Famous Blue Raincoat | TAB (tune down 1 tone)
The incredibly beautiful Famous Blue Raincoat by Leonard Cohen can only be played like the man himself if you tune down a tone, use my online guitar tuner to achieve this.
If you want to play along with the original this is a must, if you don’t, you could just sing it in the key of D as the chords and lyrics demonstrate.
I’ll take you through exactly what he plays, one section at a time, and then I’ll also give you TAB, as if you’re in standard tuning, but play without tuning down.
Here’s the intro and verse of Famous Blue Raincoat, exactly as Mr. Cohen played it (tuned down):
The chords are VI – IV – II – III. During the intro, the first one is held for an 8th note. You could experiment with doing this now and again during the arrangement, however, start with trying to get the pattern perfect first.
Here’s the bridge section, it goes from VI – VII, although VII should have been m7b5 so you could say we’ve changed the key here to A, playing chords II – III. Next, we play VI – V.
The chorus is so pretty it makes me cry, we start on chord I, go to V and here we play from sus2 – major.
Next, we play that Bm7 – C#m7 and get the feeling that perhaps the key has changed again, or at least it’s a modal interchange.
The final line goes V – IV – III. Using the 5th of the A and G chords in E shapes is a nice touch.
As mentioned, you either tune down a whole step or sing on your own, not along with the recording.
Famous Blue Raincoat | TAB (standard tuning)
It’s not the same when you play in the key of C, but if you don’t have an extra guitar around I guess this may be your only option.
And even if you don’t like it, it’s a great exercise to work out how to find a part like this. Here’s the intro/verse.
The main problem here is how the Dm chord feels higher than the Em, on the original, it goes Em – F#m.
Here’s the bridge in the key of C, well, I say that, it’s a modal interchange isn’t it so really, we’re in the key of G here…
Finally, here’s the chorus. The C chord should definitely be played on the high strings, the G becomes an add9, not a sus2.
At the end of the day, it does sound better tuned down…
Famous Blue Raincoat TAB | Related Pages
Famous Blue Raincoat | Chords + Lyrics
You can learn how to play Famous Blue Raincoat by Leonard Cohen using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| Bm7 | G |
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Leonard Cohen tunes
Following a career as a novelist and poet for over a decade, Leonard Cohen released his debut album in 1967.
His best tunes include Suzanne, Bird on the Wire, Famous Blue Raincoat, Chelsea Hotel #2, Hallelujah, Dance Me To The End Of Love, and So Long, Marianne.
Leonard Cohen on the web
Jennifer Warnes tunes
Jennifer Warnes was in the cast for the musical Hair, sang BV’s for Leonard Cohen, and duets with Joe Cocker and Bill Medley.
Her best tunes include Famous Blue Raincoat, (I’ve Had) The Time Of My Life, Up Where We Belong, and First We Take Manhattan.
Jennifer Warnes on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This guitar lesson by Dan Lundholm featuring TAB covers Famous Blue Raincoat. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.