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Streets of London
by Ralph McTell • Lesson #534 • Jan 6, 2024
Hey there, friends! In this video I’ll teach you how to play Ralph McTell’s fingerstyle classic, Streets of London. This is a terrifically fun song to play, whether you’re using Travis-style fingerpicking or have a preference for a straightforward strummed version. I’ll teach both approaches – and show you how you can actually combine these playing types (as I do in my full playthrough) to make things a bit more manageable.
My lesson teaches this using capo 4th fret, which is what McTell uses in his album recording. This puts us in the Key of E (if we go by ear), but from a guitar standpoint we’re using Key of C chord shapes (C, F, G, Am, Em). There’s one non-diatonic chord required (D7/F#), but I’ll walk you through that chord to ensure you’re in good shape. Let’s get to it!
- 0:00 Overview
- 1:29 Strumming the Verse
- 3:56 Strumming the Chorus
- 8:49 Fingerstyle Intro: Melody
- 14:46 Fingerstyle Intro: Bass Notes
- 19:04 Fingerstyle Verse
- 20:50 Fingerstyle Chorus
- 24:47 Misc. Tips & Advice
Lesson Discussion
Licensed Song Sheet 6 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.comExtended Video Lessons
Play-Along Cover
Here’s how I play the song from start to finish, using a mixture of fingerstyle and strumming. Typically, I strum during the verse and chorus sections, which makes things easier to manage. I’ll use fingerstyle during the instrumental portions, where I have a bit more mental bandwidth to spare – and can focus on playing the distinctive fingerstyle riff without messing up.
Slow Playthrough: Intro Fingerstyle
Slow Playthrough: Verse Fingerstyle
Slow Playthrough: Chorus Fingerstyle
Recordings of Ralph McTell Playing Streets of London
His Original 1969 Album Recording
This video technically is the entire album, but fortunately Streets of London is the first song! Posting this so you can hear exactly how he recorded it (capo 4th fret).
Live version from 2014 (John Williams 70th Birthday Concert)
A very nice guitar duet! The audience singing along (during the chorus sections) is quite magical as well.
McTell Playing it Live 2022
He’s up there in age quite a bit in this video, but it’s great because you can see his fretting hand clearly the entire time. I’m not able to embed this video directly on my site (due to the preferences of the video owner), so you have to view this one directly on YouTube »
Related Lessons I’ve Made
Here’s a handful of lessons I’ve made that may help with some of the techniques used in this song. Be sure to check out my Travis Picking page for all my lessons on that topic.
Browse Related Lessons
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