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St. James Infirmary Blues
by (traditional) • Lesson #216 • Feb 16, 2019
Video Lesson
Instructional PDF 3 pages
Editor’s notes
In this lesson I’ll teach you how to play an acoustic version of the classic St James Infirmary Blues. We’ll be in the key of A-minor, and I’m going to make this as accessible and beginner-friendly as possible. I’ll teach the chords, the progression, some strumming tips, and show you some neat lead licks & fills you can add in between strums of certain chords. I hope you find it helpful… let’s get to it!
Video timestamps:
- 0:00 Playthrough & greeting
- 2:05 Chords shapes needed
- 6:20 Chord progression
- 6:55 Strumming patterns
- 9:39 Adv. strumming tips
- 13:40 Fills & licks
- 21:02 Farewell
My backing track for this song
Lyrics w/ chords
Opening verses:
Am E Am Am
I went down to the St. James Infirmary
Am F E E7
I saw my ba---by there
Am E Am Am
She was laid out on a cold white table
F E Am Am
So cold, so white, so fair
Am E Am Am
Let her go, let her go, god bless her
Am F E E7
...Wherever she may be
Am E Am Am
She may search this wide world over
F E Am Am
She'll never find a sweet man like me
Other verses (use same chord progression):
When I die, bury me in my straight-leg britches
Put on a box-back coat and a Stetson hat
Put a twenty-dollar gold piece on my watch chain
So you can let all the boys know I died standing pat
An' give me six crap shooting pall bearers
Let a chorus girl sing me a song
Put a red hot jazz band at the top of my head
So we can raise Hallelujah as we go along
Folks, now that you have heard my story
Say, boy, hand me another shot of that booze
If anyone should ask you
You just tell 'em I've got those St. James Infirmary blues
How to play the chords
Here are the chord shapes you’ll need for this song. A few quick tips. First, for the E7, feel free to play a regular E if the 3rd fret note on the B string gives you trouble. Second, for the F, feel free to sub in any simplified voicing (2 options shown below) if the full F barre chord gives you trouble.
Typical chord shapes: Alt. positions for F major:
E –––0–––0–––0–––1–––– E –––––––––––
B –––1–––0–––3–––1–––– B –––1–––1–––
G –––2–––1–––1–––2–––– G –––2–––2–––
D –––2–––2–––2–––3–––– D –––3–––3–––
A –––0–––2–––2–––3–––– A –––3–––––––
E –––––––0–––0–––1–––– E –––––––––––
Am E E7 F F F
Chord progression for entire song
Repeat this, over and over (read left to right, top to bottom).
Am E Am Am
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
Am F E E7
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
Am E Am Am
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
F E Am Am
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
Strumming patterns
Simplest way is to do all down strums on the quarter notes (1, 2, 3, 4):
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + d = down strum
d d d d
Next, you could bring in a strum of only the root note (thickest string of any chord) on the 1 and 3 counts, followed by a full strum (of all strings) on the 2 and 4 counts.
A-minor: E-major:
E ––––––0–––––––0––– E ––––––0–––––––0–––
B ––––––1–––––––1––– B ––––––0–––––––0–––
G ––––––2–––––––2––– G ––––––1–––––––1–––
D ––––––2–––––––2––– D ––––––2–––––––2––– etc
A ––0–––––––0––––––– A ––––––2–––––––2–––
E –––––––––––––––––– E ––0–––––––0–––––––
d d d d d d d d
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
You also could bring in up-strums, which I prefer to do in this manner (note this is an 8 count pattern, which is a bit tougher):
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + d = down strum
d d u d d u d d u u u u = up strum
> > > > = accented strum
Adding fills
Here’s the fills I demonstrate in my video lesson. These are always played on the final 2-3-4 beats of the 2nd measure (on each of the 4 lines).
Fill #1 of 4
E –––––––––––––––––––––––0–––
B –––––––––––––––––––––––1–––
G –––––––––––––––––––––––2–––
D –––––––––––––––––––––––2–––
A ––––––––0–3–––0–––––0––––––
E ––0–3–––––––––––3––––––––––
Fill #2 of 4
E ––––––––––––––––––––0–––
B ––––––––––––––––––––1–––
G ––––––––––––––––––––2–––
D ––2–1–0–––––––––––––2–––
A –––––––––3–0–––––0––––––
E ––––––––––––––3–––––––––
Fill #3 of 4
E ––––––––––––––––––––––0–––
B –––––––1–3––1–––––––––1–––
G ––0–2–––––––––2–0–2–––2–––
D ––––––––––––––––––––––2–––
A ––––––––––––––––––––––0–––
E ––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Fill #4 of 4
E –––3–0––––––––––––––––0–––
B ––––––––3–1–––––––––––1–––
G –––––––––––––2–0–2––––2–––
D ––––––––––––––––––––––2–––
A ––––––––––––––––––––––0–––
E ––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Good luck!
Let me know if you have questions. I hope this was helpful.
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