8--------8-----|---6---------6------|
B ------10--------10--|-----8--------8---|----6----------6----|
G ---------0---------0|-------0--------0-|-------0----------0-|
D --------------------|------------------|--------------------|
A --------------------|------------------|--------------------|
E -10--------10-------|-8--------8-------|--6-------6---------|

This TAB of a song performed by Meiko on a brand new Martin D-45 guitar shows that fingerpicking with just your thumb and fore finger is possible. You can see that at the very beginning of Meiko’s live version of her lovesong. She rests her ring finger and pinky on the top of her guitar to get that nice rollin’ bass line.

Double tones she plays with just her fore finger. Between the chords changes she performs the open G-string. This kind of easy playing is great for beginners, as the song itself proves you don’t need to be a great player if you have a characteristic voice or way of singing.

Capo on 2nd fret

Verse, chorus

    C	       Am         Em            G
E |----------------------------------------------------|
B |-------1----------1-----------0-------------0-------|
G |-------0--0-------2--0--------0--0----------0---0---|
D |-----2---------2------------------------------------|
A |--3----------0-------------2-------------2----------|
E |------------------------0-------------3-------------|

This is an old time classic folk tune written and played by Donovan Leitch. Good for practising the folk fingerpicking pattern I write about in my guitar method. Here is an old hand written TAB of mine. The opening chord misses the open e-string…

Download:

TAB Donovan Tangerine Puppett (43 KB opens in new window)

This is an old folk tune from Bert Jansch. Very good for practising the folk fingerpicking pattern I write about in my guitar method. Here is an old hand written TAB of mine. I changed a wrongly formulated chord into F/c – that is: you play an F(7) while hitting the C-bass instead of the F. I have seen some players fiddling with a C-minor chord or something, which is wrong. So, try this TAB from me. It’s handwritten, somewhat faded, but clear enough to read. Have fun!

BERT_JANSCH_DREAMS_OF_LOVE.PDF (50,9 KB opens in new window)