Scarborough Fair Guitar Chords
Key of A minor 3/4 100 BPM 4 chords: Am G C D Easy
The 4 chords of Scarborough Fair
Scarborough Fair is a haunting old English ballad in three beats, and on guitar it needs only four open chords: Am, G, C and D. The D major chord on "rosemary" is the secret of its sound: it comes from the old Dorian mode, a minor scale with a raised sixth, which gives the tune its medieval colour. This chord sheet has four traditional verses, the impossible tasks a lover sets, with every chord over its word, and the sixteen-bar progression they share. Strum gently in three, or fingerpick it: the song sounds best quiet and unhurried.
Strings from the low E (left) to the high E (right), numbers are fingers. Tap a chord for every other way to play it.
Scarborough Fair 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.
Verse 1
AmAre you going to GScarborough AmFair?
CParsley, Amsage, roseDmary and Amthyme
Verse 2
AmTell her to make me a Gcambric Amshirt
CParsley, Amsage, roseDmary and Amthyme
How to strum Scarborough Fair
The song is in 3/4: 3 beats in every bar. Count them aloud, and strum down on the numbers and up on the "and".
Easy
Full
Three beats per bar: down on 1, down-up on 2 and 3. Or fingerpick p-i-m-a-m-i, one pattern per bar.
Tips for Scarborough Fair on guitar
The chords
Am, G, C and D, all open chords. Am is the home chord: the song starts and ends on it.
The tricky part
The C, Am, D, Am line: D comes on "rosemary" for one bar only. Keep your fingers close to the strings so the D shape is ready.
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 Scarborough Fair
Scarborough Fair is a traditional English ballad, a cousin of the older Scottish ballad The Elfin Knight, in which two lovers set each other impossible tasks: a shirt without seams, an acre of land between the sea and the shore. The fair itself was a great trading fair held in the Yorkshire town of Scarborough from the Middle Ages.
The refrain of herbs, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, has been read as a list of virtues or a charm. The traditional verses on this page are free to sing; the famous 1960s folk-rock arrangement is a later, separate work.
Source: Traditional English ballad, public domain; chords in A minor by GOONS Studio.
Frequently asked
What are the chords to Scarborough Fair?
In A minor: Am, G, Am for the first line, C, Am, D, Am for the second, Am, C, G for the third and Am, G, Am to end. Four open chords.
Why is there a D major chord in A minor?
The melody uses the Dorian mode, a minor scale with a raised sixth, F sharp in A. That F sharp belongs to D major, which gives the song its old, modal sound.
Is Scarborough Fair a traditional song?
Yes. It is an English folk ballad centuries old. The verses on this page are traditional and in the public domain; modern recorded arrangements are separate works.
Record your own Scarborough Fair
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.