Premium
VIP
Beta Tester
Video lesson
Licensed 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.
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.comAbout this lesson
After many requests, I’m proud to share this lesson teaching you how to play El Paso, Marty Robbins’ classic cowboy song from 1959. This one has a delicious intro riff (which I’ll teach in depth), as well as standard cowboy chords that make up the verse & chorus. I’ll teach all this, including 3 different ways to approach the strumming. Enjoy!
- 0:00 Lesson overview
- 0:59 Chord shapes needed
- 1:42 Chord progressions (verse & chorus)
- 5:55 Strumming patterns (3 options)
- 9:45 Playthrough (1st verse & chorus)
- 11:51 Alternating bass note strumming
- 13:01 Intro riff breakdown (with tab)
- 21:44 Farewell
Video of Marty Robbins version of this song
Original studio version:
Live version:
Breaking Bad and El Paso
If you’ve watched the amazing TV series Breaking Bad, you may know the final episode of the entire show is titled “Felina” — which named after the love interest in the song El Paso. In the episode, you see Walter White find a Marty Robbins casette tape in his snowed-in car, which he plays — and sure enough, we hear a few seconds of El Paso in the show.
But what really takes the cake is the video below, which takes scenes from all five seasons of Breaking Bad — and maps them to the El Paso audio, so the scenes match what Robbins is singing about. Walter White is the song narrator, Hank is the cowboy after him, and Felina is the crystal meth, etc. Really well done video… give it a watch below!
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!
Looking for More Song Lessons?
Featured Courses
Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made
Coming soon is Jambox – which shows all the video jam tracks I've made. It's note quite ready for the spotlight, but check it out if you like!
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
-
April 10, 2026
"Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty
-
March 23, 2026
"I'm a Little Crazy" by Morgan Wallen
-
March 17, 2026
[Fixed] Minor Pentatonic Cheat Sheet - Download Link Fixed!
-
March 13, 2026
Guitar Tech Tip: Change the Key of Any YouTube Video
-
March 12, 2026
[Updated] Strum & Riff Guide for "About a Girl" by Nirvana
-
March 3, 2026
Strumming Issues? Try the "Pyramid" Rhythm Drill
-
Feb 13-20, 2026
Save Your "Favorite" Lessons, with Custom Collections!
-
February 4, 2026
Sing & Strum "Piano Man" by Billy Joel
-
Jan 26, 2026
Member Q&A: January 2026
