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Home ❯ Songs ❯ Van Morrison ❯

Brown Eyed Girl

by Van Morrison • Lesson #479 • Mar 19, 2023

Hello there, my friends! In today’s lesson I’ll teach you how to play Brown Eyed Girl, the Van Morrison classic from 1967. I’ll start off with a beginner-friendly walkthrough of things, including the chord shapes some basic strumming patterns. Later in the lesson I’ll move into some more intermediate techniques, including a percussive strum pattern and a few ways to play the distinctive intro riff. I hope you enjoy!

Timestamps for my main lesson:

  • 0:00 Lesson Summary
  • 1:44 Chord Shapes
  • 4:33 Chord Progressions
  • 7:43 Strumming: Basics
  • 11:36 Strumming: Percussive Slaps
  • 14:42 Intro: Basic Melody
  • 16:52 Intro: Using Sixths
  • 22:02 Intro: Hybrid Picking Tips

Lesson Discussion

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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!

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Play-Along Covers

Here’s a video showing two play-along covers you can use to practice playing this song. One of them uses the “intermediate” strumming pattern I teach (0:00), while the other uses the percussive slap-strum (1:39).

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Audio Backing Tracks

If you want to practice playing over the G-C-G-D chord progression (used in the intro, verse, and refrain) — check out these backing tracks! You could use these to practice strumming, playing the vocal melody, the intro riff (in open position or using sixths).

I’ve included two versions here, one slower (95bpm) and the other a bit more brisk (110bpm). For context, Van Morrison’s recorded version is played at 150bpm — which is quite fast, compared to these!

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G-C-G-D Jam Track (95bpm) (download):


G-C-G-D Jam Track (110bpm) (download):

Here’s some related lessons I’ve made to help the chords & techniques used in this song.

How to Play G Major

★ Instructional PDF

How to Play C Major

★ Instructional PDF

How to Play D Major

★ Instructional PDF

How to Play E Minor

★ Instructional PDF

Slap strumming basics (percussive rhythm technique)

★ Instructional PDF

Major Scales in Open Position

★ Instructional PDF

G-chord finger position guide

★ Instructional PDF

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.

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Other Suggested Videos

Van Morrison’s album version:

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