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Home ❯ Songs ❯ Johnny Cash ❯

You Are My Sunshine

by Johnny Cash • Lesson #410 • Jan 12, 2022

Licensed Song Sheet 4 pages

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About this lesson

Hey friends! Here’s my new video lesson teaching you how to play the traditional classic You Are My Sunshine. I’m basing this on the 2003 version by Johnny Cash, which is played using only 3 chords (A, D, and E) – making it great for absolute beginners. In the second half of the lesson, I’ll show how you can dial up the difficulty a bit if you want to add more complex strumming (e.g. alternating bass notes). I’ll also show two different ways to play the melody riff, tabs included.

  • 0:00 Preview & Lesson Summary
  • 1:49 Chord Shapes
  • 3:31 Chord Progression
  • 5:27 Strumming: Basics
  • 7:05 Strumming: Adding Bass Notes
  • 12:12 Melody Riff w/ Tabs
  • 22:03 Full Playthrough

Learn the Melody!

In lesson #411 I break down the vocal melody of this song, which I recommend learning! It’s a great way to undertstand where the melody notes are within each of the chords you’re playing. My lesson also includes a practice worksheet you can print & follow along with.

Melody, with Chords: "You Are My Sunshine"

★ Instructional PDF

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Title (long)
"You Are My Sunshine" by Johnny Cash
Title (short)
You Are My Sunshine by Johnny Cash
YouTube URL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYp-KcoA8YY
Thumbnail (video)
Video thumbnail for
Thumbnail (pdf)
PDF thumbnail for
Slug
410
Lesson URL
/lessons/410/
PDF num pages
4
Patreon URL
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Discussion URL
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