Log In My Account Join Upgrade Premium VIP Beta Tester Free Trial
Menu Search Join VIP Beta Tester Premium
 

Home ❯ Songs ❯ Johnny Cash ❯

← Prev Song Next Song →

Folsom Prison Blues

by Johnny Cash • Lesson #72 • May 28, 2017

Editor’s Notes

Let’s learn how to play Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash! In video lesson I’ll teach the chords, strumming pattern, tabs for the intro, and even how to strum with alternating bass notes. Note, this song will need a capo on the 1st fret if you want to play along w/ the Cash album version. Otherwise, you can leave the capo behind and play it in the key of E. Best of luck!

Free Video Lesson

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 Playthrough
  • 0:44 Chords needed
  • 1:41 Verse structure w/ simple strum
  • 2:50 Intro riff
  • 3:40 Strumming w/ alternating bass notes
  • 5:43 Farewell

Print-Friendly Song Sheet 2 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.com

Save 50% on this song sheet by applying the March 2023 code at Musicnotes checkout: FXSDV8DUHV (click to copy). Thanks for being a Premium supporter!

Song Notes Premium includes a 50% discount code you can use when buying any of my licensed song sheets. For the current month's code, upgrade to premium or log in.

Lyrics with chords

Capo 1st fret to play along with Johnny Cash’s album version

See my sheet music for the lyrics with chords.

Capo 1st Fret (optional)

If you want to play along with the Johnny Cash recorded versions of this song, you’ll need to add a capo to the 1st fret (and use the chords shown above). Otherwise, this is by no means required! You can play without a capo using the notation above and it will sound just fine – you’ll simply in a different key (which is fine).

Chords used

Here are the guitar chords used during this song. If you haven’t learned the B7 shown below, it is a good introductory version of the B chord that will get you a lot of mileage. Don’t let it scare you away if you’re just learning it for the first time – it will open the doors to other songs in the key of E.

e –––0––––0––––2––––  –––0–––
B –––0––––2––––0––––  –––3–––
G –––1––––2––––2––––  –––1–––
D –––2––––2––––1––––  –––2–––
A –––2––––0––––2––––  –––2–––
E –––0––––––––––––––  –––0–––
     E    A    B7        E7

Intro riff

Here is how you can play the riff heard at the beginning of the song, as well as in in between some of the verses and at the end (as you switch from the B7 to the E). I’ve included two ways to play it – one in open position, and another an octave up the fretboard (which frees you up for a bit of soloing, if you please).

See my sheet music for intro tab.

Strumming Pattern

To achieve the alternating bass note (boom-chicka-boom-chicka-boom-chicka) that Johnny Cash is known for, use the following tab as a reference. This said, I strongly recommend viewing the video linked below to watch a demonstration of this. If you can, use your thumb to mute the lower E string on the alternating beats when it is not played – this will help accentuate the bass line. Also, note that the B7 chord position ties directly into the riff you use in the intro.

See my sheet music for strumming pattern diagrams.

Browse Related Lessons

Click any tag below to view other lessons I've made in that category:

About Song Notes

Hey there! My name is David Potsiadlo, and I'm the creator of the 400+ weekly lessons here at Song Notes, going back to 2013. Here’s my guitar story »

Get Free Lessons Each Week!

Join the 20,000+ readers who get my new lessons dropped in their inbox each week. I teach a fun mix of songs, weekly riffs, practice ideas, and more!

Enjoy my lessons? Buy me a beer!

If this and my other lessons have proven helpful to you, please consider making a one-time donation to my tip jar. Contributions of any amount help make this project possible (including the many, many hours I put into it).

Thanks!

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

Browse All Recent Lessons →

Browse my all lessons

By lesson type

By technique

By musical genre

By decade

By musical key

By popular artist

← back to homepage