Patience

by Guns N' Roses • Lesson #288 • Mar 4, 2020

Video lesson

Print-Friendly Song Sheet 3 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 2024 code at Musicnotes checkout: H39W333H8J (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.

Editor’s notes

Hey friends! Here’s a tutorial on how to play the 1989 acoustic classic “Patience” by Guns N’ Roses. I’ll teach you the chords, lyrics, strumming, progressions, runs n’ fills, and show you everything else you need to know to pick up this song and play. Note you’ll need to tune down 1/2 step to play this along with Guns n Roses – though my lesson will be in standard tuning.

Video lesson timestamps:

  • 0:00 Lesson overview
  • 1:15 Tuning & chords shapes
  • 3:38 Progressions & strumming
  • 10:14 Basic riffs & fills
  • 13:13 Playthrough of full song

Play-along cover

Here’s me playing the song, from beginning to end, with chords and lyrics:

Lyrics with chords

Remember, tune down 1/2 step to play along with Guns N’ Roses – which would be (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb) or (D# G# C# F# A# D#), depending on how your tuner prefers to do things.

See PDF for lyrics with chords.

Guitar Chords Used

Here is how to play the guitar chords used in this song. If the F gives you trouble, you can use one of the “mini” F versions I show on the right. Note, some folks will show you how to play this song with a D/F# (200232) during the outro - which you surely can do if you want! But I’m showing a regular D here to keep things simple.

e-|----0----3----2----0----0----1---- --(2)-- ------1-------
B-|----1----0----3----2----0----1---- ---3--- --1---1-------
G-|----0----0----2----2----0----2---- ---2--- --2---2---2---
D-|----2----0----0----2----2----3---- ---0--- --3---3---3---
A-|----3----2---------0----2----3---- ---0--- --3-------3---
E-|---------3--------------0----1---- ---2--- ----------1---
       C    G    D    A    Em   F       D/F#    F   F   F

Strumming patterns

Strumming is tricky for this song, only because of the heavy nuance heard in the GnR acoustic guitars (i.e., there’s no one obvious strumming pattern). That said, here’s a few relatively simple patterns I like to utilize.

Intro & verse strum

My goal for the intro & verse sections is to be a bit lighter with my strum – i.e., keeping my foot off the gas, so to speak. I’ll generally use the pattern below, but I’ll additionally be “light” with my volume and minimal with the number of strings I play in any given strum. e.g., I’ll often strum the bass note on the “1” count, and then 1-3 strings at a time with any other strum. See my video lesson for reference.

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D   D U   U D U       "Down, down-up, up-down-up"

Chorus & outro strum

My goal in these sections is to be a bit more louder & impactful. I’ll lean into accents a bit more (either on the 1 & 3, or the 2 & 4), and not hesitate to strum all the strings in any given chord. The main idea here is steady down strums on all the quarter notes (1-2-3-4), while adding occasional “up” strums in between – especially in the latter half of any given measure.

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D   D   D U D U       "Down, DOWN, down-up-DOWN-up"

Chord progressions

See PDF for chord progression diagram.

Runs and fills

Adding a riff to the D chord

Throughout this song, this simple riff is thrown in with the D chord occasionally. You’re simply removing your finger (or adding a finger) to the high E string – listen along to the song for reference.

e-|---2------0---2------3---2---0---2----
B-|---3------3---3------3---3---3---3----
G-|---2------2---2------2---2---2---2----
D-|---0------0---0------0---0---0---0----
A-|--------------------------------------
E-|--------------------------------------
      D    Dsus2 D    Dsus4 D Dsus2 D

C-riff in the intro

Here’s the tab for a nice little C-riff you can do in the opening chord of the entire song. Use your left pinky on the 3rd fret of the B string, then release your pinky - before releasing your left index for a few strums too.s For context, you begin whistling on the “G” chord here.

e-|---0-----0-----0---------------3---
B-|---1-----1-----3--1--0--1------0---
G-|---0-----0-----0---------------0---
D-|---2-----2-----2---------------0---
A-|---3-----3-----3---------------2---
E-|-------------------------------3---
      C                           G

Walking down the final G-D transition

In the outro, and the very end, here’s the walkdown that connects the final G to the final D (let that ring to end the song).

  "all the time-----------"
e-|--------2----------3-----3-2-------------2----
B-|--------3----------0---------3-----------3----
G-|--------2----------0-----------2-0-------2----
D-|--------0----------0---------------4-0---0----
A-|-------------------2--------------------------
E-|-------------------3--------------------------
           D          G

Videos of this song

Guns N’ Roses album version. Remember, tune down 1/2 step!

A recommended lesson, if you don’t like mine.

Unlock My Secret Stash!

Gain instant access to my library of 212 print-friendly cheat sheets! Also includes my extended video lessons, jam tracks, courses, and more.

Join Song Notes Premium

Have questions? Watch video tour »

Browse Related Lessons

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

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).

Fun & Helpful Tools I've Made

Fret Monster

Interactive fretboard map! See the patterns behind every scale in any key.

View

Capo Captain

An easy way to calculate key & chord combinations, for any capo location!

View

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

  • March 15, 2023

    Pink Floyd's "Breathe" - with Simpler Chords Included

    Learn to play through Pink Floyd's 1973 classic! I'll teach the chords they use, while also showing a handful of useful simplifications and riffs to make this work on a single acoustic guitar.

  • March 6, 2024

    Q&A: 8 Tips to Avoid Muting Strings

    If you're frustrated by muffled, muted, or buzzing strings when playing chords, you're not alone! Here's 8 tips to avoid this common issue.

  • March 1, 2024

    Blues Shuffle Riffs - Using Just 2 Strings!

    A step-by-step introduction to blues shuffle riffs in open position, which are an amazingly fun-to-play way to get that blues sound with just a few fingers.

  • February 16, 2024

    Soulful Lead Guitar with "America the Beautiful"

    Here's a few ways to approach playing melodic lead guitar over America is Beautiful - shown both on an acoustic and electric guitar. Lots of fun!

  • February 8, 2024

    Country Honk by The Rolling Stones

    Let's learn how to play The Stones' acoustic & countrified version of Honky Tonk Women — with all the riffs included!

  • January 31, 2024

    Beginner Blues - New Course Sneak Peek!

    Watch the first three videos of my upcoming course, Beginner Blues Guitar — where I'll teach youthe 12 bar blues, dominant 7th chords, and the shuffle (swing) rhythm.

  • January 23, 2024

    Strumming with Accented Notes

    A deep-dive into this must-know intermediate strumming technique, with step-by-step exercises to get up to speed! Featuring the Green Day song Time of Your Life.

  • January 13, 2024

    Lead Guitar Finger Placement – ft. La Sitiera (The Mavericks)

    Ever find yourself learning a riff, and not being sure which fingers to use? I'll give you a few tips in this video that'll help, no matter what you're playing!

  • January 9, 2024

    Hybrid Fingerstyle - First Steps!

    Let's look at combining percussive strumming with Travis-style fingerpicking melodies. I'll show 4-5 exercises & song examples to get you started.

  • January 6, 2024

    Streets of London by Ralph McTell

    Learn how to fingerpick Ralph McTell's 1969 folk classic! I also show you how to strum it, should you want something a bit easier.

Browse All Recent Lessons →

Browse All My Lessons

By lesson type

By technique

By musical genre

By decade

By musical key

By popular artist


← back to homepage