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Take Me Home Country Roads
by John Denver • Lesson #151 • May 6, 2018
Video lesson
Print-Friendly Song Sheet 2 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.
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Buy at Musicnotes.comVideo timestamps
- 0:00 Playthrough & greeting
- 1:24 Chords needed
- 3:10 Strumming pattern
- 5:42 Verse, chorus, & bridge
- 7:16 Farewell
Lyrics w/ chords
(capo 2nd fret if you want to play along with the official version)
INTRO
G ... G ....
VERSE
G Em
...Almost heaven... West Virginia
D C G
...Blue Ridge Mountains... Shenandoah River
G Em
...Life is old there, older than the trees
D C G
Younger than the mountains, growing like a breeze
CHORUS
G D Em C
Country roads, take me home... to the place I belong
G D C G
West Virginia, mountain mama... take me home, country roads
G Em
...All my memories... gather around her
D C G
...Miner's lady, stranger to blue water
G Em
...Dark and dusty, painted on the sky
D C G
Misty taste of moonshine, teardrop in my eye
G D Em C
Country roads, take me home... to the place I belong
G D C G
West Virginia, mountain mama... take me home, country roads
BRIDGE
Em D G
...I hear her voice, in the morning hour, she calls me
C G D
The radio reminds me of my home far away
Em F C
And driving down the road I get a feeling
G D D7
That I should have been home yesterday, yesterday
G D Em C
Country roads, take me home... to the place I belong
G D C G
West Virginia, mountain mama... take me home, country roads
C G C G
Take me home, country roads... take me home, country roads
Capo notes
If you want to use the chords above and play along with John Denver’s official version, you’ll need a capo on the 2nd fret. Without a capo, you’d need to use chords in the key of A to play along with John Denver (which makes a bit tougher, since a barre chord is needed for F#m). Otherwise, you can use no capo (using the chords I show) and you’ll sound just fine on your own.
Understanding the timing of each chord
We’ll have 4 counts per measure. Chords are either played for 1 or 2 measures, depending on the part of the song. Here’s a look at the chord progressions used for each section. Everytime you see a chord name, play that chord for 4 counts (1 measure). If you see a slash (“/”), repeat the prior chord for an additional measure.
Verse:
G / Em / D / C G
Chorus:
G / D / Em / C /
G / D / C / G /
Bridge:
Em D G /
C G D /
Em F C G
D / D7 /
How to play the chords
Here’s how to play the chords you’ll need. For the F chord, you can get away with the “easy” approach of only playing the middle four strings - this prevents you from needing to play a full barre chord, which is more difficult.
E –––3––––0––––0––––2––––2–––(1)–––
B –––0––––0––––1––––3––––1––––1––––
G –––0––––0––––0––––2––––2––––2––––
D –––0––––2––––2––––0––––0––––3––––
A –––2––––2––––3––––––––––––––3––––
E –––3––––0––––––––––––––––––(1)–––
G Em C D D7 F
How to strum this song
Quite simply, the easiest way is to use all down strums – and accent the “2” and “4” counts in each 4 count measure.
1 2 3 4 D = downstrum
D D D D > = accented strum
> >
To take this a step further, for the “1” and “3” try only playing the bass note the chord with your picking hand. For example:
E –––––3–––––3–– –––––0–––––0–– –––––0–––––0–– –––––2–––––2––
B –––––0–––––0–– –––––0–––––0–– –––––1–––––1–– –––––3–––––3––
G –––––0–––––0–– –––––0–––––0–– –––––0–––––0–– –––––2–––––2––
D –––––0–––––0–– –––––2–––––2–– –––––2–––––2–– ––0––0––0––0–– etc
A –––––2–––––2–– –––––2–––––2–– ––3––3––3––3–– ––––––––––––––
E ––3––3––3––3–– ––0––0––0––0–– –––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––
G Em C D
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
> > > > > > > >
Alternating bass notes
E –––––3–––––3–––––3–––––3–– –––––0–––––0–––––0–––––0––
B –––––0–––––0–––––0–––––0–– –––––0–––––0–––––0–––––0––
G –––––0–––––0–––––0–––––0–– –––––0–––––0–––––0–––––0––
D ––––––––0–––––––––––0––––– ––––––––2–––––––––––2–––––
A –––––––––––––––––––––––––– ––––––––––––––––––––––––––
E ––3–––––––––––3––––––––––– ––0–––––––––––0–––––––––––
G Em
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
> > > > > > > >
Good luck!
Thanks for reading! I hope this helped you. Questions? Comments? Requests? Let me know!
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