Sweet Home Alabama

How to play Sweet Home Alabama by Lynyrd Skynyrd on guitar

This is a great beginner song because it feels familiar right away and locks into a steady, upbeat groove. You get to hear the chord changes repeat often, so it is easy to settle in and sound musical quickly.

All of the shapes are open, so you do not need any barre chords. The main thing to watch is the move between D, C, and G, since that change comes up again and again in the repeating pattern.

Start by fretting each chord cleanly and switching slowly through D - C - G - D. Then loop that progression until the changes feel automatic, and only after that bring it up to song tempo. Once your hands know the cycle, the whole tune becomes much easier to keep going.

Use the play-along above to follow each chord change in time with the music, or learn the shapes first with the chord diagrams below.