Greensleeves Guitar Chords
Key of A minor 6/8 58 BPM 5 chords: Am G F E C Easy
The 5 chords of Greensleeves
Greensleeves is more than four hundred years old and still one of the loveliest tunes you can play on guitar. It is in A minor, in a lilting 6/8 rhythm, and it uses five chords: Am, G, F, E and C. The verse walks down Am, G, F, E, a pattern guitarists have loved ever since; the chorus lifts to C for "Greensleeves was all my joy". This chord sheet has two Elizabethan verses and the chorus with every chord over its word. Count in two big beats per bar, each split into three, and let the progression rock gently, or fingerpick it for a classical sound.
Strings from the low E (left) to the high E (right), numbers are fingers. Tap a chord for every other way to play it.
Greensleeves chords and lyrics
Each chord sits over the word where it changes. Keep strumming the same chord until the next one. Song credits: Traditional English ballad (registered in 1580).
Verse 1
AAmlas, my Glove, you Fdo me Ewrong
To Amcast me Goff disEcourteously
Chorus
CGreensleeves was Gall my Amjoy
And EGreensleeves was my deAmlight
How to strum Greensleeves
The song is in 6/8: two beats in every bar, each split into three, counted 1 2 3 4 5 6. Lean on 1 and 4, and keep the strum rolling.
Easy
Full
6/8: two beats per bar, each split into three, counted 1 2 3 4 5 6. Strum down on 1 and 4, or down, down-up on each half bar.
Tips for Greensleeves on guitar
The chords
Am, G, F, E and C. F is the only barre; play the small four-string F if the full barre is not ready yet.
The tricky part
Most bars hold two chords, one per beat: Am then G, F then E. Change exactly on the count of 4.
Change the key
To sing higher, keep the same shapes and put a capo on fret 2, which raises the song a whole step, or on fret 4 for two whole steps. The chords on this page and the guitar above stay the same; only the pitch changes.
The story of Greensleeves
A ballad called A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves was registered in London in 1580, and Shakespeare mentions the tune twice in The Merry Wives of Windsor. A popular legend says Henry VIII wrote it for Anne Boleyn, but historians find no evidence, and its harmony is later than his time.
The same melody carries the Christmas carol What Child Is This, written in 1865, so many people know it from both.
Source: Traditional English ballad, A New Northern Dittye of the Lady Greene Sleeves (1580), public domain; chords in A minor by GOONS Studio.
Frequently asked
What are the chords to Greensleeves?
In A minor. Verse: Am G, F E, Am G, E, Am G, F E, Am E, Am. Chorus: C, G, Am E, Am, then the same again.
Did Henry VIII write Greensleeves?
Probably not. The legend is popular, but the earliest record of the ballad is from 1580, after his death, and its style is later than his reign.
What time signature is Greensleeves?
It is usually written in 6/8 or 3/4. On this page it is in 6/8: two beats per bar, each divided into three.
Record your own Greensleeves
The guitar on this page is free, with no account. GOONS Studio adds the rest of the band in the browser - drum machines, a bass, a sampled piano and a sequencer - to record your own version of the song, with a 7-day free trial, no card required.