Sweet Home Alabama Chords

If you love southern rock and roll, check out the following resources to find Sweet Home Alabama Chords. This Lynyrd Skynyrd classic has one of the most distinguishable guitar riffs ever recorded, and you'll be surprised how easy it is to play it just like Ed King does in the original.

In addition to being a classic song in its own right, the back-story of the creation of Sweet Home Alabama is equally engaging. Ed King claims that he got the inspiration from a riff from fellow Skynyrd guitarist Gary Rossington one night at a band rehearsal. In the spirit of a true rock and roll legend, he claims that the Sweet Home Alabama chords and complete guitar solos came to him in a dream that night. He brought the track to the band the next day, and one of Lynyrd Skynyrd's biggest hits began to take form.

Controversy, however, has always been a part of this classic track. In the early 1970s, Canadian Neil Young wrote two songs, Southern Man and Alabama, that criticized the racial climate in the American south. Lynyrd Skynyrd vocalist Ronnie Van Zant felt that Young, a northern man who wasn't even an American citizen, was over generalizing in his criticisms of the region that Skynyrd called home. Sweet Home Alabama was Van Zant's reaction to Young, and the lines, Well we heard Mr. Young sing about her/Well we heard old Neil put her down/Well I hope Neil Young will remember/A southern man don't need him around anyhow are the song's overt response to Young's accusations.

So when you're strumming the chords and singing along to this classic song, make sure you are aware of the whole story, as it adds a depth and a complexity to the historical period of the early 1970s in which Sweet Home Alabama was born.

Below you will find several online resources that have the chords to Sweet Home Alabama.

• Guitar Chords Magic – Guitar Chords Magic has a great page dedicated to Sweet Home Alabama. There is a YouTube video of the band playing the song to get you in the mood, followed by the guitar chord chart for the song and the tabs for the song's signature opening riff. There's a lot of information here in a small, well-organized space.

• Chordie – Chordie has a classic chord chart for this song. The lyrics are typed out with simple chord symbols written over the words where you need to change chords. Print this out, throw it in your guitar case, and you'll be ready to rock whenever you need to.

• Fret Play – Fret Play has an extremely concise transcription to Sweet Home Alabama that gives you the basics in a quick glance. This site also features a video of a guitar lesson, so you can pick up a few new tricks while you learn how to play your favorite Skynyrd song.

• Tab Crawler – Another excellent chord and lyrics version is posted here at Tab Crawler. This version will have you up and running in no time flat.

The following books look at chord progressions for songwriters. The chords for Sweet Home Alabama are studied in both texts.

• Guitar Chord Guru Guide

• Chord Progressions for Songwriters

So now you're ready to tune up and play one of the most popular southern rock songs of all time. If you still need more information on this classic track, check out this article on Lynyrd Skynyrd tabs to further your practice.

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