"Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd
Get ready to learn your second song: "Sweet Home Alabama." Thomas will teach you the ins and outs of this classic Skynyrd rock song. Check it out!
Lesson 20: "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd Videos
Practice Video: "Sweet Home Alabama"
Play along with Thomas in this practice video for "Sweet Home Alabama". This is a good way to practice the song up to tempo and jam along with your teacher!
Sing & Play!
Verse 1
D C G
Big wheels...turning
D C G
Carry me home...kin
D C G
Singing songs...Southland
D C G
I miss Alabamy once again...
Verse 2
D C G
Well I heard...about her
D C G
Well I heard...down
D C G
Well I hope...remember
D C G
A Southern man...around anyhow
Chorus 1
D C G
Sweet home Alabama
D C G
Where the skies are so blue
D C G
Sweet home Alabama
D C G
Lord I'm coming home to you
...
* Repeat same pattern for the last two verse and chorus sections
References
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Course Introduction 9:04
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Welcome! 1:34
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Meet Your Host 7:30
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Part 1: Knowing Your Guitar 44:46
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Lesson 1: Parts of an Acoustic Guitar 3:08
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Lesson 2: Parts of an Electric Guitar 5:07
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Lesson 3: Holding the Guitar 0:00
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Lesson 4: Holding a Pick 4:20
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Lesson 5: Picking a String 2:47
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Practice: Picking a String 4:57
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Lesson 6: Names of the Strings 1:57
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Lesson 7: Frets 101 9:44
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Lesson 8: Playing the Frets 2:18
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Practice: Playing the Frets 5:11
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Lesson 9: Tuning 101 5:17
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Part 2: Starting to Play 37:53
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Lesson 10: The Chromatic Scale 4:47
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Practice: The Chromatic Scale 3:04
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Lesson 11: Whole Steps/Half Steps 2:24
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Lesson 12: Chord Charts 3:07
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Lesson 13: Strumming 101 7:03
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Practice: Strumming 101 2:51
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Lesson 14: The G Chord 0:00
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Lesson 15: The C Chord 3:09
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Lesson 16: The D Chord 2:33
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Lesson 17: Chord Tips 3:00
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Practice: Chords 2:49
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Lesson 18: Guitar Tabs 3:06
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Part 3: Your First Songs 11:32
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Course Conclusion 2:16
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Beginner Guitar Course Quiz 0:44
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Congratulations! 1:32
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Meet Our Experts
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Thomas Gilbert
Meet Thomas, one of Mahalo's guitar experts. Thomas is an alumnus of both USC and Cal State Northridge, majoring in music education and music composition. Thomas has collaborated with composers Hans Zimmer and Mateo Messina, and worked on such film scores as "The Dark Knight," "Gladiator" and "Juno." He taught an online advanced blues guitar course for over two years with a huge online response and is a member of rock band Radius.
Guitar Chords Used in the Song
"Sweet Home Alabama" is in the key of D major and uses these chords: D, C, G
How to Play a D Chord
How to Play a C Chord
How to Play a G Chord
The Form of the Song
Similar to "Wild Thing," the form of this song is simple: it alternates between verse sections and chorus sections. Both the verses and choruses have the same chord progression (D, C, G) and the same strumming pattern (all downstrokes). The form of the whole song goes as follows:
- Verse 1
- Verse 2
- Chorus 1
- Verse 3
- Chorus 2
- Verse 4
- Chorus 3 (repeats until the end)
As you practice more, you may want to add a couple upstrokes where you see fit. Try this pattern for the choruses:
D Chord: Down Down Up
C Chord: Down Down Up
G Chord: Down Down Up Down Down
