Not Fair | TAB
The question is; how does one play Not Fair on the guitar, as the only guitarist in the band?
Let’s try it in the original key first, using no capo or tuning down.
Those mutes on beat 2 are essential, but they don’t have to be on those strings, as mutes, they could be on the same string or another string pair, whatever feels easiest, go for that!
Once you get the hang of it (practice slowly on your own before you play along with the track) try the chorus as well.
Here’s the same idea we had for the verse adapted to the chorus chords:
Not Fair chord progression and melody
The genius part is that the verse and bridge feel different over the Dm – F chords. Using the (double) chorus as the release.
What’s so clever is that Lily doesn’t deviate from this concept, meaning that after you’ve heard the first chorus, you know the entire song and are ready to sing along.
Speaking of sing-along, these Nursery-Rhyme style choruses are easier to imagine than to write. If you want to try to write one, focus on the intervals she hits over each chord, and learn from that. This is for the opening four bars:
- Gm – Root and 9th
- Bb – 5th and 3rd
- F – Root and 6th
- C – 5th and 4th
Check my nursery rhythm hit writing lessons in the intermediate acoustic lessons for I’m Yours to find out more about this stuff.
If writing hits is not what you want to spend your life doing, you can still learn from it as an improviser. Target those notes for a melodic solo/improvisation. You can add to it, but you need target notes!
On a final note, should you want to play this on an acoustic guitar, then the chords F, Gm, and Bb are not going to feel great, so let’s look at a few solutions for this dilemma.
Solution 1, change the key to G
As this is going up, we can’t fit a capo to get to the original key, we have to sing higher. These are the chords in the key of G.
Verse/Bridge
||: Em | Em | G | G :||
Chorus
||: Am | C | G | D |
| Am | C | D | D :||
Clearly, this is so much easier! But if you want to be in the original key, this won’t work so here’s a solution for this:
Solution 2, change the key to C (capo 5)
This is a good alternative should you want to lower the key from F as the further you put the capo down, the better it’ll sound. These are the chords in the key of C.
Verse/Bridge
||: Am | Am | C | C :||
Chorus
||: Dm | F | C | G |
| Dm | F | G | G :||
Playing this on your own on an acoustic guitar, that F should be played from string 4, using the C on string 5 as the alternative bass.
Not Fair TAB | Related Pages
Not Fair | Chords + Lyrics
You can learn to play Not Fair by Lily Allen using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| Dm | Dm |
Oh, he treats me with respect, he says he loves me all the time…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Lily Allen tunes
Using MySpace in 2005, Lily Allen managed to build a fanbase, attract the interest of a label, and release her debut the following year.
Her best tunes include Smile, Not Fair, The Fear, and a cover of Keane’s Somewhere Only We Know.
Lily Allen on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This guitar lesson by Dan Lundholm features TAB and covers Not Fair. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.