I know this song has been tabbed on this forum quite recently, but I have been working on a version that's a little more detailed, and designed for acoustic guitar. They way I see it, aside from the guitar solo, which is not practical on acoustic, there are 3 signature elements of "Sweet Child O' Mine." The first is the riff, which sounds very good played in open position. The second is the bass line that comes in once the riff has been played once. I have not notated the rhythm, but if you listen for the bass in the recording it's quite prominent. The third is the instrumental interlude between the chorus and verse. This takes a little stretching of the pinky finger, but it's definitely doable, and breaks up the monotony of strumming. If you like, you can add a Dus4-D-Dsus2-D turn at the final D chord of each verse stanza for variety as well.
Within the tabs, an arrow over a chord means to strum until the chord changes. In the interlude, I haven't notated this, but try to keep rhythm by strumming at least part of the chord at all times. The double bars || indicate a repeat. I also changed one chord because I think it sounds better. I have changed the C chord to a G chord in the second line of the chorus. Your call.
One technical note: When you are about to play the interlude or the second part of the intro, it makes it a lot easier to form the D chord by barring the top 3 strings at the second fret with your index finger, and fretting the B string at the third fret with your middle finger. This is important to keep your other fingers more mobile.
Let me know if you have any questions, and I hope you enjoy.
Cheers,
Sam
P.S. anyone else think that GNR managed to worsen the song by adding that amazing guitar solo? I've always found it inconsistent with the mood of the song.
Sweet Child O' Mine, by Guns N' Roses
D Dsus4 C Cadd9 G A
E--2--- ---3--- ---0--- ---3--- ---3--- ---0---
B--3--- ---3--- ---1--- ---3--- ---3--- ---2---
G--2--- ---2--- ---0--- ---0--- ---0--- ---2---
D--0--- ---0--- ---2--- ---2--- ---0--- ---2---
A------ ------- ---3--- ---3--- ---2--- ---0---
E------ ------- ------- ------- ---3--- -------
Intro part 1:
D Cadd9 G D
E--------------3----2----||--------------3-----2----||--------------3-----2----||--------------3-----2----|
B-----3------------------||-----3-------------------||-----3-------------------||-----3-------------------|
G--------2--0----2-----2-||--------2--0-----2-----2-||--0-----2--0-----2-----2-||--------2--0-----2-----2-|
D--0---------------------||--2----------------------||-------------------------||--0----------------------|
A------------------------||-------------------------||-------------------------||-------------------------|
E------------------------||-------------------------||-------------------------||-------------------------|
Intro part 2:
D Cadd9 G ------------> Dsus4 D-->
E-------------------|-----------------|-------3----|----------------|--------3----|-3----|-3------2--|
B--3-----3--------3-|-3--3----3-------|-------3----|----------------|--------3----|-3----|-3------3--|
G--2-----2--2--2--0-|-2--4p2--0--2--2-|-------0----|-0-------0------|--------0----|-0----|-2------2--|
D--0--0--4--0--4----|------------4--0-|-2----------|-3p2-----3--2---|--------0----|-0----|-0------0--|
A-------------------|-----------------|-3--3-----3-|------3--------3|--------2----|-2----|-----------|
E-------------------|-----------------|------------|----------------|--3--3--3----|-3----|-----------|
Verse 1:
D
She's got a smile that it seems to me
Cadd9
Reminds me of childhood memories,
G D
Where everything was as fresh as a bright blue sky.
D
Now and then, when I see her face,
Cadd9
She takes me away to that special place,
G D
And if I stare too long, I'd probably break down and cry.
Chorus:
A C Chorus Riff
Oh, oh sweet child o' mine
Chorus Riff:
E-------------3-----2----||
B-3--3--------3-----3----||
G-2-----2--0--2--2--2--2-||
D-0----------------------||
A------------------------||
E------------------------||
mine.
A G D
Oh, oh sweet love of mine.
Interlude:
Dsus4 D Cadd9 G--> D ------->
E--5-||-3-----2---5-||-3--0--5-||-3------------|--------------|----2-------|
B--3-||-3-----3---3-||-3--3--3-||-3------------|--------------|----3-------|
G----||-2-----2-----||-0--0----||-0------------|------0--0--0-|----2-------|
D----||-0-----0-----||-2--2----||-0------------|-0----0--2--0-|----0-------|
A----||-------------||-3--3----||-2----2--0----|-0h2----------|------------|
E----||-------------||---------||-3----------3-|--------------|-2----------|
Verse 2:
D
She's got eyes of the bluest skies
Cadd9
As if they thought of rain.
G D
I hate to look into those eyes and see an ounce of pain.
D
Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place
Cadd9
Where as a child I'd hide
G D
And pray for the thunder and the rain to quietly pass me by.
Repeat Chorus
Repeat Intro part 2
Strum verse chords. Starting at the third beat of the second bar on the G chord, end with
E--3--3--3--0-|--3--2--|
B--3--3--3--3-|--3--3--|
G--0--0--0--0-|--2--2--|
D--0--0--0--0-|--0--0--|
A--2--2--2----|--------|
E--3--3--3----|--------|
D U D U D D
~Sam
Wow, thank you for posting this. I will give this a go in the future when my playing gets better. I would love to hear this played on acoustic, though. Anyone want to record it and post it on YouTube?
Thanks a lot for this :wink:
This song is absolutely brilliant
Rod.
Be excellent to each other & party on dudes!
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=686668
I recorded it. Playing and singing is quite shaky, but so it goes. Comments on singing/arrangement are welcome.
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=725941
~Sam
Wow Sam, I thought that was great.
Excellent job on the post as well.
Thanks
Graham
'72 Guild D25
'72 Guild A50 Archtop
'87 Guild GF25
'89 Guild JF30
'96 Guild DV-52
'99 Guild JF30-12
excellent recording!! Thank you for posting that!
Great tab job and recording!
Chris :D :D :D
The guitar is all right John but you'll never make a living out of it! (John Lennon's Aunt Mimi)
+1 on the comments. I think you did a great job all around. Thanks
Superb. Great piece of work
