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Home ❯ Songs ❯ Lynyrd Skynyrd ❯

Simple Man

by Lynyrd Skynyrd • Lesson #56 • Apr 7, 2017

About this lesson

In this lesson, I show you how to play the song Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd on an acoustic guitar. I’ll show you how to play the chords needed, the strumming patterns, the distinctive riffs (easy and intermediate versions), and also the picking pattern heard in the intro of the song. Tabs and chord charts are included. Note, I’ll be playing in standard tuning (note, you must tune down one-half step to play along with the Lynyrd Skynyrd version).

  • 0:00 Lesson overview
  • 2:01 Chords
  • 4:28 Riff, simple
  • 6:45 Riff, intermediate
  • 8:48 Picking pattern
  • 13:17 Misc other notes

Licensed Song Sheet 3 pages

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Chords you’ll need

Three chords for the entire song!

E –––0––––3––––0–––
B –––1––––0––––1–––
G –––0––––0––––2–––
D –––2––––0––––2–––
A –––3––––2––––0–––
E ––––––––3––––––––
     C    G    Am

Chord progressions

Same chord progression for the entire song! One measure of C, one measure of G, two measures of A-minor. Repeat that, literally, for the entire song. Whether you (or your pals) are strumming, picking, soloing, or playing the jazz flute – these are the chords you’ll want to be living in.

C . . . G . . . Am . . . Am . . .

Strumming pattern

If you’re super new to guitar, start with downstrums on the “1” and “3” counts only:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
↓       ↓       ↓       ↓
>       >       >       >

Then, taken a tad further with difficulty, I recommend this:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
↓       ↓   ↓ ↑ ↓       ↓   ↓ ↑
>       >       >       >

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