Log In My Account Join Upgrade Premium VIP Beta Tester Free Trial
Menu Search Join VIP Beta Tester Premium
 

Home ❯ Songs ❯ Jack Johnson ❯

Flake

by Jack Johnson • Lesson #454 • Sep 24, 2022

In this week’s lesson I’ll teach you to play Flake by Jack Johnson, from his 2001 debut album. I’ll begin by teaching things exactly as Johnson plays them, including the barre chords (showing a few helpful tips to simplify them) and also the strumming pattern — which I’ll walk through step-by-step. At the end of the lesson I’ll show a preview of my easy-going fingerstyle arrangement, should you want an easier way to perform this great song. Enjoy!

Part 2 - Fingerstyle Lesson, with Playthrough

Here’s my deep-dive into the fingerstyle version I preview at the end of my free lesson. I’ll show how you can play this song using chord shapes in the Key of C, which avoids barre chords altogether. Similarly, I’ll be using an easy-going fingerpicking pattern which still manages to capture Johnson’s percussive vibe. Requires Song Notes Premium membership to view.

Only available to Premium members

Upgrade to Premium

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

Save 50% on this song sheet by applying the April 2025 code at Musicnotes checkout: D6M2XGJABM (click to copy). Thanks for being a Premium supporter!

Song Notes Premium includes a 50% discount code you can use when buying any of my licensed song sheets. For the current month's code, upgrade to premium or log in.

Lesson Discussion

Jump in the conversation with other members of the Song Notes community! Post a comment about this lesson, ask a question, or even upload a video of your progress. All skill levels welcome!

View Comments

Jump in the conversation with other members of the Song Notes community! Post a comment about this lesson, ask a question, or even upload a video of your progress. All skill levels welcome!

To access the community forum, upgrade to premium or log in.

Jack Johnson Recordings of Flake

His album version from 2001:

Jack w/ Ben Harper (Live in Australia, 2003):

Jack solo (2002 on Late World with Zach Galifianakis):

Jack w/ his band (Farm Aid 2012) - notice how this is played in the key of E, instead of F! All chords are moved down 1/2 step (that is, 1 fret):

Unlock My Secret Stash!

Gain instant access to my library of 269 print-friendly cheat sheets! Also includes my extended video lessons, jam tracks, courses, and more.

Join Song Notes Premium

Have questions? Watch video tour »

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!

Donate

Looking for More Song Lessons?

Recently Added
Most Popular
Beginner-Friendly
Browse by Artist
Browse by Song Title
Browse by Song Year

Featured Courses

Strumming & Rhythm

While your left hand is busy learning chords, your right hand has its own job: creating a sense of rhythm with strumming! This can be tricky at first, but there's so much fun-to-be-had once you get over the hump. Here's a guide to get you started.

17 lessons

View

Fingerstyle & Travis Picking

Dive into the basics of fingerstyle guitar, with plenty of examples of riffs, exercises, and songs that put this technique to use. This includes a healthy serving of Travis Picking lessons, which feature an alternating bass note played with your right thumb.

31 lessons

View

Blues Starter Kit

A guide to must-know elements of beginner blues guitar! I'll walk you through the essential topics, showing you fun things to play along the way.

18 lessons

View

Reading Music for Guitarists

Learn to read tabs, chord charts, fretboard diagrams, strumming patterns, and more! This course explains how to understand all of these must-know notation styles.

6 lessons

View

Learning Lead Guitar

A collection of videos teaching you licks, riffs, solos, and other lead guitar techniques! Includes info on scales, CAGED shapes, and other helpful lead guitar concepts.

24 lessons

View

Beginner Chord Guide

A guide to the must-know chords you'll need when getting started with guitar! The quickest way to learn major chords, minor chords, the chords in each key, and more.

22 lessons

View

Practical Music Theory

A general overview of must-know theory concepts. The goal here is practical, easy-to-understand explanations — all of which provide clarity to your everyday guitar playing.

12 lessons

View

Using a Capo

Capos are incredibly helpful if you want to play along with your favorite artist, change a song's key, adjust things to your vocal range, and so on. In this series of videos I explain all this & more!

8 lessons

View

Walk Ups & Walk Downs

A very common trope in rock, country, and folk music involves walking bass lines that "connect" one chord to another. I've used this in many of my song lessons, and I'm happy to share this list of related lessons if you'd like to brush up on this technique.

10 lessons

View

CAGED Essentials

Learn about the repeating pattern of shapes on the fretboard, named after the five open chord shapes (C-A-G-E-D). Each shape can be used to play a chord, arpeggio, pentatonic or diatonic scale in every key... which makes them worth knowing!

6 lessons

View

Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made

Fret Monster

Interactive fretboard map! See the patterns behind every scale in any key.

View

Capo Captain

An easy way to calculate key & chord combinations, for any capo location!

View

Key Master

See and hear the notes, chords, scales used in each of the most common keys.

View

Blank Tabs

Free PDF templates to download, print, and write out your own guitar tabs!

View

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

Browse All Recent Lessons →

← back to homepage