Fast Car

by Tracy Chapman • Lesson #494 • May 27, 2023

In this week’s lesson I’ll be walking you through the intro riff to Fast Car, the Tracy Chapman classic from 1988. I’ll show you how to play things step by step, starting with the most beginner-friendly version of the riff. With each step I’ll add one additional layer of complexity, eventually leading to the full version you can hear Chapman play.

0:00 Overview
1:10 Basic Campfire Version
2:22 Rhythm & “Pushed” Chords
5:14 Adding the Melody
9:51 Adding Chapman Chords
14:34 Adding Fingerpicking
16:01 Adding Grace Notes

Looking for strumming & rhythm tips for this song? See lesson #567 where I teach how to strum all sections, including the chorus.

Practice Notes 4 pages

Lesson Discussion

Quick Links

Lesson #567 where I teach how to strum Fast Car!
Recommended lyric & chord sheet
Song wikipedia page
Tracy Chapman’s version
Luke Combs’ version

Audio Clips

Here’s a handful of audio clips of me playing each exercise I demonstrate in my video lesson. These will let you carefully listen to each step along the way – starting with the most simple. See my print-friendly guide to follow along with a visual (e.g. tabs) for each clip below.

Note, all of these are played with no capo. Again, you’ll need to add capo 2 to play along with Tracy Chapman, and capo 1 to play along with Luke Combs.

Clip 1: Just the Four Chords

Clip 2: Adding “Pushed” Rhythm

Clip 3: Adding Basic Melody

Clip 4: Adding “Up The Neck” Chords

Clip 5: Adding Fingerstyle & Grace Notes

Additional Videos

Tracy Chapman’s original version (capo 2nd fret):

Luke Combs’ cover (capo 1st fret):

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Fast Car

Practice Notes 4 pages

Lesson Discussion

Quick Links

Audio Clips

Clip 1: Just the Four Chords

Clip 2: Adding “Pushed” Rhythm

Clip 3: Adding Basic Melody

Clip 4: Adding “Up The Neck” Chords

Clip 5: Adding Fingerstyle & Grace Notes

Additional Videos

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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

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Practical Music Theory

Using a Capo

Walk Ups & Walk Downs

CAGED Essentials

Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made

Fret Monster

Capo Captain

Key Master

Blank Tabs

Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Recent Lessons