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Editorβs notes
This video is an acoustic guitar lesson for the classic rock song βLike a Rolling Stoneβ by Bob Dylan (1965, from his album βHighway 61 Revisitedβ). This video includes a playthrough, chords, tabs, and strumming patterns β showing how to play this song in standard tuning on an acoustic guitar (without a capo). I created this tutorial for Songnotes, which is my personal music lesson web project (video and text-based lessons).
Chords with lyrics
INTRO
C - Fmaj7 - C - Fmaj7
VERSE
C Dm
Once upon a time you dressed so fine...
Em F G
Threw the bums a dime in your prime... didn't you?
C Dm
...People call, say beware doll
Em F G
You're bound to fall, you thought they were all... kidding you
PRE-CHORUS
F G
...You used to... laugh about
F G
...Everybody that was... hanging out
F Em Dm C
...Now you don't talk so loud
F Em Dm C
...Now you don't seem so proud
Dm F G
About having to be scrounging... your next meal
CHORUS
C F G C F G
....How does it feel.............. how does it feel...
C F G C F G
To be without a home.......... like a complete unknown....
C F G
Like a rolling stone...
ADDITIONAL VERSE, PRE-CHORUS, & CHORUS SECTIONS:
Ah, youβve gone to the finest school
Alright, Ms. Lonely, but you know you only used to get... juiced in it
Nobodyβs ever taught you how to live out on the street
And now youβre gonna have to get used to it
You said youβd never compromise
With the mystery train, but now you realize
Heβs not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And say, do you want to, make a deal?
How does it feel?.... How does it feel?
To be on your own.... With no direction home
A complete unknown... Like a rolling stone
Ah, you never turned around to see the frowns
On the jugglers and the clowns when they all did tricks for you
You never understood that it ainβt no good
You shouldnβt let other people get your kicks for you
You used to ride on a chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a siamese cat
And it hard when you discovered that
He really wasnβt where its at
After he took for you everything he could steal
How does it feel?............... How does it feel?
To have (to be?) on your own.... With no direction home
Like a complete unknown......... Like a rolling stone
Ah, princess on the steeple, and all the pretty people
Theyβre all drinking, thinking that theyβve got it made
Exchanging all precious gifts, but you better take a diamond ringβ¨
You better pawn it babe
You used to be so amused
That Napoleon in ranks, and the language that he used
Go to him now, he calls you, you canβt refuse
When you ainβt got nothing, you got nothing to lose
Youβre invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal
How does it feel?.......... Ah, how does it feel?
To be on your own.......... With no direction home
Like a complete unknown.... Like a rolling stone
Chord progression cheat sheet
VERSE
"Once upon a time you dressed so fine..."
C . . . Dm . . . Em . . . F . . .
G . . . G . . . G . . . G . . .
"People call, say beware doll..."
C . . . Dm . . . Em . . . F . . .
G . . . G . . . G . . . G . . .
PRE-CHORUS
"You used to laugh about..."
F . . . F . . . G . . . G . . . x2
"Now you don't talk so loud..."
F . . . Em . . . Dm . . . C . . . x2
"About having to be scrounging..."
Dm . . . Dm . . . F . . . F . . .
G . . . G . . . G . . . G . . .
CHORUS
"How does it feel..."
C . . . F . . . G . . . G . . . x4
How to play the chords
Here are the chords youβll need to play this song, as played in their standard voicings. For the intro, Iβll use an Fmaj7 instead of a pure F-major chordβ¦ this sounds like more like Dylan, and is also easier to pull off with the pretty quick strumming. If youβre having trouble with the F, you can play a simplified version by only playing the thinnest 4 strings OR the middle 4 strings (thereβs no strict need to play all 6 strings or bust).
E ββββ0ββββ1ββββ0ββββ1ββββ3ββββ βββ1ββββ0βββ
B ββββ1ββββ3ββββ0ββββ1ββββ0ββββ βββ0ββββ1βββ
G ββββ0ββββ2ββββ0ββββ2ββββ0ββββ βββ0ββββ2βββ
D ββββ2ββββ0ββββ2ββββ3ββββ0ββββ βββ0ββββ3βββ
A ββββ3βββββββββ2ββββ3ββββ2ββββ βββ2ββββ3βββ
E ββββββββββββββ0ββββ1ββββ3ββββ βββ3ββββββββ
C Dm Em F G G7 Fmaj7
You can also use barre chords to play these same chords. Iβm mainly showing this so you can get a sense of how the chord shapes look when they move up the fretboard (which is a handy thing to remember when learning other songs which use any of these same chords):
E βββββ(3)βββββ(5)βββββ(7)βββββ(8)ββββ(10)βββ
B ββββββ5βββββββ6βββββββ8ββββββ10ββββββ12ββββ
G ββββββ5βββββββ7βββββββ9ββββββ10ββββββ12ββββ
D ββββββ5βββββββ7βββββββ9ββββββ10ββββββ12ββββ
A ββββββ3βββββββ5βββββββ7βββββββ8ββββββ10ββββ
E βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
C Dm Em F G
Intro strumming
Hereβs how Iβll strum the intro of this song:
E βββ0βββββββ0βββ0β0βββ0ββ0ββ0ββ0ββ0βββ
B βββ1βββββββ1βββ1β1βββ1ββ1ββ1ββ1ββ1βββ
G βββ0βββββββ0βββ0β0βββ2ββ2ββ2ββ2ββ2βββ
D βββ2βββββββ2βββ2β2βββ3ββ3ββ3ββ3ββ3βββ
A βββ3βββββββ3βββ3β3βββ3ββ3ββ3ββ3ββ3βββ
E βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ
C Fmaj7
1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a
d d d u u d u d u d u
For the rest of the song, Iβll typically use a pattern like this.
1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a
d d d d u d d d d u
> > > >
Which reads as:
DOWN down DOWN down up, DOWN down DOWN down up (etc)
Good luck!
I hope this helps, and as always let me know if you have any questions.
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