Premium
VIP
Beta Tester
About This Lesson
In today’s lesson I’ll teach you to play Bruce Cockburn’s 1996 classic Pacing the Cage. This is an amazingly fun song to play, as the Travis-style fingerpicking arrangement is full of novel & unique quirks that pair amazingly well with his memorable songwriting. I’ll start simple and build up from there — giving you a few semi-simplified ways to put it all together should Cockburn’s “full” fingerpicking approach be too tricky. Let’s get into it!
Quick Links
- Lyric & chords
- Bruce Cockburn performing Pacing the Cage from 2012
- Jimmy Buffett’s Pacing the Cage cover from 1999
- Cockburn’s comments about Pacing the Cage from cockburnproject.net
Practice Notes 6 pages
Lesson Discussion
Bonus Videos
Here’s a few extra videos, made in thanks to those supporting me with Premium membership here on my Song Notes website. To those showing your support, you have my true thanks and appreciation — and I hope you find these additional videos helpful!
Exercise 1: Chords Only (Single Strum)
Here’s a playthrough of each section, using a single strum of each chord in the progression. Instead of strumming, I’m grabbing the bass string (of each chord) with my thumb, while my right index/middle/ring fingers play the thinnest three strings.
Exercise 2: Chords with Alternating Bass Notes
Once you learn the chord progression, I recommend practicing the alternating bass notes — all of which are played with your right thumb. Mastering this is quite helpful, as things only get trickier when we add in the remaining fingerpicking notes.
Exercise 3: Semi-Simplified Travis Picking
This is a halfway point between the previous exercise (chords with alternating bass notes) and the next exercise (the “full” travis picking).
Exercise 4: “Full” Travis Picking
How Bruce Cockburn plays it on his album version! Note, this is the trickiest of all arrangements — so don’t feel bad if you can’t quite pull this off.
My “Secret Stash” Fingerstyle Arrangement
This takes the “full” Bruce Cockburn arrangement I show in the previous video, but with some of my own tweaks to make things a bit easier to play — especially while singing. You don’t need to play things this way yourself — but if you want something slightly simplified to make this song more manageable, use this as inspiration.
Full Song Playthrough
Finally, here’s me putting it all together. I use Bruck Cockburn’s “full” fingerpicking styling during the intro, and then switch to my “secret stash” arrangement during the verse / pre-chorus / chorus sections, to make singing along easier.
Need Help with Travis-style Fingerpicking?
Browse Related Lessons
Click any tag below to view other lessons I've made in that category:
Enjoy My Lessons? Show Your Support!
Most of the lessons on my website are 100% free. If you have the means, please show your support with a tip jar contribution. I put many hours into every lesson — but it only takes you a minute to make a donation. You have my thanks!
Looking for More Song Lessons?
Featured Courses
Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made
Coming soon is Jambox – which shows all the video jam tracks I've made. It's note quite ready for the spotlight, but check it out if you like!
Subscribe to my YouTube channel
Be sure to never miss a lesson by subscribing on YouTube. I put out 2-3 new videos every week. These include full song lessons, as well as covers, practice tips, behind-the-scenes updates. Thanks!
Recent Lessons
-
June 6, 2026
Melody, with Chords: "Love Me Tender"
-
June 5, 2026
"Love Me Tender" as played by Elvis Presley
-
May 29, 2026
Learning Triads with "Happy Birthday" (Key of G)
-
May 19, 2026
Guitar Jam Tracks: How I Make Them!
-
May 4, 2026
New and Improved! Song List Update.
-
April 24, 2026
Country Fingerstyle, Melody + Bass (feat. "Live Forever" by Billy Joe Shaver)
-
April 21, 2026
Sneak Peek! Step-by-Step Travis Picking Course
-
April 10, 2026
"Free Fallin'" by Tom Petty
-
March 23, 2026
"I'm a Little Crazy" by Morgan Wallen
