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About this lesson
In this lesson, I’ll teach you how to play River on acoustic guitar. This song is a collaboration between Eminem and Ed Sheeran. I’ll teach the chords needed, strumming pattern, and show tabs for the intro + verse + chorus sections. I’ll also show you how to play it with AND without a capo, to suit your tastes. Enjoy!
- 0:00 Playthrough & gretting
- 1:26 Intro tab (capo 4)
- 4:55 Verse chords (capo 4)
- 5:38 Verse strumming pattern
- 8:15 Verse chords (no capo, tuned down 1/2 step)
- 8:32 Intro tab (no capo, standard tuning)
- 8:57 Verse chords (no capo, standard tuning)
- 9:23 Farewell
Note about capo and tuning
To play this song in standard tuning with no capo, you’ll need many difficult barre chords (shown below). You can make the song easier in two ways:
- Use a capo on the 4th fret
- Tune all your guitar strings down 1/2 step
Most of what I show in this lesson is for the capo 4th fret approach, though I’ll explain the no-capo-standard-tuning version too.
Intro tab
Capo 4
E –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
B –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
G –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
D ––––––––––––––––––2–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––2–––––––––––4––––
A ––2–––––––––––2–––3–––––––––––2–––2–––––––––––2–––3–––––––––––5––––
E ––0–––––––––––3–––––––––––––––3–––0–––––––––––3––––––––––––––––––––
Em G C G Em G C D
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
No capo (standard tuning)
E –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
B –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
G –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
D –––––––––––––––––(9)–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––(9)–––––––––11––––
A ––6–––––––––––9–––11––––––––––9–––6–––––––––––9–––11––––––––––––13–
E ––4–––––––––––7–––0–––––––––––7–––4–––––––––––7–––0––––––––––––––––
G#m B E B G#m B E F#
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
E –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
B –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
G –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
D –––––––––––––––––(9)–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––(9)––––––––––4––––
A ––6–––––––––––9–––11––––––––––9–––6–––––––––––9–––11––––––––––4––––
E ––4–––––––––––7–––0–––––––––––7–––4–––––––––––7–––0–––––––––––2––––
G#m B E B G#m B E F#
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
Verse chord timing
Capo 4
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
Em . . G C . . D Em . . G C . Am .
No capo (standard tuning)
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
G#m B E F# G#m B E C#m
Strumming pattern
I like to do this three times:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D D D U U D D U D U
Followed by this one once:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D D D U U U U D U
See my lesson for reference! I know this may seem tricky.
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