The Boxer chords

How to play The Boxer

The Boxer sits in C with no capo, and the whole verse is a four-chord descent: C, Am, G, F, then back to C. Two things make it sound right. First, the C to Am move is a two-finger change — keep your index on the B string, first fret, and your middle finger on the D string, second fret, and move only the ring and little fingers. Second, the bass has to walk: on the line that ends the verse, play the C shape over a G in the bass (a C/G barre at the third fret) and then a C/E shape with the open low E ringing. The G7 to G6 to C turnaround is the same idea at three frets, one bass note falling each beat.

The chorus is where most players get lost, because the “lie-la-lie” figure never lands on the bar line. It is really two bars of Am, then Em, then Am again, then F, G and C — count it as half-measure chords and hold the first Am for a full bar before anything moves. For the bass walk, the last two bars can run G, C/G, C/E, C, which puts the bass on G, then G again, then E, then C, and gives the chorus its rolling feel. Keep your strumming hand moving through all of it: four downstrokes per bar, accented on one, with the thumb of your fretting hand muting the low E whenever you land on the Am.

Learn it in three pieces at 70 BPM. Loop C, Am, G, F for five minutes, then loop the turnaround C, G7, G6, C for two minutes — the G6 is just G with the little finger off the high E, so it costs you nothing. Then play the chorus ten times in a row at 70 before moving to 92. The song is long and repetitive, so build stamina rather than speed: a single pass of verse, chorus, verse, chorus is what you are practising.