HOW TO PLAY "JAMBALAYA" BY HANK WILLIAMS ON GUITAR

Let's learn how to play Jambalaya, the guitar country classic by Hank Williams!

This song is awesome if you're working through my Beginner Guitar Course and have just learned the C and G chords. This song only uses those two chords, so it's the perfect opportunity to work on them!

🎶 About Jambalaya by Hank Williams: Hank Williams wrote this song about jambalaya, which I've been told is a type of meat, seafood, and rice dish from Louisiana! I'll have to try it next time I'm down south in the States. :)

There are several versions of this tune, and we'll look at how to play them all on guitar. Some artists use A and D, while The Carpenters went for G and D. We’ll stick with C and G for now and cover the other options later. :)

Jambalaya by Hank Williams: Guitar Chords

There's only one sequence in Jambalaya, and it lasts eight bars. It’s two bars of C, four bars of G, then two bars of C:

C C G G;
G G C C.

I suggest you go for Weak-Finger G in this tune. It works great for the country picking pattern and makes the chord changes easy. If you want to work on harder changes, try Traditional G or Hack G. :)

💡 Need Help with C and G? Head to Grade 1 of my Beginner's Course for detailed lessons on these essential guitar chords.

Beginner Strumming

If you feel ready to play the tune, start with one strum per bar to get used to the rhythm and chord changes. Check out the Play Through section for a demo of this pattern with the chords. :)

Let’s gradually make it sound like the Hank Williams original. If you’re a beginner, try playing two strums per bar, on beats 1 and 3. Make sure you keep your strumming arm moving even though you only strum on half the beats. Once you nail this, you can make it sound even better by picking out bass notes. ;)

Authentic Country Strumming

If you want to get fancy with the strumming, try this country technique. It gives movement to the rhythm, but it can be tricky for some beginners. We pick the bass note on beats 1 and 3, then strum the full chord on beats 2 and 4. You pick string 5 on C and string 6 on G.

Play to whatever level you feel comfortable with - if this is too tricky, leave it for now! The difficult part is picking individual strings between strums – be careful to hit the correct string each time.

If you've mastered this pattern, let’s take it to the next level. ;)

Alternating Bass

This technique is for advancing beginners and is close to what Hank Williams did. We alternate the bass notes, picking one string on beat 1 and a different one on beat 3.

Hit string 5 on beat 1 of the C chord. And when you reach beat 3, move finger 3 to fret 3 on string 6 and pick that string. It's crucial you use finger 3 for the second bass note - it won't sound so good if you pluck open string 6. Listen out for the distinctive sound of this bass note movement.

We don't need to move our fingers over G chord. If you're playing Weak-Finger G, alternate between strings 6 and 4, hitting string 6 on beat 1 and string 4 on beat 3. If you’re playing regular G or Hack G, alternate between strings 6 and 5.

This technique is tricky at first, but you'll get there with slow, precise practice. This is an ultra-common pattern and is worth learning well. :)

Play Jambalaya by Hank Williams in Different Keys

If you want to experiment with Jambalaya in other keys, here are the two options I suggest.

In the key of D, the progression is D D A A, A A D D. I think it’s easier to alternate between the bass notes in this key - get all the details in the Different Keys chapter :)

In the key of G, the sequence is G G D D, D D G G.

Experiment and see which key you like most. If you know your keys, this tune uses chords I and V, and you can use any key you like. The capo also enables you to change key while using the same chord shapes. :)

Though I don’t know what a lot of the words mean, Jambalaya is a wicked song for practicing new techniques and building up your guitar skills. Have fun!

💙 Find tons more beginner-friendly guitar tunes at JustinGuitarSongs.