Hotel California Chord Chart by The Eagles
Welcome to my Hotel California chord chart by The Eagles. Such a classic song. Beautiful all around. I have gotten a lot of requests for this song on YouTube and through the contact form, so I figured why not.
So this version here is going to be the “Easy” version using a capo. We will still be in the same key as the original, so you will be able to play along with The Eagles, but it’s going to have less barre chords than the original which is always helpful.
HOTEL CALIFORNIA CHORDS: CAPO 2ND FRET
In the easy version, we only have one barre chord to contend with which is the F major barre chord, but, capoed at the second fret, it should be easier to play. If not, you can always use the Fmaj7 chord below.
The strumming will vary between the verse and the chorus, but you can stick to a simple strumming pattern throughout the entire song if you choose. Obviously, this song has quite an amazing intro which we won’t be going over here, but feel free to do some finger picking if that pleases you as well. For the purposes of this song lesson, we are going to stick with strumming.
HOTEL CALIFORNIA STRUMMING PATTERNS
Simple Strumming:
1 + 2+ 3+ 4+
DU DU DU DU
It should work well. If you need to simplify even more, take out some of the up strums. If you want to open up the chords more try:
Simple Chorus Strumming:
1 2 3 4 +
D D D D U
Now, when I play this song, there is definitely A LOT of improvising on the strumming pattern. I will increase dynamics and intensity because on the lead guitar player too at times. Things to keep in mind for a song this amazing. I’ll give you a couple of examples of courses that you can play around with.
The intro, of course, has a lot of picking and again, this can all be improvised to. You can pick a few notes and strum as long as it’s in time. This is a timing that works well. Sometimes you can strum the 4 + and sometimes you can just hold on to the 3 and not strum. Variation is key.
Intro: P=picked note
1 + a2 e+ 3 4
D P PP D
Verse Strumming:
1 2 + a 3 + 4 e + a
D DDU DD DU DU
Chorus Strumming:
1 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 + a
D D DU U U D DU
Want to learn more about 16th note strumming and improve on your playing? Check out Lauren’s Guitar Strumming Course.
HOTEL CALIFORNIA CHORD CHART BY THE EAGLES - CAPO 2ND FRET
We do not distribute printable chord and lyrics charts. These charts are here only to support online learning. We highly recommend buying music from Hal Leonard or a reputable online sheet music store.
Due to us getting on board with copyright laws, this chord chart is no longer available on this site for viewing.
Song Structure:
Intro
Verse
Chorus
Verse
Chorus
Verse
Solo/Outro
Intro & Verse Chord Progression:
Am E G D F C Dm E
Played twice for both the intro and the verse.
Chorus chord progression:
F C E7 Am F C Dm E
Solo and outro section:
Return to the intro and verse chord progression.
This file is the author’s own work and represents his interpretation of this song. It’s intended solely for private study, scholarship or research.