Rhinestone Cowboy | TAB
Let’s look at each section in detail using TAB. The intro is C – F/C – C – F/C. The top melody goes from the 3rd of the C, the root of the F, to the 5th of the C, like this:

The verse uses the trick of moving up to the IV chord and then maintaining that concept for all chords, so C (chord I) also has F/C. G (chord V) also has C/G, and F (chord IV) also has Bb/F.
If you listen to the bass on the recording, it drops out when this “IV chord” comes in, but then for the F – Bb movement, it does go to Bb. For a guitarist, I still felt it made the most sense to write it as Bb/F.
Here’s some TAB for how you could play this using open-position cowboy chords:

The bridge chords for Rhinestone Cowboy don’t have the “move to the IV chord trick”, which I feel is great, it’s nice to have a rest from it. This is the chord progression:
| G | G | F | C |
| F | D7/F# | G C/G |
That’s V – IV – I, and then IV – IIx/3 – V. How you play it will depend on what everybody else in the band plays. I would suggest a combination of picking and strumming.
The D/F# is great, compare it with playing F#dim7 and F#m7b5 and you’ll hear the small differences between these three chords.
The chorus chords go back to the “up a IV chord trick”, like this:
| G N.C G | C F/C | C F/C |
| Cmaj7 | C6 | G (C/G) |
| G | C F/C | C F/C |
| Cmaj7 | C6 | G (C/G) | G |
That Cmaj7 and C6 are so great, using seventh note chords like this in contrast to the triads works so well. Remember this when you write your own tunes, if you put too many extensions in, they lose their impact.
Again, a combination of strumming (slash chords) and picking (7th note chords) is probably best.
Finally, the instrumental section starts on chord IV and then moves down the scale using rhythmic displacement. Here’s some TAB demonstrating this, feel free to experiment with other chord shapes.

The 2nd instrumental section goes back to a chorus over the last bar. Should you use it for an end as well, just stop on a C after a ritardando.
Rhinestone Cowboy TAB | Related Pages
Rhinestone Cowboy | Chords + Lyrics
You can learn to play Rhinestone Cowboy by Glen Campbell using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| C (F/C) | C (F/C) |
I’ve been walkin’ these streets so long…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Glen Campbell tunes
In the early ’60s, Glen Campbell became a session guitarist for the Wrecking Crew, as well as started to release tunes in his own name.
His best tunes include Rhinestone Cowboy, Wichita Lineman, By the Time I Get to Phoenix, Galveston, and I Wanna Live.
Glen Campbell on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This guitar lesson by Dan Lundholm features TAB and covers Rhinestone Cowboy. 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.