Hotel California Tabs

From LoveToKnow Guitar

The Eagles are one of the most famous bands of the West Coast AOR genre of the 70s, and guitarists continually search for Hotel California tabs so they can play the band's most famous song. The band itself had a very polished sound and spawned a huge following for their intelligent, articulate music.

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Hotel California was by far their biggest hit, and as a piece of guitar music it is as famous as any other for the beauty of its solo. The solo itself is played on two guitars, and this technique adds to its power. One guitar takes the lower end guitar lines, while the second guitar takes the upper register notes an octave higher.

The song itself was so popular that it won the Grammy award for Record of the Year in 1978. This song is not just a popular song to learn for guitarists who are fans of the Eagles, it is also hugely popular as a song to learn for fans of classic rock guitar in general. It is this popularity which has led to it being one of the most sought after tabs both on the Internet and in music books.

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Tab Structure of the Song

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A Walk-Through of the Chords

When guitarists look at Hotel California tabs, they will immediately be struck by how simplistic the actual overall structure of the song is. The song is essentially two sections – the verse section and the chorus section. The solo part of the song is played over the chords of the verse section. The song is based around a repeating chord pattern in the verses. The first chord played is B Minor, which is then followed by F-Sharp Major. These two chords are held for four beats each, as are the rest of the chords in the progression. The chord pattern then moves to A Major, followed by E Major, keeping the first section of the verse rooted in the key of A Major, except for the modulation to F Sharp Major. For the second section of the verse, the key moves down to G Major, and follows the pattern of G Major moving to D Major, followed by E Minor, and making a return to F Sharp Major before moving into the chorus. The chorus itself remains in G Major, moving from G to D Major, to E Minor again, and then once again returning to F Sharp Major.

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The Solo and Outro

The guitar solo has a very distinctive sound, owing to the double use of guitars playing notes an octave apart. The solo itself, again, is an exercise in simplicity of structure, and is partly responsible for why there is always such an interest in Hotel California tabs among guitar players. The solo line loosely follows the vocal melody with accompanying trills and improvisations. The solo then segues into the outro, which is essentially a repeating passage based loosely on arpeggios of the verse chords. The outro fades out, leaving a haunting reminder of the excellence of the song just played. The playing on the solo and outro parts are good exercises in finger-work, especially for novice guitar players.

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Where to Find Hotel California Tabs

There are plenty of websites to visit for guitar players looking for tabs for the song Hotel California. The tabs are relatively easy to read and learn. However, the multiple nature of the guitars used in the song might mean that each guitarist would have to choose which part to learn and play first.

There are a good selection of sites that contain tabs to this song and other Eagles' classics, including:

There are also many songbooks available that contain both chords and tabs for this popular song. These are available online and in music shops.

These include:

There are a wealth of options available to anyone who seeks to learn this classic song on guitar. The casual fan, indeed, may end up expanding their interest in the band itself and move on to other material in their catalog.

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