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Editorβs notes
Hey friends β hereβs my guitar lesson showing you how to play βHouse of the Rising Sunβ by The Animals (though of course, this song existed well before them). In this tutorial Iβll show you the chords, the progressions needed, talk about strumming patterns, and show a few different tab options for playing the intro and verse sections. Whether you want a beginner-friendly version or something more advanced (e.g. with raked strumming), my videos here should help you out big time!
Hereβs timestamps for the video above:
- 0:00 Lesson overview
- 1:45 Chord shapes needed
- 3:22 Chord progression basics
- 4:43 Fingerstyle: learning the basics
- 7:25 Fingerstyle: intro & verse tab
- 12:02 Playthrough of intro & verses
- 13:50 Farewell & final advice
My original video for this song (lesson #96)
In addition to the video above, hereβs the original entry I made for this song a few years back. This one holds up just fine, and remains a worthy companion to the updated video at the top of this page.
Lyrics w/ chords
INTRO
Am C D F Am E Am E x1
VERSE
Am C D F Am C E E
There is... a house in New Orleans... they call--- the Rising Sun
Am C D F Am E Am C D F Am E Am E
And it's been... the ruin of many a poor boy... and God... I know I'm one
Am C D F Am C E E
My mother.... was a tailor.... she sewed my new blue jeans
Am C D F Am E Am C D F Am E Am E
My father... was a gambling man..... down in New Orleans
Am C D F Am C E E
Now the only thing a gambler needs... is a suitcase and trunk
Am C D F Am E Am C D F Am E Am E
And the only time he's... satisfied... is when he's on, a drunk
[ instrumental verse x1 ]
Am C D F Am C E E
Am C D F Am E
Am C D F Am E Am E
Am C D F Am C E E
Oh mother... tell your children......... not to do what I have done
Am C D F Am E Am C D F Am E Am E
Spend your lives in sin and misery... in the House of the Rising Sun
Am C D F Am C E E
Well, I got one foot on the platform... the other foot on the train
Am C D F Am E Am C D F Am E Am E
I'm going back to New Orleans... to wear that ball and chain
Am C D F Am C E E
Well, there is a house in New Orleans... they call the Rising Sun
Am C D F Am E Am C D F Am E Am E
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy... and God I know I'm one
Chords needed
E βββ0ββββ0ββββ2ββββ1ββββ0ββββ ββββ0ββββ
B βββ1ββββ1ββββ3ββββ1ββββ0ββββ ββββ1ββββ If the F gives you a hard
G βββ2ββββ0ββββ2ββββ2ββββ1ββββ ββββ2ββββ time, use this 3-finger
D βββ2ββββ2ββββ0ββββ3ββββ2ββββ ββββ3ββββ version (leave high-E open).
A βββ0ββββ3ββββββββββββββ2ββββ βββββββββ
E βββββββββββββββββββββββ0ββββ βββββββββ
Am C D F E F
Chord progressions
The entire song uses the following progressions. Each chord written below is to be played for one full measure. Each measure has 6 counts.
INTRO Am C D F Am E Am E
VERSE "There is a house in New Orleans..."
Am C D F
"They call the rising sun..."
Am C E E
"It's been the ruin of many a poor boy..."
Am C D F
"And God, I know I'm one"
Am E Am C D F Am E Am E
Strumming pattern
At its simplest, you want to accent the β1β and β4β beats within a 6 beat measure. Use downstrums for these:
1 2 3 4 5 6
D D
From there, you could fill things in a bit by adding additional downstrums on all other beats. Just be sure to maintain your accents on β1β and β4β:
1 2 3 4 5 6
D d d D d d
> >
Taking it even further, you can add in some upstrums as shown here:
1 2 3 4 5 6
D d u d u D d u d u
> >
Intro riff, simplified
If you want to roughly mimic the guitar sound of The Animals, youβll want to pluck individual strings. The easiest way to do this is as follows. The general idea here is to (1) start by playing the bottom note from the given chord, then (2) play the thinnest three strings in the arpeggiated manner shown below. i.e., 3rd string, 2nd string, 1st string, 2nd string, 3rd string. This works well whether you use a pick or play fingerstyle.
E βββββββ0βββββ βββββββ0βββββ βββββββ2βββββ βββββββ1βββββ βββββββ0βββββ <= right ring
B βββββ1βββ1βββ βββββ1βββ1βββ βββββ3βββ3βββ βββββ1βββ1βββ βββββ0βββ0βββ <= right middle
G βββ2βββββββ2β βββ0βββββββ0β βββ2βββββββ2β βββ2βββββββ2β βββ1βββββββ1β <= right index
D βββββββββββββ βββββββββββββ β0βββββββββββ β3βββββββββββ βββββββββββββ <= right thumb
A β0βββββββββββ β3βββββββββββ βββββββββββββ βββββββββββββ βββββββββββββ <= right thumb
E βββββββββββββ βββββββββββββ βββββββββββββ βββββββββββββ β0βββββββββββ <= right thumb
Am C D F E
In this manner, the intro would be played like this:
E |βββββββ0βββββ|βββββββ0βββββ|βββββββ2βββββ|βββββββ1βββββ|β
B |βββββ1βββ1βββ|βββββ1βββ1βββ|βββββ3βββ3βββ|βββββ1βββ1βββ|β
G |βββ2βββββββ2β|βββ0βββββββ0β|βββ2βββββββ2β|βββ2βββββββ2β|β
D |βββββββββββββ|βββββββββββββ|β0βββββββββββ|β3βββββββββββ|β
A |β0βββββββββββ|β3βββββββββββ|βββββββββββββ|βββββββββββββ|β
E |βββββββββββββ|βββββββββββββ|βββββββββββββ|βββββββββββββ|β
Am C D F
β|βββββββ0βββββ|βββββββ0βββββ|βββββββ0βββββ|βββββββ0βββββ||
β|βββββ1βββ1βββ|βββββ0βββ0βββ|βββββ1βββ1βββ|βββββ0βββ0βββ||
β|βββ2βββββββ2β|βββ1βββββββ1β|βββ2βββββββ2β|βββ1βββββββ1β||
β|βββββββββββββ|βββββββββββββ|βββββββββββββ|βββββββββββββ||
β|β0βββββββββββ|βββββββββββββ|β0βββββββββββ|βββββββββββββ||
β|βββββββββββββ|β0βββββββββββ|βββββββββββββ|β0βββββββββββ||
Am E Am E
Intro riff, with raked arpeggio
If you want to truly mimic the sound of The Animals version, youβll need to use a βrakedβ downstrum for the 2 and 3 counts. By raked, I mean a single downstrum played in a single smooth motion, playing multiple strings. This is actually tough to do in a way that sounds consistent across all chords. One challenge is the fact that some strings use 4 strings, others use 5 strings, and others use 6 strings. A key to the rake motion is to not play the highest E string as part of the A-minor, C-major, and E-major chords. For the F-major and D-major itβs okay to play the high-E string as part of the rake, since you only have 4 strings in total to work with.
v = downstrum
^ = upstrum
~ = raked downstrum (single motion, multiple strings)
E βββββββββ0ββββββ βββββββββ0ββββββ ββββββββ2ββββββ ββββββββ1ββββββ ββββββββ0ββββββ
B βββββββ1βββ1ββββ βββββββ1βββ1ββββ ββββββ3βββ3ββββ ββββββ1βββ1ββββ ββββββ0βββ0ββββ
G ββββββ2ββββββ2ββ ββββββ0ββββββ0ββ βββββ2ββββββ2ββ βββββ2ββββββ2ββ βββββ1ββββββ1ββ
D βββββ2ββββββββββ βββββ2ββββββββββ ββ0β0ββββββββββ ββ3β3ββββββββββ ββββ2ββββββββββ
A ββ0β0βββββββββββ ββ3β3βββββββββββ βββββββββββββββ βββββββββββββββ βββ2βββββββββββ
E ββββββββββββββββ ββββββββββββββββ βββββββββββββββ βββββββββββββββ ββ0ββββββββββββ
v ~~~~ ^ ^ ^ v ~~~~ ^ ^ ^ v ~~~ ^ ^ ^ v ~~~ ^ ^ ^ v ~~~ ^ ^ ^
Am C D F E
Good luck!
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