Recently I wrote a post devoted to House Of The Rising Sun. Well, I have found a page featuring chords, tabs and sheet music for House Of The Rising Sun at Guitar Chords Magic which is another site devoted to giving guitar students what they want - free guitar lessons. In this case your gateway to guitar greatness is in the form of a comprehensive understanding of guitar chords. The front page of the site tells you that by the time you have finished all the free online guitar lessons, you will know all the guitar chords. What is more, you are going to have fun doing it! What more can you ask?
While we are on the subject of free stuff, mashable.com brings us a collection of sites where free music is available for download. Just thought I should mention it, even though there probably isn’t anything remotely guitar-related. So here it is, 30+ Sites for Free & Legal Music
The II-V-I chord progression is used in many musical genres but is considered to be extremely important in Jazz. It is a good idea for a guitarist aiming at having a total understanding of the guitar to develop a collection of licks to play over this progression. I have found a link to a free video lesson on the II-V-I progression. This is part of a collection of ten free guitar lessons launched as an introduction to the new Infinite Guitar website.
Learning to play the guitar chords for House Of The Rising Sun is easy. If you feel that you do not apply yourself seriously enough to learning the guitar, here is the perfect song for you to learn. House Of The Rising Sun was voted number 122 on the Rolling Stone magazine 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time in 2003. If you learn to play this song, even you just play the intro, people are going to recognise you for the cool dude you really are. This is a song that has been around for about a hundred years or so. It was first recorded in 1933, and recorded again by several country and folk artists over the years until the definitive version of House Of The Rising Sun Was recorded in 1964 by English group, Eric Burdon And The Animals. The song was recorded in one take while the group were on the road in England as a support for Chuck Berry, and the spine tingling intro to the song was played by guitarist Hilton Valentine on a Rickenbacker 330 guitar. Many people say that it was the first time a folk song was recorded by a rock group.
The guitar chords for the song are simple and you can learn the chord sequence in a few minutes, then spend a few years fooling around with arpeggios and strumming patterns and whatnot. So the chords are A minor, C major, D major, F major and E major. To get the feeling of the recording by The Animals just play each chord as an arpeggio like this A minor chord:
E ——————————-
B ——————1————
G ————-2——–2———
D ———2—————-2—–
A –0—————————–
E ——————————–
If you are familiar with the original record you will know that the arpeggio pattern used by Hilton Valentine contains a few more notes but if you are play using a pick you will be able to work out what he is doing. There are video clips of the animals performing the song on YouTube.
Okay, so here is a basic guide to how the chords for House Of The Rising Sun fit in with the lyrics.
Am C D F
There is a house in New Orleans
Am C E
They call the Rising Sun
Am C D F
And it’s been the ruin of many a poor boy
Am E Am
And God I know I’m one
JUST REPEAT THE CHORD SEQUENCE FOR THE REST OF THE VERSES
My mother was a tailor
She sewed my new blue jeans
My father was a gamblin’ man
Down in New Orleans
Now the only thing a gambler needs
Is a suitcase and trunk
And the only time he’s satisfied
Is when he’s on a drunk
Oh mother tell your children
Not to do what I have done
Spend your lives in sin and misery
In the House of the Rising Sun
Well, I got one foot on the platform
The other foot on the train
I’m goin’ back to New Orleans
To wear that ball and chain
Well, there is a house in New Orleans
They call the Rising Sun
And it’s been the ruin of many a poor boy
And God I know I’m one
If you search around the internet you will find some slightly different versions, but I would suggest you use what I have given you here as a basis for your own trademark rendition.
Here’s a YouTube video of The Animals singing House Of The Rising Sun -
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