Sweet Child O’ Mine | Chords + Lyrics (tune down 1/2)
Intro
||: D | Dadd4 | Cadd9 | Cadd9 |
| G5 | G5 | D | Dadd4 :|| x3
Verse 1
| D5 | D5 |
She’s got a smile that it seems to me,
| C | Cadd9 |
reminds me of childhood memories,
| G5 | G5 | D | Dadd4 |
where everything was as fresh as the bright blue sky.
| D | D Dadd4 |
Now and then when I see her face,
| C | Cadd9 |
she takes me away to that special place,
| G | G6 G5 | D | Dadd4 |
and if I stared too long, I’d probably break down and cry.
Chorus 1
| A Aadd4 | Csus4 Cadd9 | Dsus4 | Dadd4 |
Whoa, oh, oh. Sweet child o’ mine.
| A Aadd4 | Csus4 Cadd9 | D5 | D5 |
Whoa, oh, oh, oh. Sweet love of mine.
Instrumental 1
| D | D | C | C |
| G | G | D | Dadd4 |
Verse 2
| D | Dadd4 |
She’s got eyes of the bluest skies,
| Cadd9 | Cadd9 |
as if they thought of rain.
| G | G | D | Dadd4 |
I’d hate to look into those eyes and see an ounce of pain.
| D | Dadd4 |
Her hair reminds me of a warm safe place,
| Cadd9 | Cadd9 |
where as a child I’d hide.
| G | G | D | Dadd4 |
And pray for the thunder and the rain to quietly pass me by.
Chorus 2
| A5 (B5) | C5 | Dsus4 | Dadd4 |
Whoa, oh, oh. Sweet child o’ mine.
| A5 (B5) | C5 | D5 | D5 |
Whoa whoa, oh, oh, oh. Sweet love of mine.
Instrumental 2
| D | D | C | C |
| G | G | D | Dadd4 |
| D | D | C | C |
| G | G | D | D |
Whoa, yeah.
Chorus 3
| A5 (B5) | C5 | D | Dadd4 |
Whoa, oh, oh, oh. Sweet child o’ mine
| A5 (B5) | C5 | D5 | D5 |
Whoa, oh, whoa, oh. Sweet love of mine.
| A5 (B5) | C5 | D5 | Dadd4 |
Whoa, oh, oh, oh. Sweet child o’ mine.
| A5 (B5) | C5 | D5 | D (D#) |
Ooh, ooh, sweet love of mine
Instrumental 3
| Em | C | B7 | Am :|| x3
| Em | C | B7 | A5 | A5 |
Solo
||: Em (F#) | G5 | A5 | C5 D5 G5 :||
Breakdown
||: E5 (N.C) (F#) | G5 (N.C) | A5 (N.C) | C5 D5 G5 :||
Where do we go? Where do we go now? Where do we go?
Ooh, oh, where do we go? Where do we go now? Oh, where do we go now?
Where do we go? (Sweet child) Where do we go now?
| Em (F#) | G5 | A5 | C5 D5 |
Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay Where do we go now? Ah, ah
Outro
| Em (F#) | G5 | A5 | C5 D5 G5 |
Where do we go? Oh, where do we go now?
| Em (F#) | G5 | A5 | C5 D5 G5 |
Oh, where do we go? Oh, where do we go now?
| Em (F#) | G5 | A5 | (E D B Bb A G) |
Where do we go? Oh, where do we go now? Now, now, now, now, now, now, now.
| Em (F#) | G5 | A5 | C5 D5 | Em |
Sweet child. Sweet child of mine.
Sweet Child O’ Mine Chords: Learn the progressions
First of all, we are tuned down a semitone and play in the key of G, going V – IV – I – V for the verse, like this:
| D5 (V) | D5 | C (IV) | Cadd9 |
| G5 (I) | G5 | D | Dadd4 |
The fact that we start on chord V and hide the I chord in the middle of the progression drives Sweet Child O’ Mine’s chords forward.
The chorus uses power chords to disguise if it’s minor or major chords. We move II – IV – V. There is a quick III chord used as a passing chord as well (B5). No 3rds are used, it’s all power chords or sus4.
| A5 (II) B5 (III) | C5 (IV) | Dsus4 (V) | Dadd4 |
The next progression is for the solo, a breakdown, and an outro all organized around this movement:
||: Em (VI) /F# | G5 (I) | A5 (II) | C5 (IV) D5 (V) G5 (I) :||
Seen as Roman Numerals, this is almost all chords from E Aeolian mode, only missing out the III chord as we go VI (use VII as a single passing note) – I – II – (skip III) – IV – V.
There are some nice variations in the chords which you’ll find by studying the chords and lyrics above.
Getting the chords right for Sweet Child O’ Mine is important but what’s more, you must find a way to combine the 2 guitars on the original recording into one that you can play with a band and for that, you need TAB.
Here’s a link to the TAB lesson: Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
You’ll need to spend a lot of time with that TAB before you come back here and use this chord chart as your only reminder.
Sweet Child O’ Mine Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Sweet Child O’ Mine Chord Chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Sweet Child O’ Mine iReal Pro.
Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key. This might be a great idea should you not have a guitar tuned down a semi-tone and an unreasonable singer.
Sweet Child O’ Mine put Guns N’ Roses on the map!
Guns N’ Roses‘ signature song, Sweet Child O’ Mine is an epic masterpiece that combines rock with pop sensibility.
This is the tune that put the band on the map and allowed their other heavier repertoire to reach a mass market.
The more deeply you get into it, the more you’ll realize how much there is to it, especially the guitar work.
Perhaps the greatest challenge is that even if you learn both Izzy and Slash’s guitar parts note for note, you’d still be faced with the dilemma of how to combine the parts as you’ll probably be the only guitarist at the gig.
Another dilemma you will have is to decide between bringing a spare guitar tuned down 1/2 tone to the gig or buying the Digitech drop pedal.
Alternatively, you could suggest to the singer that Sweet Child O’ Mine’s chords should be played a semitone up, that’ll be a fun conversation…
Sweet Child O’ Mine Chords | Related Pages
Sweet Child O’ Mine | Guitar + TAB
With this guitar lesson, you can learn to play Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns N’ Roses using TAB and chord analysis.
| D5 | D5 |
She’s got a smile that it seems to me…
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 Sweet Child O’ Mine’s 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 by practising scales or studying theory in isolation.
