City of New Orleans

by Arlo Guthrie • Lesson #439 • Jun 10, 2022

Hey there, friends! New lesson today teaching you how to play City of New Orleans — originally written/recorded by Steve Goodman (1971) before the hit covers from Arlo Guthrie (1972) and Willie Nelson (1984). You may know this song by its chorus refrain – ”Good morning, America / how are you?”. I’ve gotten many requests for this one over the years… so I’m excited to finally have this lesson for y’all!

I’m modeling my lesson after Arlo Guthrie’s version, and teaching this song in the Key of G. This mostly keeps the chords simple and straightforward… though you will have a B-minor, as well as a brief measure of F, to worry about. Fear not, I’ll show you simplified versions of both of these chords — so you’ll most definitely be able to play it even if barre chords aren’t under your belt. For strumming, I’ll likewise show you a few different options for you to pick from based on your skill level and taste. I hope you enjoy!

Free Video Lesson

Timestamps:

0:00 Demonstration
0:48 Verse
2:28 Pre-Chorus
5:22 Chorus
8:00 Strumming Patterns
13:49 Chorus Walk-Down
17:14 Full Playthrough
22:14 Song Sheet Overview

Licensed Song Sheet 3 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

Capo and Tuning Notes!

My video lesson for this song uses no capo and uses chords in the key of G major. To play along with other popular versions using Key of G, here’s a tuning and capo guide for you. Note, Steve Goodman is using the Key of C… but you can play along with him, using Key of G chords, if you add capo 7.

My Lesson      No capo, standard Tuning
Arlo Guthrie   No capo, tune down 1/2 step
Willie Nelson  Capo 7
Judy Collins   Capo 4
Steve Goodman  Capo 5

Listen to Arlo Guthrie Play This Song

Album Recording

Key of F#! Or, play guitar chords in the key of G (as I show in my lesson) and tune all strings down by 1/2 step. If you need help with that, see my lesson on E-flat tuning.

Live Performance

Key of G, which is the same as my lesson. Arlo plays guitar in this video, which is cool to watch. From Farm Aid 2000.

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Here’s instructional lessons I’ve made teaching concepts that are useful in this song.

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City of New Orleans

Free Video Lesson

Licensed Song Sheet 3 pages

Capo and Tuning Notes!

Listen to Arlo Guthrie Play This Song

Album Recording

Live Performance

Additional Lessons To Help With This Song

Unlock My Secret Stash!

Browse Related Lessons

Enjoy My Lessons? Show Your Support!

Looking for More Song Lessons?

Featured Courses

Strumming & Rhythm

Fingerstyle & Travis Picking

Blues Starter Kit

Reading Music for Guitarists

Learning Lead Guitar

Beginner Chord Guide

Practical Music Theory

Using a Capo

Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made

Fret Monster

Capo Captain

Key Master

Blank Tabs

Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Recent Lessons