Banana Pancakes

by Jack Johnson • Lesson #148 • Apr 29, 2018

Video lesson

Licensed Song Sheet 4 pages

Follow along with my print-friendly guide for this song! It’s available for purchase at Musicnotes.com, the web’s leading provider of licensed sheet music.

On the fence? Here's a guide I made showing the purchase & print process, including answers to common questions about my song sheets.

Buy at Musicnotes.com

Save 50% on this song sheet by applying the October 2024 code at Musicnotes checkout: GTLZ9U9A49 (click to copy). Thanks for being a Premium supporter!

Song Notes Premium includes a 50% discount code you can use when buying any of my licensed song sheets. For the current month's code, upgrade to premium or log in.

Editor’s notes

In this video I’ll teach you how to play “Banana Pancakes” by Jack Johnson - complete with chords, strumming pattern, and intro tab. This is one of my favorite Jack Johnson songs to play, even though it requires quite a bit of practice to get down smoothly! I hope this lesson helps.

Lyrics w/ chords

See my sheet music for the lyrics, with chords typed above.

Chord progression cheat sheet

The two progressions used for most of the song look like this. Note how in the verse, you’re on each chord for 2 counts. In the chorus and bridge, you stay on each chord for 8 counts.

See my sheet music for the chord progression diagrams.

How to play the chords

Here are how to play the guitar chords used in this song, notably in the bar chord style that Jack Johnson uses. Note, these are tough – especially if your goal is to play the entire song (muscles can get tired). If you don’t know barre chords yet, see the net section. Also - you can omit the “7” note of each of these chords if you want (e.g., turn G7 into a G). I’m including them here because that’s how Jack Johnson plays most chords in most songs - but it isn’t truly required in a strict sense.

e ––––3–––––5–––––5–––––3–––––7–––––7–––––
B ––––3–––––7–––––5–––––5–––––7–––––8–––––
G ––––4–––––5–––––5–––––3–––––7–––––7–––––
D ––––3–––––7–––––5–––––5–––––7–––––9–––––
A ––––5–––––5–––––7–––––3–––––9–––––7–––––
E ––––3–––––––––––5–––––––––––7–––––––––––
      G7    D7    Am7   C7   Bm7   Em7

If the above chords are giving you trouble (which is okay, they’re tough) - then use the standard open chords. You can combine these with the main riff and things sound just fine! To be honest, when I play this song complete from end to end, I usually have to use these open chords sometimes just because my hand/wrist muscles get fatigued from dealing with the barre chords.

e ––––3–––––2–––––0–––––0–––––2–––––0–––––
B ––––0–––––1–––––1–––––1–––––3–––––0–––––
G ––––0–––––2–––––2–––––0–––––4–––––0–––––
D ––––0–––––0–––––2–––––2–––––4–––––2–––––
A ––––2–––––––––––0–––––3–––––2–––––2–––––
E ––––3–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––0–––––
      G     D7    Am    C     Bm    Em

How to Play the Riff

There is one distinct riff used throughout this song. Here is how you play it. You’ll want to use your ring finger on the lowest E string, and initially slide your finger up to the 7th fret (which is the first proper note of the riff).

See my sheet music for the tab.

To properly transition from this riff into the G7 or Am7 chord, you’ll need to add the bass note for the chord to the tail end of the riff. Here is the complete intro tabbed in context, using the core of the riff above.

See my sheet music for the tab.

Here’s a secondary version of the riff, used occasionally:

See my sheet music for the tab.

Occasional verse filler riff

There’s a riff I play 0:17 seconds into my video lesson that I want to show the tab for here. It happens during the verse progression (G7-D7-Am7-C7)… where instead of going to the final “C7” chord I do this riff immediately after the Am7. The riff happens under the “*” asterisk shown below.

See my sheet music for the tab.

Strumming patterns and rhythm

This is the final piece of the puzzle. To play this like Jack Johnson, there are in fact two distinct strumming patterns used in this song: one during the verse, and another during the chorus & bridge. You can of course strum things however you want, but I’ll teach you both of these patterns now.

Verse strum pattern

This strum pattern has a very distinct accented strum on the “2” and “4” counts - which is muted immediately after it’s played. To mute (silence) the strings, use the fleshy part of your right hand’s palm to lightly touch all strings - see my video lesson for reference. Another tip: notice how the bass note of each chord is played on the “1” and “3” counts. Again listen to the song and see my video lesson for reference.

Here’s a simple way to write it (though this doesn’t show some of the intricacies of muting the strings and targeting the bass notes).

See my sheet music for the strumming diagrams.

Chorus & bridge strumming pattern

This one is a bit more constant and less punctuated. You still want to keep the accent on the 2 and 4, but in this case those counts will have a muted downstrum that’s accented. This is very common for Jack Johnson. See my video lesson for reference!

See my sheet music for the strumming diagrams.

Good luck!

Thanks for reading! I hope this helped you. Questions? Comments? Requests? Let me know!

Unlock My Secret Stash!

Gain instant access to my library of 241 print-friendly cheat sheets! Also includes my extended video lessons, jam tracks, courses, and more.

Join Song Notes Premium

Have questions? Watch video tour »

Browse Related Lessons

Click any tag below to view other lessons I've made in that category:

Enjoy My Lessons? Show Your Support!

Most of the lessons on my website are 100% free. If you have the means, please show your support with a tip jar contribution. I put many hours into every lesson — but it only takes you a minute to make a donation. You have my thanks!

Donate

Looking for More Song Lessons?

Featured Courses

Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made

Fret Monster

Interactive fretboard map! See the patterns behind every scale in any key.

View

Capo Captain

An easy way to calculate key & chord combinations, for any capo location!

View

Key Master

See and hear the notes, chords, scales used in each of the most common keys.

View

Blank Tabs

Free PDF templates to download, print, and write out your own guitar tabs!

View

Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Be sure to never miss a lesson by subscribing on YouTube. I put out 2-3 new videos every week. These include full song lessons, as well as covers, practice tips, behind-the-scenes updates. Thanks!


Recent Lessons

  • October 3, 2024

    Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee"

    In honor of Kris Kristofferson's passing, here's a brand new play-along cover of his 1971 classic Me and Bobby McGee – with some updated strumming tips included.

  • September 27, 2024

    Paul Simon Fingerstyle with "59th Street Bridge Song"

    Let's dive into Simon & Garfunkfel's 1966 hit, where I'll walk you through several ways to tackle Paul Simon's Travis-style fingerpicking.

  • September 20, 2024

    Fingerstyle & Travis Picking Lesson Roundup!

    I've been busy organizing all my lessons teaching fingerstyle & Travis picking, and have them in a new easy-to-browse layout. Check 'em out here!

  • September 13, 2024

    "Rebel Rouser" - 1950s Lead Guitar Lesson

    Let's learn how to play Duane Eddy's 1958 classic! This song's memorable riff is easy to approach, but poses a fun challenge as the song changes key over and over. I'll walk you through it all, jam tracks included!

  • September 5, 2024

    Lead Guitar Lesson Roundup!

    I've organized all my lead guitar lessons into a new easy-to-browse area of the website! Whether you're interested in techniques or learning song-based riffs, I've got a lot of lessons I'm sure you'll enjoy.

  • Aug 30, 2024

    "Linger" by The Cranberries

    A deep-dive into The Cranberries 1993 classic, showing you the intro riff and three different ways to strum the verse & chorus. Such a fun song to play!

  • Aug 21, 2024

    Capos, Explained: 6 New Lessons & PDF Guides

    I've updated the capo section of my website, featuring 6 new lessons, a handful of PDF guides, and a new interactive web tool – Capo Captain!

  • August 8, 2024

    "Spin You Around" by Morgan Wallen

    Let's learn how to play Morgan Wallen's "1/24" re-issue of this song — which features an amazingly fun fingerstyle riff!

Browse All Recent Lessons →

← back to homepage