Drunken Sailor Easy 2-Chord Guitar Tutorial & Chord Chart
With just two simple chords and an easy strumming pattern, this song is perfect for beginners looking to expand their repertoire.
This easy guitar tutorial will teach you how to play Drunken Sailor, which is a 2 chord song on guitar, using Em and D.
How I would practice this song:
First, I would work out the chord changes and strumming. Just strum downstrokes and count… that’s it!
Drunken Sailor Chords
Practice this many times, over and over:
Note: Every measure = 4 blue slashes = 4 downstrokes.
Watch the tutorial (above) and I’ll walk you through it all, as well as display some basic diagrams.
Learn The Strumming Pattern
Next, I would practice the strumming pattern by itself, on an Em chord, or muted strings.
Simply touch the strings lightly with your chord hand and it will stop them from ringing out, and save you some fingertip pain. (Even if you’re an experienced guitarist, pressing the same chord for extended periods of time isn’t very easy on the fingertips!)
Play the strumming pattern once per measure. In other words, do it 2x on Em, 2x on D and so on.
Drunken Sailor Chord Chart (Printable PDF)
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Taking It To The Next Level
You can upgrade it to the 3-chord version with the addition of a G chord:
Here’s a lesson where I’ll walk you through it all:
