Chords + Lyrics | The Devil Went Down to Georgia
Intro
| Dm | C |
| Dm C Bb Am | Gm A7 Dm A C |
| Dm | Dm A C | Dm (hold) | Dm (hold) |
Verse 1
| Dm (hold) | Dm (hold) |
The devil went down to Georgia, he was lookin’ for a soul to steal.
| Dm (hold) | Dm (hold) |
He was in a bind ’cause he was way behind and he was willin’ to make a deal.
| N.C | N.C |
When he came across this young man sawin’ on a fiddle and playin’ it hot.
| N.C | N.C A C |
And the devil jumped up on a hickory stump and said, “Boy, let me tell you what”
Verse 2
| Dm (hold) | Dm (hold) |
“I guess you didn’t know it but I’m a fiddle player too.
| Dm (hold) | Dm (hold) |
And if you’d care to take a dare, I’ll make a bet with you.
| N.C | N.C |
Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the devil his due.
| N.C | N.C A C |
I’ll bet a fiddle of gold against your soul ‘Cause I think I’m better than you”.
| Dm (hold) | Dm (hold) |
The boy said, “my name’s Johnny and it might be a sin.
| Dm (hold) | Dm (hold) (A B C) |
But I’ll take your bet, you’re gonna regret ’cause I’m the best there’s ever been”.
Chorus 1
| Dm | C |
Johnny, rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard.
| Gm | Dm |
‘Cause Hell’s broke loose in Georgia, and the devil deals the cards.
| Dm | Gm |
And if you win, you get this shiny fiddle made of gold.
| A | (A G F E) |
But if you lose, the devil gets your soul.
Instrumental 1 (violin)
| Dm | C |
| Dm C Bb Am | Gm A7 Dm A C |
| Dm | Dm A C | Dm (hold) | Dm (hold) |
Verse 3
| Dm (hold) | Dm (hold) |
The devil opened up his case and he said, “I’ll start this show”
| Dm (hold) | Dm (hold) |
And fire flew from his fingertips as he rosined up his bow
| N.C | N.C |
And he pulled the bow across the strings and it made an evil hiss.
| N.C | N.C A C |
Then a band of demons joined in and it sounded something like this:
Instrumental 2 (guitar)
||: Dm Dm7 | C Dm :||
Violin solo 1
||: Dm Dm7 | C Dm :|| x4 (bass line riff)
| Dm Dm7 | C Dm | Dm Dm7 | A5 Bb5 C5 C#5 |
| D5 | D5 A C | Dm | Dm |
Verse 4
| Dm (hold) | Dm (hold) |
When the devil finished, Johnny said, “well, you’re pretty good, ol’ son.
| Dm (hold) | Dm (hold) |
But sit down in that chair right there and let me show you how it’s done”.
Bridge 1
| Dm | Dm |
“Fire on the Mountain” run boys, run.
| C | C |
The devil’s in the House of the Rising Sun.
| Dm | Dm |
Chicken in a bread pan pickin’ out dough.
| C | C |
Granny, does your dog bite? No, child, no.
Violin solo 2
||: Dm | C :|| x3
| A | A | A C | Dm | Dm |
Verse 5
| Dm (hold) | Dm (hold) |
The devil bowed his head because he knew that he’d been beat.
| Dm (hold) | Dm (hold) |
And he laid that golden fiddle on the ground at Johnny’s feet.
| N.C | N.C |
Johnny said, “Devil, just come on back if you ever wanna try again.
| N.C | N.C |
I done told you once you son of a bitch, I’m the best that’s ever been”.
Bridge 1
| Dm | Dm |
“Fire on the Mountain” run boys, run.
| C | C |
The devil’s in the House of the Rising Sun.
| Dm | Dm |
Chicken in a bread pan pickin’ out dough.
| C | C |
Granny, does your dog bite? No, child, no.
Outro
| Dm | C | Dm | C |
| Dm | (D E F G) | (A G F E) |
||: (D C Bb A) :||
| D C Bb A | G F D |
The Devil Went Down to Georgia Backing Track | Chord Analysis
Above, you’ll find backing tracks to use when learning The Devil Went Down to Georgia. I’ve used stem separation to extract the guitar while keeping the drums, bass, keys, horns, and vocals intact.
There is also a backing track without fiddle available, allowing the guitar to play the fiddle part – scary!
After studying the chords and TAB, use my backing tracks to prepare for playing this tune with a band.
Chord Progressions – What’s Going On?
It was tempting to analyse the Guitar Hero version, but after listening to the original, I knew I had to transcribe the fiddle part—it’s incredible.
The way it moves through Mixolydian, Ionian, Harmonic Minor, and Dorian is something I absolutely love! To properly capture it, I’ve created a detailed TAB—you find it further down this guitar lesson.
Fortunately, the song’s chord progressions are much simpler than the scary melody – let’s investigate!
Verse
The verse is simply a held VI chord (Dm).
Chorus
The chorus moves around the key of D minor with a VI – V – II – VI progression. The second line follows VI – II – IIIx, like this:
| Dm (VI) | C (V) | Gm (II) | Dm |
| Dm | Gm | A (IIIx) | (A G F E) |
After this, the song introduce a rapid chord progression, creating contrast against the held verse and straightforward chorus.
Instrumental
Here’s The Devil Went Down to Georgia’s instrumental sections chords:
| Dm (VI) | C (V) |
| Dm C Bb (IV) Am (III) | Gm (II) A7 (IIIx) Dm A C |
| Dm | Dm A C | Dm (hold) | Dm (hold) |
That second line follows a descending VI – V – IV – III, then ascends II – IIIx – VI. The final A – C is best played as single notes or power chords.
I’ve also created TABs for the rhythm part, the breakdown riff (which cleverly uses the blues scale—one of many scales in this song!), and the genius ending.
After working through the TAB, even this crazy-looking chord chart will seem simple!
The Devil Went Down To Georgia Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro Download
If you’d like to download this chart, here’s a PDF: The Devil Went Down to Georgia chord chart PDF.
This chart was created using iReal Pro—here’s the iReal Pro file: The Devil Went Down to Georgia iReal Pro.
With iReal Pro, you can change the key, though if someone asks you to switch keys at the last minute, they might just be testing your patience!
The Devil Went Down To Georgia | TAB
This is a proper challenge, especially if you’re going to attempt to play that fiddle melody on the guitar. Let’s get straight to it — here are the chords underneath that scary melody from the intro and instrumental section.
You want to let the bass player take care of the alternating bass line. For the chords, just focus on making them compact — you don’t even need the root note.
Here’s the fiddle melody for the same part, practice slowly!
In order to understand this melody, you need to look at the intervals in relation to each chord and name them as scales, like this:
Dm – D harmonic minor (Aeolian with maj7)
C – C Ionian (modal interchange, should have been Mixolydian)
Breakdown
Next, there’s a guitar break rhythm riff and bass line which is great fun, using the Dm blues scale. Here it is in TAB:
The chord riff uses Am shapes for the initial Dm chords, a G shape for the C, and then a Cm shape for the last Dm chord.
For the riff, again, you need to see the scales to be able to memorise it. As mentioned, it’s the Dm blues scale.
After repeating it many times, you play a D Dorian scale — not Aeolian or harmonic minor like before. The chords move up from A – Bb – C – C#.
Finally, The Devil Went Down To Georgia has a great ending — let’s make sure you really know it! Here’s the TAB.
When you can play all this TAB, try it with the backing tracks and chord chart!
Shredding with the Devil: Conquering The Devil Went Down to Georgia
Charlie Daniels Band‘s The Devil Went Down to Georgia is a true challenge, especially if you’re brave enough to tackle that blistering fiddle melody on guitar!
Since its original release, the song has been covered by numerous artists—not just Steve Ouimette (the Guitar Hero version), but also Rednex, The Levellers, Nickelback, and even Korn.
Having transcribed the original fiddle part, I highly recommend giving it a try, even if you don’t plan to perform it live. It’s an incredible exercise and a rewarding challenge.
In fact, it was so difficult to transcribe that I had to track down the original fiddle notation and convert it into TAB—it was simply too intricate to work out entirely by ear!
The Devil Went Down to Georgia Chords: Continue Learning
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