David Gray - Sail Away, a complete guide to playing it.

Hello again everyone. Great to see so many songs getting posted on here!!!!

Here's a song by David Gray that was a big hit here in the Uk a few years back now, although there's a lot of tabs' of this on the internet, most of them are way out. This is the 100% correct chords for it.

BEGINNERS please don't be put off by a couple of odd looking chords. Not only are they not very hard to play, this song is an excellent introduction to playing a chord “up the neck” of the guitar. Its easy to get stuck down there in first position playing the same old Am, C, D chords!

The only tricky bit is the strumming, this is one song where you will have to either listen to the track and see if you can play along, or make up your own. I find myself playing D D Dud Uud DD most of the time, for all the chords that are held for 4 beats. if you keep this going you won't be far wrong - but don't worry too much, as long as you get the flavor people with recognise it.

When I started playing guitar, I kept trying to play this, but didn't realise how important it was to play certain strings with certain fingers, to minimise the amount of removing and putting back on of fingers. This is one song where planning ahead pays BIG dividends. If you are a beginner, try it, if you can't manage it, come back to it in a month's time – and so on. Sooner or later, the penny will drop and you'll be playing this no trouble.

First things first – SLAP A CAPO ON FRET ONE.

Chords shapes .
Note all of these are from the capo – so it is says fret seven, you need to be thinking and playing at fret 8. I will give you a guide to which fingerings to use as well, all will become apparent once you start to play the song, trust me!

Bm11 - x99700 fret this with pinky on A string 9th, ring finger on D string 9th fret, first finger on G string 7th fret. (remember you're actually playing X 10 10 8 0 0 because of capo! When playing, look for the spaces between your 7th and 9th dots on the fretboard, this will help you hit it as this is where your first finger needs to be)

F#m11 - 244200 fret this with same fingering as above, so you can slide down to it, and use your thumb to fret the low E string 2nd fret. NOTE – don't worry if you can't fret the low E string, it won't notice a great deal as long as you get the rest of the 5 strings to ring (you'll be playing 355300 taking account of capo)

G – 320003 (standard G chord)
Em – 022000 (standard Em chord) FINGER THIS WITH PINKY AND RING!
D – xx0232 (standard D chord)
G6 – 320000 (standard G with open high e string)
A7 – x02020
D6 –XX0202 finger this with middle on high E and first finger on G.
Aadd9 – x77600 finger with pinky on A, ring on D and middle on G string. Remember this is actually at x88700 because of capo.

Timing
Is everything…!!!! Most chords are help for a slow paced count of 4. This gives you plenty of time to mix up some interesting strumming. The important thing is to keep is flowing – trust your hands to get the chords right, and keep strumming. We only really have a simple verse and chorus to work with, so here's the timing by chord –

CHORUS TIMING
Bm11 4 beats
Sail away…..
Fm11 4 beats
I put my…
Bm11 4 beats G 2 beats Em 2beats
Sail away…. Now Now
Bm11 2 beats D 2 beats
Sail away with me
G 2 beats Em 2 beats
What will be will be
G6 4 beats A7 2 beats Em 2 beats
I wanna hold you now now now…

VERSE TIMING
4 BEATS for all chords, ending on a single big downstrum on the Em (“..head”)

Its worth playing this with either a metronome set at about 60 - 70 bpm, or counting 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 steadily in your head. Just learn where the 2 beat chords are and you are away and laughing.

OK so let's launch into the first chorus and you'll hopefully see what I mean about forward planning! Here it is –
Bm11
Sail away with me honey
F#m11
I put my heart in your hands
Bm11 G Em
Sail away with me honey now, now, now
Bm11 D
Sail away with me
G Em
What will be will be
G6 A7 Em
I wanna hold you now, now, now

So start by placing your fingers for the Bm11, as I have suggested with pinky on A string, ring on D string and first finger on G string. Make sure they all ring, and don't hit the low E. Practice strumming this until you are comfortable that you have a rhythm you can repeat.

Now, start a nice slow count of 4, and then slide the whole shape down until your first finger is on fret 3 (that is, two frets from capo) – your pinky and ring fingers should be on fret 5 but on the same strings as they started yes? Ok stay on that shape for 4 beats, then slide the whole lot back to where you started. Play another 4 beats. Then go to a normal G (no choice but to take all your fingers off, use the open strings as your friend here, keep strumming but only catch the treble strings while you change – no one will notice). 2 beats on the G, then to Em (but finger it with pinky and ring finger!!!) for 2 beats, then slide that shape back down to your Bm11 and replace your first finger where it started, for two beats, then move to D (you can leave your first finger on the G string and just slide it into position then add your other fingers to form your D) for two beats, back to G for two beats, Em for 2 beats, then end with G6 for four beats A7 for 2 beats and Em.

You play that section a total of FIVE times, so its worth getting that right! It really is harder to describe than to do, its mainly about planning ahead to your next chord, and most of all keeping that strumming arm moving.

Ok onto a verse – as we know all chords are held for 4 beats, we only need worry about chord shapes and how to get them. Here's the first verse. Note that verse two is a shortened version of this, but the way you play it is the same.
D6 F#m11
Crazy skies all wild above me now
D6 F#m11
Winter Howling at my face
D6 F#m11
And everything I held so dear
Bm11 Aadd9
Disappeared without a trace
D6 F#m11
Though all the times I've tasted love
D6 F#m11
Never knew quite what I had
D6 F#m11
Little darling if you hear me now
Bm11 Aadd9
Never needed you so bad
G Em
Spinning round inside my head…

Ok so from the chorus, concentrate on going to a good D6 – remember first finger on the G string and middle finger on the high E. Now, to get to F#m11 all you do is, leave your first finger where it is, and “hinge” your pinky and ring finger over to fret the A and D strings 5th fret (4th from capo) – easy! So the switching between D6 and F#m11 is really simple. So that's the first three lines sorted!

At the end of the third line, from your F#m11 you slide up to your Bm11 where you started the song, from there just slide your pinky and ring fingers down ONE fret and then put your middle finger on the G string (to form an E shape) and you have your Aadd9. Then its back to your D6 , then F#m11, Bm11, Aadd9 finishing with G and a once strummed Em. Keep nice and steady, 4 beats for all of them.

And that, my friends, is pretty much it. You can throw in a bit of David Grayesque head wobbling and warbling, but you can now play the song!

And here's the whole lot tabbed for you –
Sail Away with Me – David Gray,