How to play three classic Toddler songs

In this article, I'll teach you how to play three classic toddler songs: "Farmer in the Dell," "The More We Get Together," and "Happy and You Know It." As you can see from the embedded video, it's always a hit playing these songs to a roomful of kids.

All three of these songs use a simple I-IV-V chord progression. The way I play it is in the key of E, capoing the guitar at the second fret and fingering the following chords to match my vocal range:

I - D

IV - G

V - A

Of course, you can play these songs in a different key if you wish, e.g. the key of G would be the following chords without a capo:

I - G

IV - C

V - D

On the first two songs ("Farmer in the Dell" and "The More We Get Together") you only need two chords: I and V (D and A in my arrangement). Check out the video below and you'll see what I mean.

Enjoy!

How to play "Son of a Son of a Sailor" by Jimmy Buffett on acoustic guitar

Today's lesson will show you how to play Jimmy Buffett's classic tune Son of a Son of a Sailor.

This song uses a I-II-IV-V chord progression. Jimmy Buffett plays it in the key of C, using these chords:

I - C
II - D
IV - F
V - G

Of course, you can easily play it in a different key by transposing chords, e.g. the key of G would look like this:

I - G
II - A
IV - C
V - D

When I play it, I'm actually playing it in the key of A, fingering the key of G chords mentioned above with a capo on the second fret to raise the pitch by two half steps. This is what the song sounds like when played by me on acoustic guitar:



Enjoy!

Guitar key chart

In many of my lessons, I talk about how you can change the key in which you are playing your guitar by putting a capo on a given fret. The capo accomplishes this by essentially shortening the strings, thereby changing the pitch of the guitar.

To help you determine where to place the capo and which chords to finger to play a particular key, I have prepared a guitar key chart. This chart will tell you which key you are playing in depending on where the capo is and what chords you are playing. Most of the chords used in this chart are easy-to-play "open position" chords.

This chart can come in handy if you are playing with other musicians and you need to play a favorite song in a different key (e.g., to accommodate a singer's voice range), or if you want to play a popular song in the correct key but use a different set of chords that are easier for you to play:

Key	Fret position (Capo)	Major chord progressions	Relative minor chords
A	No capo	A-D-E	F#m-Bm-Dbm
A	2	G-C-D	Em-Am-Bm
A	7	D-G-A	Bm-Em-F#m
Ab	1	G-C-D	Em-Am-Bm
Ab	6	D-G-A	Bm-Em-F#m
Ab	8	C-F-G	Am-Dm-Em
B	2	A-D-E	F#m-Bm-Dbm
B	4	G-C-D	Em-Am-Bm
Bb	1	A-D-E	F#m-Bm-Dbm
Bb	3	G-C-D	Em-Am-Bm
Bb	8	D-G-A	Bm-Em-F#m
C	No capo	C-F-G	Am-Dm-Em
C	3	A-D-E	F#m-Bm-Dbm
C	5	G-C-D	Em-Am-Bm
C#	1	C-F-G	Am-Dm-Em
C#	4	A-D-E	F#m-Bm-Dbm
C#	6	G-C-D	Em-Am-Bm
D	No capo	D-G-A	Bm-Em-F#m
D	2	C-F-G	Am-Dm-Em
D	5	A-D-E	F#m-Bm-Dbm
D	7	G-C-D	Em-Am-Bm
E	2	D-G-A	Bm-Em-F#m
E	4	C-F-G	Am-Dm-Em
E	7	A-D-E	F#m-Bm-Dbm
Eb	1	D-G-A	Bm-Em-F#m
Eb	3	C-F-G	Am-Dm-Em
Eb	6	A-D-E	F#m-Bm-Dbm
Eb	8	G-C-D	Em-Am-Bm
F	3	D-G-A	Bm-Em-F#m
F	5	C-F-G	Am-Dm-Em
F	8	A-D-E	F#m-Bm-Dbm
F#	4	D-G-A	Bm-Em-F#m
F#	6	C-F-G	Am-Dm-Em
G	No capo	G-C-D	Em-Am-Bm
G	5	D-G-A	Bm-Em-F#m
G	7	C-F-G	Am-Dm-Em