Play along

Scarborough Fair: guitar chords and tab for beginners

England, 17th century

Scarborough Fair

by Traditional

Tempo: 104beats per minute
Count: 3beats in each bar
Key: A minorthe home note
Level: 1 of 3easiest

Bar 1:1 of 16Tap play to turn sound on

Speed 100%Slower is fine. Start at 60%.

Key A minor

Higher or lower, to match a voice.

Tempo104beats per minute right now

RepeatStart over when the song ends.

Level 1. Strum one chord per beat. Start here.

Chord names above, strum arrows below. Down arrow = strum down toward the floor, up arrow = back up.

Where your fingers go● press here · the number is which finger

Hold this chord

Numbers are fingers: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 pinky.

Space bar plays and pauses. Left and right arrows jump a bar.

The chords

The chords in Scarborough Fair

4 chords, all open shapes: Am, Em, D, Em7. 3 beats in each bar, 104 beats per minute, in A minor.

About the song

An English ballad that goes back at least to the 1600s. The tune has an old-world sound because it is in the Dorian mode, a minor scale with one raised note. We play it in A so the three chords are all open shapes.

Scarborough Fair: guitar chords and tab for beginners