Wagon Wheel Chords & Guitar Lesson

Welcome to my Wagon Wheel chord guitar by Darius Rucker. Originally done by Bob Dylan and later by Old Crow Medicine Show. They use the same exact chords except you will need to put a capo on the 2nd fret of the guitar.

This is a great song and uses my 4 favorite beginner guitar chords - C, G, D and Em. Gotta love it. For beginners, I usually cut the strum in half (shown below) on this or we just do four down strums. The strumming patterns for this is syncopated so can throw beginners off. Not only that, it has more of a swung feel to it and that also can through beginners for a little bit of a loop. But let's take a look!

Wagon Wheel Guitar Chords:

Wagon Wheel Strumming Patterns:

Strumming Simple:
1 2 + 3 4
D DU

Strumming:
1 2 + 3 + 4 +
D DU    U DU

Wagon Wheel Guitar Lesson:

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Wagon Wheel Chord Chart:

Verse:
   G                                                 D
Headed down south to the land of the pines
                    Em                                   C
And I'm thumbin' my way into North Caroline
    G                                         D                                C                    C
Starin' up the road And pray to God I see headlights

      G                                                D
I made it down the coast in seventeen hours
Em                                            C
Pickin' me a bouquet of dogwood flowers
                      G                                             D                            C       C
And I'm a hopin' for Raleigh so I can see my baby tonight       So

Chorus:
G                                         D
Rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Em                                  C
Rock me mama anyway you feel
  G D                       C            C
Heeeey, mama rock me
   G                                          D
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
  Em                                    C
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
G   D                       C            C     G, D, Em, C  G, D, C, C
Heeeey, mama rock me

Verse:
G                                        D

Runnin' from the cold up in New England
           Em                                            C
I was born to be a fiddler in an old-time stringband
          G                                    D                          C       C
My baby plays the guitar, I pick a banjo now

                  G                                                       D
Oh, the North country winters keep a gettin' me now
                    Em                                        C
Lost my money playin' poker so I had to up and leave
             G                                     D                                     C  C
But I ain't a turnin' back To livin' that old life no more    So

Chorus:
G                                         D

Rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Em                                  C
Rock me mama anyway you feel
  G D                       C           C
Heeeey, mama rock me
    G                                          D
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
  Em                                    C
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
G   D                      C            C     G, D, Em, C  G, D, C, C
Heeeey, mama rock me

Verse: One Strum Each
G                                       D                                   

Walkin' to the south out of Roanoke
                      Em                                             C
I caught a trucker out of Philly Had a nice long toke
          G                                   D
But he's a headed west from the Cumberland Gap
       C                        C
To Johnson City, Tennessee and I

continue strumming
G                                      D
Gotta get a move on fit for the sun
    Em
I hear my baby callin' my name
             C
And I know that she's the only one
        G                                     D                         C    C
And if I die in Raleigh At least I will die free       So

Chorus:
G                                          D

Rock me mama like a wagon wheel
Em                                   C
Rock me mama anyway you feel
G D                        C           C
Heeeey, mama rock me
  G                                           D
Rock me mama like the wind and the rain
  Em                                    C
Rock me mama like a south-bound train
G   D                      C            C     G, D, Em, C  G, D, C, C
Heeeey, mama rock me

This file is the author’s own work and represents his interpretation of this song. It’s intended solely for private study, scholarship or research.

We do not distribute printable chord and lyrics charts. These charts are here only to support online learning. We highly recommend buying music from Hal Leonard or a reputable online sheet music store.

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