Video Lesson
Sheet music for this song will be returning shortly!
- The sheet music for this song is temporarily unavailable while I move it over to Musicnotes.com, a sheet music service that is providing licensing for my "song" arrangements.
- Want me to priortize this song, so the sheet music is ready sooner? Click the button below and let me know – this helps me know which songs to work on next!
To learn more about my library of song sheets & instructional PDFs, click here.
Editor’s notes
Hey friends! In this lesson I’ll teach you how to play “Peace of Mind” by Tyler Childers (track 7 off his 2nd album, “Country Squire”). This is a very straightforward waltz-strumming song that only uses three chords. I’ll not only teach the chords, but explain a few ways to step-by-step get used to the 3/4-time strumming pattern – including the alternating bass note technique. I hope you enjoy! And I very highly recommend this entire album from Childers – I’ve had it on repeat. While the guitar parts don’t stand out as much as they do in his first album, his songwriting and vocals are A+ in my book.
Here’s what I cover in this lesson:
- 0:00 Playthrough & overview
- 1:14 Capo & chords
- 1:52 Strumming: waltz basics
- 4:33 Strumming: alternating bass notes (with tabs)
- 6:30 Verse
- 9:03 Chorus
- 10:06 Farewell
Lyrics w/ chords
* Capo 1st fret
VERSE, PART 1
E
He drinks orange juice and vodka, in the basement while she's talking
E B7
To someone long distance, for hours and hours on end
B7
And as he's slowly sippin', he thinks about his children
B7 E
And the heart attacks that youngest daughter's always giving him
VERSE, PART 2
E
He ain't smoked no marijuana, since he got on with the railroad
E A
And he's been on with the railroad, for a long and lonesome while
A E
But the day that he retires, he'll smoke himself to China
B7 E
He'll leave behind his worries, as he's racing through the sky
CHORUS
A E B7 E
The days are dark... down in the holler... Waitin' for... the sun to shine
A E B7 E
On the back... you have been breakin'... tryin' to earn... peace of mind
E
She sells Avon to her buddies... and saves a little money
E B7
On the makeup she's been using... to hide away the years
B7
And she sits and watches TV... usually every evening
B7 E
If there ain't some kind of ballgame... that her daughter has to cheer
E
She sneaks menthols in the mornin'... while her family's still snorin'
E A
And as she burns the Eggo's... she looks back at her life
A E
That heart she broke in high school... he's singing on the Opry
B7 E
She wonders what the hell... that she was thinkin' at the time
[ CHORUS ]
Their [E] youngest daughter Stella... she's running with this fell
That [E] he cannot stand the thought of... that he surely does de[B7]spise
He's [B7] told her he best never... see the two of them together
But it's [B7] hard to keep an eye on her... when you're workin' all the [E] time
There are [E] things he needs to tend to... and the bills the bank keeps sendin'
Lord, the [E] zeros on the end keep pushing further to the [A] right
Like a [A] freight train haulin' sorrow... and [A] movin' ever onward
Through the [B7] tunnel of forever... to the never endin' [E] light
Tyler Childers’ version of this song
Here’s the official version of this song, if you want to hear it:
Get my lessons in your inbox!
Every couple weeks I send out an email newsletter with links to whatever new lessons I've made. Sign up here and stay in the loop!
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).
You can also support me on Patreon. For only $5/month you'll get access to a print-friendly PDF of my notes for each new lesson (view free sample).
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 video lessons:
📝 My "song" PDFs are now individually purcasheable! I've arranged a licensing agreement with Musicnotes, a service that lets you buy my sheet music arrangements. Patreon supporters get 50% off each purchase. Learn more here »
June 22, 2022
How to Make Drum Tracks Using GarageBand's Beat Sequencer
A beginner's guide to using GarageBand's Beat Sequencer tool to create custom drum beats! Even if you're a total novice when it comes to drumming (like me), I'll walk you through the basic steps to create rich-sounding drum tracks to play over while practicing or performing.
May 27, 2022
Creating a Fingerstyle Arrangement of Tom Petty's "American Girl"
A few years after learning American Girl the way Tom Petty plays it, I returned to it — this time determined to work out a low-key, easy-going fingerstyle arrangement. Here's how it went!
May 22, 2022
Using Triads & Double-Stops to Punch Up a Melody
As part of my Learning Lead Guitar series, I share a realization I recently had showing different ways to fill out melody lines using triads, double-stops, and harmonized sixths.
May 19, 2022
Q&A: Learning a Song for a Wedding? Here's My Advice.
I answer an audience question about how to go about learning a song (with a tricky riff) for a peformance at a family wedding.
May 12, 2022
List of My Beginner-Friendly Song Lessons
After many requests from y'all, I finally created this list of all my beginner-friendly song lessons! These are grouped by key, allowing you to take the chord shapes you already know and find other songs using those same shapes.
May 4, 2022
Easier Ways to Play B-minor (No Barring Required)
Two easier ways to play B-minor, using open chord voicings — super helpful to have these in your toolkit. Includes different practice riffs to accompany each chord voicing.
Browse my all lessons
By lesson type
- Full Song Lessons
- Beginner Songs
- Backing Tracks
- Play-Along Covers
- Warm-Up Exercises
- Tips & Techniques
By song decade
By musical genre
By guitar technique
By musical key
By popular artist
- Johnny Cash
- Tyler Childers
- Tom Petty
- Neil Young
- Nirvana
- Lynyrd Skynyrd
- Willie Nelson
- John Denver
- Guns N' Roses