Wagon Wheel has become one of the most iconic country songs ever. Some venues even discourage people from performing it!
It was originally written by Bob Dylan and Ketch Secor of Old Crow Medicine Show. This guitar tutorial will show you 4 easy chords, as well as the basic country strumming pattern needed to play this campfire classic!
1. A minor chord
The A minor chord is one of the easiest and most basic chords you’ll come across in music, making it ideal for beginners. Not only is it straightforward and sounds great; learning this chord can also deepen your understanding of scales as they relate to chords.
To form the A minor chord, start by placing your second finger on the fourth string and making sure that your fingers are curved in a pleasing manner – no pressing down too hard! Next, strum down, then up! Do this pattern for each string until completed.
Wagon Wheel employs the I-V-VI-IV chord progression that’s so popular in country music – and even other genres! Remember and practice this progression so that you can play this song and others like it!
2. E minor chord
The E minor chord is an extremely flexible chord and can be played in two distinct inversions: its first inversion involves playing E G B notes while its second comprises B E G notes.
When playing an E minor chord, it’s essential that each note rings clearly without buzzing or muffled sounds. Also important is making sure each string can be strung individually without interference from any of the others; if one doesn’t sound properly it could be because one finger has the wrong spot on the fretboard, or because too much pressure has been applied against a string.
Wagon Wheel is an easy song to learn as its guitar chord progression follows an easy format and it is popular across genres of music. Ketch Secor and Darius Rucker have covered it, and its classic 1-5-6-4 chord progression can be seen both in country music as well as other genres of music.
3. F# minor chord
Wagon Wheel by Darius Rucker is an ideal campfire song and easy way to add a country edge to your guitar playing. Play it using just four chords! Plus, practicing the F# minor chord can help develop its signature descending bass line sound!
Note that F# can also be written as Gb; this is because an “#” raises the pitch by one half step while an “b” lowers it. But for our purposes this difference shouldn’t really matter since once you learn this chord you will also know Gb. Both chords sound the same in music!
4. D minor chord
Wagon Wheel is a fantastic song to learn for anyone new to country music. Featuring an easy rhythm pattern that you can play around with and sing along to, Darius Rucker made this tune famous but its co-writers include Old Crow Medicine Show and Bob Dylan!
This song utilizes a D minor chord, an ideal one to practice for beginners since it doesn’t require stretching across more than three frets. Furthermore, D minor is often featured in songs so learning it would prove worthwhile.
D minor is a mini chord shape, making it more challenging than G major and C major to play. But once you learn this chord it becomes much simpler to switch out other chords within its key quickly – this technique is known as pivoting and can be especially helpful for newcomers!