Mr. Tambourine Man by Bob Dylan Lesson on Guitar and Harmonica

Mr. Tambourine Man

Easy guitar chords with rhythm and harmonica to help you sound great

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Mr. Tambourine Man - Lesson on Guitar and Harmonica

Lesson Info

Difficulty: Not too bad.

Lesson Length: 14:58

Instructor: George Goodman

Recommended Gear

takamine-eg541sc acoustic guitar

Takamine EG541SC
I am playing my black tak in this one.

This is a Takamine G Series EG541SC bought in North Carolina when I was playing in a band called Double Take.
Specs:
Top - Solid Spruce
Back - Nato
Sides - Nato
Finger Board - Rosewood
Electronics - TK40
Finish - Gloss Black
Check out more Takamine G Series Guitars

Hohner Special 20Hohner Blues Harp in D

I am playing Mr. Tambourine man in first position, key of D. The original is recorded with the capo on the 3rd fret which would require an F harmonica.

You can grab a Hohner Blues Harp in D here:
On Sale Here

Hohner Harmonica HolderHohner Harmonica Holder

The Hohner Harmonica Neck Holder fits harmonicas up to 7-1/2" long.

With a long-lasting nickel-plated finish, this harmonica rack is adjustable and fits any neck shape.

 

Help File

Help File: The following link supplies the chords, lyrics and harmonica tabs for Mr. Tambourine Man.
Mr. Tambourine Man download pdf link - for educational purposes only.

Musical Challenges

For Harmonica: Learning where the notes are on the harmonica that make up the chord can take time to learn but there are some blow and draw generalities that will help.

The Harmonica Cheat Sheets video course demonstrates where all the notes are for every chord in every key on the harmonica.

For Guitar - The chords are common but there is the addition of Dsus4, Dsus2, Asus4 and Asus2 with a syncopated rhythm. Otherwise the rhythm is straight forward but can give difficulties when adding vocals or harmonica.

Chords and strumming and counting rhythms is covered in Guitar Essentials, Guitar Chords and Rhythm Guitar And Strumming.

Video Timeline

0:20 - Introduction

Hey George here. Welcome to this video where I show you how to play Bob Dylan's Mr. Tambourine Man on guitar and harmonica.

We will go through the guitar chords and strumming.

Then we'll pick out a harmonica and tab through the melody and some ideas for soloing.

0:40 - Key and Chords, sus2 and sus4

The original recording is in F which is just like I will be showing you but with a capo on the third Fret.

There are only really 3 chords - D, G and A.

We'll take the D and A and add sus2 and sus4 to them.

2:28 - Rhythm Guitar

There is a driving rhythm throughout the song. It's counted like this:

1 2 (3) & 4 & - don't sound the third down stroke.

That's down down (rest) up down up.

First beat gets a bass emphasis and the second beat gets a treble sound.

The intro starts with a bar of D and then anticipates the second bar with a succession of Dsus4 D Dsus2 D on the off beats.

D | Dsus4 D Dsus2 D

G | A | D | G | D | G | A | Asus4 A Asus2 A

G | A | D | G | D | G | A | D | Dsus4 D

7:18 - Main Melody Notes - D Harmonica

D = I chord: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

G = IV chord: 4 -5 -6 7 -9 -10

A = V chord: -2 -3 -4 6 -7 -8 9

G         A   
7 7 -7 -6 6 6 5
D      G
5 5 6 5 4
G    D
4 -4 5 6 6 6
G         A
-6 6 -5 5 5 -4 -4
 
G      A
7 7 -7 -6 6 6 5
D      G
5 5 6 5 4
G    D
4 -4 5 6 6 6
G        A     D
-6 6 -5 5 -4 5 -4 4

12:05 - Let's Run This Through a Couple Times

The link for the chords and harmonica tabs is above. Use that to follow along.

Things To Note

This was recorded in Qualicum Beach, British Columbia in March 2019.

Paid members can download the video for offline viewing.

Let me know how it goes, leave a message below.

Peace. Stay in tune my friend.

George

2 responses to “Bob Dylan – Mr Tambourine Man”

  1. Ron Collins says:

    Could you ever do Eve of Destruction

  2. George says:

    Hi Ron. Excellent request. Yes, I definitely think that one needs covering.

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