Ring Of Fire | TAB
The only way I could work out how to play Ring Of Fire was by applying an alternating bass line between the root and the 5th, writing it all out bar by bar using TAB.
These are the results, let’s start with the intro:
The bass line takes us into a G/D chord and a 3/4 bar where we play a C on the last beat. Compare this with Blackbird and Dream A Little Dream Of Me.
The next bar is just a G chord using an alternating bass line. As we seemingly repeat this idea with another 3/4 bar, notice how we now start with the root and then go to the 5th. The last chord is also a D5, not a C.
As it comes time to play the instrumental section, which is twice as long, we stick with always starting with the root, like this:
OK, so that wasn’t too difficult, right? You could memorize the intro and the instrumental section. Unfortunately, it gets worse…
Here’s verse 1 using TAB, the time signatures are pretty difficult!
Because I’ve written this as three bars per line, it is possible to understand what’s going on here, it’s similar to the intro, just one more bar of 4/4. Only the last line is breaking the pattern.
You probably could memorize this too and if the band rehearsed it, you’d be all right.
Verse 2 is the same, right? No…
This looks too difficult to be true, doesn’t it, it’s just mad. Why would anyone change this much?
Play along with the original recording and you’ll see that these are the correct chords and time signatures for Ring of Fire’s verse 2. It took me two days to work this tune out, I just couldn’t believe it was this weird.
Anyway, here are the chorus chords using TAB:
Apart from that 2/4 bar, it’s pretty straightforward, phew!
Ring of Fire TAB | Related Pages
Ring of Fire | Chords + Lyrics
You can learn to play Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| G |3/4 G G/D C |4/4 G |
Love is a burning thing…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Johnny Cash tunes
Johnny Cash’s recording career started in 1955 on Sun Records (the same label as Elvis) and ended in 2002 with a masterpiece produced by Rick Rubin.
His best tunes include Ring of Fire, A Boy Named Sue, Hurt, Man in Black, Folsom Prison Blues, Get Rhythm, Personal Jesus, and I Walk The Line.
Johnny Cash on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This guitar lesson by Dan Lundholm features TAB and covers Ring Of Fire. 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.