A lot of younger people have never heard of John Denver or his movie "Oh God!" or his classic tune "Rocky Mountain High".......man I love that song. What a feeling to be able to play it on my guitar and soar away on the music. Those of you who remember John may or may not be fans of his music but I loved it from the first time I heard it. Not only did I love his music but I found that a lot of his songs were fairly easy to play on the guitar. Songs like Rocky Mountain High, Rhymes and Reasons, Sweet Surrender and Rocky Mountain Suite (Cold Nights In Canada). Some of his tunes, like Rocky Mountain High, call for the sixth string, the low E, to be tuned down to match the fourth string, the D. This lends a great tone to chords like the D chord. Here's the intro to the song.
D
O |-----|--x--|-----|---
O |-----|-----|--x--|---
O |-----|--x--|-----|---
O |-----|-----|-----|---
O |-----|-----|-----|---
O |-----|-----|-----|---
Em7
O |-----|-----|------|---
O |-----|-----|------|---
O |-----|-----|------|---
O |-----|-----|------|---
O |-----|--x--|------|---
O |-----|--x--|------|---
G (finger placement on the 5th fret)
X |-----|------|------|---
X |-----|------|------|---
O |-----|------|------|---
O |-----|------|------|---
O |--x--|------|------|---
O |--x--|------|------|---
A (finger placement on the 7th fret)
X |-----|-----|------|---
X |-----|-----|------|---
O |-----|-----|------|---
O |-----|-----|------|---
O |--x--|-----|------|---
O |--x--|-----|------|---
Let's go over that one more time. Your first chord is a D with some slight variation - strum all six strings and remember, tune your low E to D. Your second chord is an Em7 variation, strum all six strings depressing strings 6 and 5 on the second fret. Your third chord is a G variation, strum only four strings (6th through 4th) depressing strings 6 and 5 on the fifth fret. Your fourth chord is an A variation, strum only four strings (6th through 4th) depressing strings 6 and 5 on the seventh fret. I recommend that you find a copy of the cd set "An Evening With John Denver". I have the original vinyl album with 23 songs. The cd released in 2001 contains tracks recorded at the California Universal Amphitheater in 1974 and includes bonus tracks which were recorded at Red Rocks Park Amphitheatre, Red Rocks, Colorado on August 14, 1973.
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