Dave Van Ronk - Oh, What a Beautiful City
Standard Tuning, Capo at 3
I'm having some trouble with the A in the verse. I think an Amajor sounds best, but an
Asus2 sounds alright too.
For the "Twelve Gates to the city part" sounds best if you slide up into bar chords
using the low E string
as your bass line.
There are two basic patterns:
1. The Chorus, which bounces back and forth between E (based on the low E string) and A
before the slide up
2. The Verse, which bounces from A to Esus (based on the D string) before the slide up.
Because you just kind of bounce back and forth, I haven't put a whole lot of effort into
placement relative
to the lyrics below. I trust you can figure it out.
E (E String base) E (D string base)
E-0------------------0----------------|
B-0------------------3----------------|
G-1------------------4----------------|
D-2------------------2----------------|
A-2------------------x----------------|
E-0------------------x----------------|
Intro/Chorus: E/A/E/A
E A E A E A E A
Oooooooooh, What a Beautiful City,
E A E A E A E A
Hmmm, what a beautiful city great god,
E A E A E A E (slide up) A B
What a beautiful city, well there's 12 Gates to the city, hallelew
E/A/E/A
Verse Pattern:
E A E A
Goin on down to the river
E A E A
Pick my sword up in the sand.
E A E A
Shove my troubles over
E A E
I done made it to the promised land, well there's
A B
12 Gates to the city, hallelew
E A E A E A E A
Oooooooooh, What a Beautiful City,
E A E A E A E A
Hmmm, what a beautiful city great god,
E A E A E A E (slide up) A B
What a beautiful city, well there's 12 Gates to the city, hallelew
E A E A
If you see my dear old mother,
E A E A
Won't you tell her please from me,
E A E A
Meet me in the city,
E A E
Way over in Gallilee, well there's
A B
12 Gates to the city, hallelew
E A E A E A E A
Oooooooooh, What a Beautiful City,
E A E A E A E A
Hmmm, what a beautiful city great god,
E A E A E A E (slide up) A B
What a beautiful city, well there's 12 Gates to the city, hallelew
E A E A
Well there's three gates in the east,
E A E A
Well there's three gates in the west
E A E A
Three gates in the north,
E A E
Well three gates in the south, well there's
A B
12 Gates to the city, hallelew
E A E A E A E A
Oooooooooh, What a Beautiful City,
E A E A E A E A
Hmmm, what a beautiful city great god,
E A E A E A E (slide up) A B
What a beautiful city, well there's 12 Gates to the city, hallelew
