A Boat To An Island On The Wall Chords
by Ben Howard
A Boat To An Island On The Wall by Ben Howard is a beginner-friendly guitar song played in the key of C. It uses the chords C, D and G. Use the transpose and diagram tools on this page to change the key, see each shape, or simplify the chords.
Tuning: CGCFGC
th (doesn't cover low C)* (Effective tuning is C D G C D G)
*All strings are relative to capo except low C
Intro/verse 1
C|------0--0-0----0|------0--0-0----2/3|---2--2-2----2|---2--2-2----2|
G|------0--0-0----0|------0--0-0-------|---0--0-0----0|---0--0-0----0|
F|------0--0-0----0|------0--0-0-------|---0--0-0----0|---0--0-0----0|
C|------0--0-0----0|------0--0-0----2/3|---0--0-0----0|---0--0-0----0|
G|-----------------|-------------------|3---------3---|3---------3---|
C|14-14--------14--|14-14--------14----|--------------|--------------|
C|------0--0-0----0|------0--0-0----2/3|---2--2-2----2|---2--2-2----2|
G|------0--0-0----0|------0--0-0-------|---0--0-0----0|---0--0-0----0|
F|------0--0-0----0|------0--0-0-------|---0--0-0----0|---0--0-0----0|
C|------0--0-0----0|------0--0-0----2/3|---0--0-0----0|---0--0-0----0|
G|-----------------|-------------------|3---------3---|3---------3---|
C|14-14--------14--|14-14--------14----|--------------|--------------|
On the "you said it's late" line play this variation
C|------0--0-0----0|------0--0-0----2/3|---2--2-2----2|---2--2-2----2|
G|------0--0-0----0|------0--0-0-------|---0--0-0----0|---0--0-0----0|
F|------0--0-0----0|------0--0-0-------|---0--0-0----0|---0--0-0----0|
C|------0--0-0----0|------0--0-0----2/3|---0--0-0----0|---0--0-0----0|
G|-----------------|-------------------|3---------3---|3---------3---|
C|14-14--------14--|0-0h2--------14----|--------------|--------------|
Chorus 1
The first Chorus simply drones on this chord
C|2--------|
G|0--------|
F|0--------|
C|0--------|
G|3--------|
C|---------|
Verse
C|----------+12-------+12---|----------+12-------+12---|---------+12-------+12---|---------+12-------+12---|
G|------+12----+12-------+12|------+12----+12-------+12|-----+12----+12-------+12|-----+12----+12-------+12|
F|-----+12--------+12-------|-----+12--------+12-------|----+12--------+12-------|----+12--------+12-------|
C|----+12-------------------|----+12-------------------|---+12-------------------|---+12-------------------|
G|+12-----------------------|+12-----------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------|
C|--------------------------|--------------------------|17-----------------------|17-----------------------|
Chorus 2
C|--0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0------0-0-0-0----0-0-0-0|
G|--0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0------0-0-0-0----0-0-0-0|
F|--0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0------0-0-0-0----0-0-0-0|
C|--0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0------0-0-0-0----0-0-0-0|
G|--0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0----2---------2--2-2-2-2|
C|2---------5------------0---------0--0-0-0-0|
this progression repeats throughout Chorus/under the fuzzy lead in the outro
Outro
C|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
F|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
C|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3h5p3|
C|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
C|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
F|---------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
C|2tr3--2-2---2----2-2---2---------|2tr3--2-2---2----2-2---2-----------|
G|----------5---5------5---5---5b-0|----------5---5------5---5--2-2-2-2|
C|---------------------------------|----------------------------0-0-0-0|
C|-------------------------------------|---------------------+12-+12-+12-+12-+12-+12-+12-+12|
G|-------------------------------------|---------------------+12-+12-+12-+12-+12-+12-+12-+12|
F|-------------------------------------|---------------------+12-+12-+12-+12-+12-+12-+12-+12|
C|--2tr3--2-2---2----2-2---2----2-2----|---2tr3--2-2---2-----+12-+12-+12-+12-+12-+12-+12-+12|
G|------------5---5------5---5------5-3|-------------5---5----------------------------------|
C|2------------------------------------|2---------------------------------------------------|
C|------------------+12-+12-+12-+12------------|------------------------------|
G|------------------+12-+12-+12-+12------------|------------------------------|
F|------------------+12-+12-+12-+12------------|------------------------------|
C|0h2h5-5--0h2h5-5--+12-+12-+12-+12------------|0h2h5-0h2h5----------------=--|
G|----------------------------------5-5-5-5-5-3|-------------6p5-3-5-2-2h5-3-0|
C|---------------------------------------------|------------------------------|
C|----------------------2/3--|
G|---------------0-----------|
F|-----------0---------------|
C|5-5---2----5---7------2/3--|
G|----5---3-----------------3|
C|---------------------------|
|p - pull-off |
|h - hammer-on|
|tr - trill |
|/ - slide |