Patience | Chords + Lyrics (tune down 1/2 tone)
Intro (whistle)
||: C Cadd9 Cmaj7 | G Gadd4 Gadd9 | A Asus4 Asus2 |1. D Dsus4 Dadd9 :||
|2. D C/D G/D F/D |
| C G | C Em | C G | D |
Verse 1
| C Cadd9 Cmaj7 | G Gadd4 Gadd9 |
Shed a tear ’cause I’m missin’ you, I’m still alright to smile.
| A Add4 Aadd9 | D Dadd4 Dadd9 |
Girl, I think about you every day now.
| C Cadd9 Cmaj7 | G Gadd4 Gadd9 |
Was a time when I wasn’t sure but you set my mind at ease.
| A Add4 Aadd9 | D Dadd4 Dadd9 |
There is no doubt you’re in my heart now.
Chorus 1
| C G | C Em |
Said woman, take it slow and it’ll work itself out fine.
| C G | D Dadd9 Dadd4 Dadd9 |
All we need is just a little patience.
| C G | C Em |
Said sugar, make it slow and we’ll come together fine.
| C G | D Dadd9 Dadd4 Dadd9 |
All we need is just a little patience.
| D Dadd9 Dadd4 Dadd9 |
(Patience) mm yeah.
Verse 2
I sit here on the stairs ’cause I’d rather be alone.
If I can’t have you right now, I’ll wait, dear.
Sometimes I get so tense but I can’t speed up the time.
But you know, love, there’s one more thing to consider.
Chorus 2
Said woman, take it slow and things will be just fine.
You and I’ll just use a little patience.
Said sugar, take the time ’cause the lights are shining bright.
You and I’ve got what it takes to make it.
| D Dadd9 Dadd4 Dadd9 | D Dadd9 Dadd4 Dadd9 | D Dadd9 Dadd4 Dadd9 |
We won’t fake it. Aw, I’ll never break it, ’cause I can’t take it.
Solo
||: C G | C Em | C G | 1. D Dadd9 Dadd4 Dadd9 :||
||: 2. D Dadd9 Dadd4 Dadd9 :|| x3
| D Dadd9 Dadd4 Dadd9 | ritardando
|3/4 D | hold
||: 4/4 D D/F# | G :||
Outro
||: D D/F# | G | D D/F# | G :||
Little patience. Hm yeah, hm yeah.
We need a little patience, yeah. Just a little patience, yeah. Some more patience.
I’ve been walkin’ the streets at night (Yeah). Just trying to get it right (A little patience).
It’s hard to see with so many around (Yeah).
You know I don’t like being stuck in the crowd (Could use some patience).
And the streets don’t change, but maybe the names (Yeah).
I ain’t got time for the game.
‘Cause I need you (Gotta have more patience). Yeah, yeah, but I need you (Yeah).
| F | G |
Ooh, I need you (All it takes is patience). Oh, I need you (Just a little patience).
| D D/F# | D6 | D |
Ooh, this time (Is all you need).
Patience Chords: Learn the progressions
Played by Izzy, Slash, and Duff, there are three guitars that we somehow need to combine to play Patience chords on one guitar.
Using the chords and lyrics above, try playing along with the original recording. As you do, you must tune down a semitone, the Digitech drop pedal won’t be much good in this case as that only works for electric guitars.
My tuner can get you there and as you get in tune with Guns N’ Roses, change the Hz down a few steps as well, I felt 434Hz worked pretty well.
Once I was in tune and spent a few hours transcribing Patience, I managed to come up with parts for the intro, verse, chorus, and outro that I felt worked well.
I ignored the solo as that’s been done by so many other teachers online (I’ve included one in the playlist above).
The verse chords are diatonic to the key of G and go like this:
||: C (IV) Cadd9 Cmaj7 | G (I) Gadd4 Gadd9 |
| A (IIx) Add4 Aadd9 | D (V) Dadd4 Dadd9 :||
There’s TAB for how I reckon you could play Patience verse chords on just one guitar available here: Patience – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
The chorus switches to two chords per bar and in doing so, makes it all more intense as we go IV – I – IV – VI. When we repeat, the last two chords are switched to just a V chord with changing extensions, like this:
| C (IV) G (I) | C (IV) Em (VI) |
| C G | D (V) Dadd9 Dadd4 Dadd9 |
Once you’ve absorbed the TAB, a chord chart will be enough to keep you on track. Here’s one I made for you.
Patience Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
It took me forever to get this chart to a point where I felt OK with it. It’s not the chords, but the structure that is difficult to pin down.
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Patience Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Patience iReal Pro.
Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key although I can’t see that working well as Patience is all about the open-position chord shapes.
You either tune down a semitone or make the singer perform it higher than the original.
Patience bridged the gap between Appetite and Illusion!
The original recording of Patience can be found on Lies (1988). By now Guns N’ Roses debut album had taken off and they were on-route to becoming the biggest band in the world.
Patience was also a big hit and bridged the gap between Appetite For Destruction and Use Your Illusion I and II.
Funnily enough, all the big tunes we know Guns N’ Roses for were written during these early years of the band’s existence. I’m sure the label was aware of this as November Rain and You Could Be Mine were held back for the Use You Illusion albums.
In between these two (or three albums if you like), all we got was the suitably named Patience.
Axl Rose must have gotten too sure of himself as he launched a solo career after this, maintaining the band name.
Clearly, Izzy, Slash, and Duff had a lot to do with the success as the band post Use Your Illusion is a shadow of its former self.
As these three guys all played on Patience, this tune may be the perfect example to point out their importance.
Patience Chords | Related Pages
Patience | Guitar Lesson + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Patience by Guns N’ Roses using TAB and chord analysis.
| C Cadd9 Cmaj7 | G Gadd4 Gadd9 |
Shed a tear ’cause I’m missin’ you, I’m still alright to smile.
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
Guns N’ Roses tunes
Formed in the mid-’80s in Los Angeles, Guns N’ Roses wrote almost all their best tunes before the release of the debut album.
Their biggest hits include Paradise City, Welcome To The Jungle, Sweet Child O’ Mine, Patience, You Could Be Mine, and November Rain.
Guns N’ Roses on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Patience chords, by Dan Lundholm. 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.
