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

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).

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!

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

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

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Brown Eyed Girl

Lesson Discussion

Play-Along Covers

Audio Backing Tracks

Related Technique Lessons

Licensed Song Sheet 3 pages

Other Suggested Videos

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Looking for More Song Lessons?

Featured Courses

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Fingerstyle & Travis Picking

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Reading Music for Guitarists

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Beginner Chord Guide

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Using a Capo

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Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made

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Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Recent Lessons