Riptide is a really easy song to play and it’s a great place to start for beginners. In this Riptide guitar chords no capo free lesson, we are going to give you all of the chords, the chord progressions and the strumming pattern. At the end of the song, we will go through the entire piece and give you a video tutorial in case you are still struggling to play the song. If you want to learn more no capo guitar songs we have a great range of tutorials and guides here on our website.
Riptide Chords with No Capo
The song Riptide was originally written by Australian singer-songwriter Vance Joy. It has gained popularity all over the world and it is known to be one of the easiest guitar songs to play. The reason why it’s so simple is because there are only four chords involved – A minor, G major, C major and F major.
If you are looking at that F chord and saying ‘oh no’, don’t let this put you off. It only appears once during the bridge section. Other than that you can carry on using the other three chords. Anyone that is not completely familiar with an F barre chord can use an open chord instead.
Riptide Key
The studio recording of Riptide is in the key of C# major but because we’re playing with no capo, we’ll be using the key of C. If you want to play it like the original the capo will need to be placed on the first fret. You don’t really need a capo to play this song but using one does let you play in the original key and makes the chord fingering a lot easier. However, in this guide we are not using capos.
Strumming Pattern
There are three different strumming patterns used in this song but they are all easy enough to play as long as you keep practicing. You should be instantly able to recognize the song just from the strumming patterns used. It’s these that keep the song upbeat, even though the lyrics are on the sadder side.
The strumming sequence used in the song is below but the original can be quite hard. For those with less experience, we have included some simpler versions. The pattern pretty much stays the same throughout the song but there are some parts where it slows down. If you can nail that first bar then you should be good to go.
Advanced Pattern
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
↓ ↓ ↑ ↑ ↓ ↑
Intermediate Pattern
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
↓ ↓ ↑ ↓ ↑
Beginner Pattern
1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
Use just one of these strumming patterns or a combination of all three to play the song properly and sound like the Vance Joy original.
The Riptide Solo
When you listen to the second half of the song just at it gets to the bridge you will hear a short guitar riff. You can learn to play this part if you want and it’s easy if you choose to do so. Players who want to be able to play Riptide from start to finish will want to the learn the solo. We’ve given the the guitar tab below for the riff which you will need to play four times, along with a tutorial video on how to play the entire song if you’re stuck.
E | —-0h3—- |
B | 3h5——-5 |
G | ——–5– |
D | ———– |
A | ———– |
E | ———– |
Now you have all of the basics in place, let’s play the whole song.
Riptide by Vance Joy
Intro
Am G C x 2
Verse
Am G C
I was scared of dentists and the dark.
Am G C
I was scared of pretty girls and starting conversations.
Am G C
Oh, all my friends are turning green.
Am G C
You’re the magician’s assistant in their dreams.
Pre-Chorus
Am G C
Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.
Am G C
Ooh. Ooh. And they come unstuck.
Chorus
Am G C
Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away
Am G C
To the dark side, I wanna be your left hand man.
Am G C
I love you when you’re singing that song. And I got a lump
Am G C
In my throat, ’cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong.
Verse
Am G C
There’s this movie that I think you’ll like.
Am G C
This guy decides to quit his job and heads to New York City.
Am G C
This cowboy’s running from himself.
Am G C
And she’s been living on the highest shelf.
Pre-Chorus
Am G C
Ooh. Ooh. Ooh.
Am G C
Ooh. Ooh. And they come unstuck.
Chorus
Am G C
Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away
Am G C
To the dark side, I wanna be your left hand man.
Am G C
I love you when you’re singing that song. And I got a lump
Am G C
In my throat, ’cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong.
Solo
Bridge
Am G
I just wanna, I just wanna know,
C F
If you’re gonna, if you’re gonna stay.
Am G
I just gotta, I just gotta know,
C F
I can’t have it, I can’t have it any other way.
Pre-Chorus
Am G C
I swear she’s destined for the screen.
Am G C
Closest thing to Michelle Pfeiffer that you’ve ever seen (oh).
Chorus x 3
Am G C
Lady, running down to the riptide, taken away
Am G C
To the dark side, I wanna be your left hand man.
Am G C
I love you when you’re singing that song. And I got a lump
Am G C
In my throat, ’cause you’re gonna sing the words wrong.
Conclusion
That’s all you need to be able to play Riptide at the right speed, without a capo and with plenty of practice, you should be able to play it with no mistakes. Remember to use the video lesson above if you become stuck. We hope this guide helped and that you can play Riptide in no time at all.
FAQs
What key is Riptide in on guitar?
Riptide on guitar is in the key of C major which means that every other chord that features in the song away from the C major chord, such as an A minor, or back to the C chord, like the G.
What are the three easiest guitar chords?
G, C and D are known to be three of the easiest guitar chords. They are also the ones that are most commonly used as well so it’s worth learning these first if you are a beginner to the guitar.