Canoe Song Chords & Tabs for Guitar
A Song From Canada

Canoe Song chords are easy - just the same Dm chord works beautifully with the guitar tabs melody. Download it here for free.

Canoe Song chords

Please scroll down the page for the download links.

Same chord, different strum patterns

A guitar player could use a steady strum, as is usual when playing backup, or they could follow the syncopated rhythm of the melody, percussion-like.  What do I mean?

Count the rhythm.  One, one-two, one, one, one, one-two.  One, one-two, one, one-two, one-two... etc.  Count each quarter note (seen in the standard notation of the top staff, directly above the guitar tabs) as one beat, and each half note (the white ones with a stem) as two beats.  The very last note, white with no stem, is four beats.

Use an additional chord?

Beginner guitar chords

One COULD make a case for throwing in a C chord on every 4th beat... that is, at the end of each measure.  Not an ordinary C chord, though; a "Baby C chord," as I call the one-finger C chords my beginners start out with.

One reason is that the chord changes must be lightening-fast, but also, that little C chord with its ambiguous sound suits Canoe Song very well.  Try it; you might like it!

Perfect guitar tablature for a beginner

Though the melody of Canoe Song does travel over three strings, there are many repeated notes, and no big jumps.  Students could almost play this tune with closed eyes - in fact, that would be a great exercise!

The ubiquitous "finger one"

All beginning guitarists seem to want to use left hand finger one for every single note, sliding from one position to the next. This will seriously slow them down!

Teach them that finger one (index or "pointer" finger) must go on first fret, and fingers two, three, and four will go on frets 2, 3, and 4.  Of course, we are talking about "First Position," which is where beginners usually start, if they are learning to read music.

Super-easy beginner guitar tabs songs

Even easier than Canoe Song, Boilem' Cabbage Down uses just TWO STRINGS in its cute little melody (the single-page version).  Even easier, perhaps, because of its familiarity, is Jingle Bells.  It also uses two strings, and just two fingers (1 and 3, plus open strings).

Another easy-peasy song, but less well-known, is God is So Good.  Again, just fingers 1 and 3 are used, along with open strings.  You will have to scroll far down the page to see the guitar tabs arrangement, as that page is mostly full of piano music.


The link to the guitar tabs:


Download Canoe Song chords, tabs & lyrics for guitar



Interested in songs from the Bible for your students or church?  Check out my other website, SingTheBibleStory.com!

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About the Author

Dana Thynes

Hi, I'm Dana!  (Say that like "Anna".)  I'm the owner of Music-for-Music-Teachers.com, and a newer site, SingTheBibleStory.com.

Like some of you, I've been playing the piano since early childhood, and have added a few other instruments along the way, plus an interest in arranging and composing music.

You can find out more about me and the reason for this website at my About Me page.