Chords for How To Play Willie Nelson My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (full lesson)

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ My heroes have always been cowboys is a nice easy one.
We're gonna hear you playing this in [Eb] no time at all
It's the country bass and strum pattern that Willie Nelson is so fond of and
We're going to play it in three beats to the bar and [G] we're in the key of D
So we're going to start off with the intro like this
[D] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
Very [F] straightforward here.
We're picking the bass note [Eb] of the chord in this case the fourth [D] string and
_ down down
And then we're going [F] to alternate that in bar two with the second the alternating bass note the [A] fifth string and [D] down down up
_ So we're going four down down five down down up four down down five
down down up _
_ [A] Just in case the rhythm helps you [D] one two three one two three and one two three
one two three
Continue [Cm] playing the D exactly that way as you begin to sing
_ [D] _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ So _ that was four more bars [B] of D
_ Two times around the pattern and now we're going [C] to go to a G chord
We're going to [G] go six down down up six down down up _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ And back [D] to D as we played it before
_ _ Waze _
_ Notice [A] if you want to get very picky here that at bars 11 and 12 bar [D] 11 is going bass down down up as well
So four down down up five down down up consider consider bass down down and bass
Down down up to be [E] interchangeable in this song.
Either of them will work fine at any point in the song
_ _ [Eb] Now we're going to continue with D the line that begins at bar 13 of the tab
[D] _ Pursuing the life of a high rider, _ heroes at heart.
_ [Eb] Now we want an E7 chord.
An E [F] plus the second string, third fret.
We're going [E] to go 6 down, down, up, 5 down, down, up.
I burned up my childhood.
_ An A7, normal A7 [A] shape.
5 down, down, up, [B] 6 down, down, up.
[A] _ Days.
[Em] _ _ _
_ _ _ And that [A] sends us back to D [Eb] again as we continue with the verse, staying on D for 4 bars.
[D] I learned all the rules, with a modern day drifter.
_ _ _ _ [G] G for 2 bars.
_ _ To hold on to nothing, too.
_ [B] And 2 bars of D.
This time if you want to be really technical, he doesn't alternate the bass note 4 to 5, he stays on [C] 4.
Too [D] long. _ _ _ _ _
If you did go to 5 it really won't matter.
[Cm] Now G as we played it before.
Take [G] what you need from [Eb] the_
1 bar of [D] D.
Bass is 4, down, down, up, and we'll go straight to G, 6, down, down, up.
_ _ Ladies [G] then leave him with a_
_ [B] D over A, we simply [F] make a D chord and we pick the 5th string bass note.
_ [D] _ _
Words of_
_ [A] _ _ _ _
[B] To A7 and we're going to go 5 down, down, up.
[A] _ Sad country.
_ _ _ And D.
[D] We'll go bass, down, down, so 4 down, down, and then a little bass run.
4th string, [E] 6th string open, 6th string [Gb] 2nd fret.
That little bass [F] run leads us into the chorus that you [Cm] can see at bar 37.
So let's come from the ladies [B] then leave them. _
[D] Ladies [G] then leave them [D] with their words of [A] a sad country song.
_ [E] _
_ [G] My heroes_
You hear [D] that climb up is going 1, 2, 3, G, down, down, up.
So 6, [B] down, down, up on a G chord.
We're in the chorus now.
Stay on that G chord for 2 bars.
My heroes have always been [Eb] cowboys.
So it goes to D, _ [F] _ 4 down, down, up, 5 down, down, up.
Or 4 down, down, 5 down, down, up.
_ [D] Cowboys. _
_ _ [B] E7 as we played it [E] before. _ _
They still are it seems.
[Eb] And A7.
And [F] A7 will stay on the [A] 5th string.
5 down, down, up, 5 down, down, up.
_ [B] So with the [E] E7.
_ They [Bm] still are [A] it seems.
_ _ _ _ [G] 2 bars of G.
_ Sadly in search _ but.
And now D [A] for 1 bar to G for 1 bar in the same way we did it at bar 31 and 2.
_ [D] One step [G] and back up him.
[Eb] And we'll finish the chorus as we finish the verse.
D over A.
Remember 5 [D] down, down, up on the D chord.
[A] A7, 5 down, down, up.
And then we'll [B] go D 2 times around our pattern [D] of 4 down, down, 5 down, down, up.
_ [Eb] So the final line of the chorus from bar 47.
[D] One step and [G] back up [D] themselves.
And [B] their slow moving [D] _ dreams.
_ Again on D and _ _ into verse 2.
Verse [F] 2 is the same as [Db] the way you played verse 1.
The following chorus is the same.
And the outro of the song, part D, right at the end, the last line of the tap.
_ _ He repeats that final refrain line.
Sadly in [A] search but one step and [Eb] back up.
So you'll play it the same way until you get to the D over A chord.
You see that?
So repeating the refrain come from bar [G] 45.
_ Sadly in search.
_ [D] One [G] step and back up them.
And now come down to the outro [E] of bar 53.
[B] The D over A to A7 is the same.
_ _ [D] Themselves [A] and their slow moving dreams.
But on dreams, instead of going to the D chord, [C] we go to G.
_ [Cm] We'll alternate [G] the pattern 6 down, down, up, 4 down, down, up.
And again. _ _
_ And finish on a D chord [Db] with one strum.
[D] _
_ One slow down, what's spread out down strum of the D chord.
[Db] So we're finishing.
_ Themselves [A] and their slow [G] moving dreams. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ [Eb] Very easy one to play.
We might almost say a beginner's