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About This Lesson
In today’s new lesson I’m excited to teach you how to play Fairytale of New York, the classic Christmas duet by The Pogues feat. Kirsty MacColl. This isn’t a song I grew up listening to, and indeed only learned of it in the past few years via several Song Notes members. In that time it’s become one of my all-time favorites… and in this lesson I’ll teach you everything needed to play it on guitar.
This one uses just four chords (D G A Bm), but rhythmically it’s incredibly tricky. This is due to multiple time signature changes, including two sections in 12/8 time that are quite different from the standard fare in 4/4 time. I’ll walk you through all this, with examples of simple and intermediate strumming patterns you can use along the way. Don’t miss my play-along video, where I perform the entire song measure-for-measure to match The Pogues. Merry Christmas my friends, and enjoy!
- 0:00 Lesson Overview
- 1:50 Intro
- 4:34 Chord Shapes
- 6:00 12/8 Time Rhythm
- 8:22 Verse & Chorus
- 9:27 Refrain
- 13:47 Full Playthrough
Quick Links
- Official Music Video from The Pogues
- Song Wikipedia page
- Lyric & chords
Practice Guide 2 pages
Lesson Discussion
Play-Along Video
This video is the same as the final 3-4 minutes of my main tutorial above, just clipped here for your convenience. It shows me playing through the entire song, with all chord changes shown on-screen for you to follow along with.
Related and Recommended
Here’s a few of the topical lessons I’ve made teaching the skills used in this song. If you use capo 2nd fret (to let you use C F G Am), you may find the F major video below helpful — which shows several simpler ways to play it. Likewise, the 6/8 strumming video below may help you understand 12/8 time… which you can practically think of as two measures of 6/8 time side-by-side.
Likewise, here’s a bunch of my favorite videos that dive into the song and how it was made. I also include the Jimmy Fallon & Saoirse Ronan duet (which omits the second verse), which is what originally turned my head and caused the song to take root in my ears & heart.
The Story Behind Fairytale of New York, from The Pogues:
Classical Composer Reacts to Fairytale of New York:
Jimmy Fallon & Saoirse Ronan Duet:
How the Pogues Created a Christmas Classic (via Polyphonic):
Live Performance at Shane MacGowan’s Funeral (December 2023):
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