Learn how to play Bryan Adam’s Summer of ’69. This includes a snapshot of the guitar tablature. Check out the video tutorial on how to play the riff for this great rock song.

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click here to learn more Songs note by noteBryan Adams has more than a handful of number 1 hits world wide but One of Bryan Adam’s classic song is Summer of ’69.

On this post, we will check out and learn that signature intro riff of this amazing rock song by Bryan Adams and his band.

Learn the Chords

The riff we’ll be learning on this post is the intro part as well as a part of the verse since the intro chords are the same as in the first part of the verse.

The chords for this riff is D major. But the same riff is applied in the verses but the verse uses D major and A major chords. Check out the image guitar tablature below.

Once you know the chords, let’s learn the rhythm and the guitar technique known as palm muting.

Palm Mute

The intro riff for Summer of 69 uses palm muting. If you check out the guitar tablature above, “P.M.” is the abbreviation of Palm Mute and the dashed line symbol after “P.M.” is the length of time those group of notes will be muted.

From the figure or guitar tablature above, the 3rd and 4rth note are muted and then, the second set of muted notes – P.M. started on the 3rd beat of the first bar up to the 4rth beat of the second bar but excluding the last 8th note of that bar which is an open string “A” note.

How to Play Summer of ’69

Summer 69

Starts in D, 5th fret, 7th fret 7th fret.
Put a little bit of distortion in there, a little bit of gain. Add in a slight echo.

Do a lot of Palm muting.. with only the initial 2nd and 4th beats ringing out a bit. You’ll release your index finger on the last note of the bar prior to playing the A chord.

Same for mation on the A chord, but it starts on the E string. 5ht fret, 7th fret, 7th fret.

You’ll do that two chords back and forth for the intro and the verses.

For the Pre-Chorus, you’ll play the Bm (B minor) chord – 2nd fret, 4th fret, 4th fret, 3rd fret, 2nd fret on 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings respectively.

Second chord is A. Open string, 2nd fret, 2nd fret, 2nd fret on the strings 5th, 4th, 3rd, and 2nd strings respectively.

Then D major. Open String, 2nd fret, 3rd fret, 2nd fret on 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st strings.

To G major.

In playing these set of chords in the pre-chorus, you may want to apply the arpegiatted plucking of the strings or chords. This is just like the technique taught in The House of the Rising Sun guitar lesson.

After these section, you will then play the famouse Summer of ’69 guitar riff. This is playing the D and A major chords with embellishments of the sus4s and open 9s.

Guitar Chords: Summer of 69


D A
I got my first real six string - bought it at the five & dime
D A
Played it til my fingers bled - was the summer of '69
D A
Me and some guys from school had a band and we tried real hard
D A
jimmy quit and Jody got married - shoulda known we'd never get far

Bm A D G
Oh when I look back now – that summer seemed to last for ever
Bm A D G
And if I had the choice – ya I’d always wanna be there
G A Dsus2 D Dsus4 D Dsus2 D Asus2 A Asus4 A Asus2 A
Those were the best days of my life

D A
Ain’t no use complaining – when ya gotta job to do
D A
Spent my evenings down at the drive in – and that’s when I met you – ya
Bm A D G
Standing on your mamma’s porch – you told me that you’d wait forever
Bm A D G
And when I held your hand – I knew that it was now or never
Bm A Dsus2 D Dsus4 D Dsus2 D Asus2 A Asus4 A Asus2 A
Those were the best days of my life – back in the summer of ’69

F Bb
Man we were killin’ time
C Bb
We were young and reckless – we needed to unwind
F Bb C
I guess nothing can last forever…

Dsus2 D Dsus4 D Dsus2 D Asus2 A Asus4 A Asus2 A

D
And now the times are changin’
A
Look at everything that’s come and gone
D
Sometimes when I play my old six string
A
I think about you wonder what went wrong

Bm A D G
Standing on your mama’s porch – you told me it’d last forever
Bm A D G
And when I held your hand – I knew that it was now or never
G A Dsus2 D Dsus4 D Dsus2 D Asus2 A Asus4 A Asus2 A
Those were the best days of my life – back in the summer of ’69

Continue Dsus2 D Dsus4 D Dsus2 D Asus2 A Asus4 A Asus2 A

Enjoy Rockstars!