Dear John Letter Chords

KeyA Capo1st fret TuningStandard Difficulty Plays393

Dear John Letter by Jean Sheppard is a beginner-friendly guitar song played in the key of A with a capo on the 1st fret. It uses the chords A, E7, A7 and D. Use the transpose and diagram tools on this page to change the key, see each shape, or simplify the chords.

Transpose
A
Text
16
Speed
  			As recorded by Jean Shepard and Ferlin Husky 
Written by Lewis Talley, Fuzzy Owen and Billy Barton 
 
CHORUS 
st Fret/KEY: Bb/PLAY: A 
A Dear John, Oh, how I E7 hate to write 
Dear John, I must let you know A tonight 
That my love for you has A7 died 
Away, like D grass upon the lawn 
And E7 tonight I'll wed another, Dear A John. 
 
Narration: (Chorus melody played in background)  
A I was overseas in battle 
When the E7 postman came to me 
And he handed me a letter 
I was happy as can be A 
For the fighting was all over 
And the D battle just had been won 
Then I E7 opened up the letter 
And it started, Dear A John. 
 
CHORUS 
 
Narration: 
Will you please send back my picture 
My husband wants it now 
When I tell you who I'm wedding 
You won't care, dear, anyhow  
Now the ceremony has started 
And I'll wed your brother, Don 
Will you wish us happiness, forever 
Dear John. 
 
CHORUS 
    	

Chord diagrams

Guitar tuner

--
Start the tuner and play a string

Reference tones

Standard tuning, lowest to highest. Click a string to play it; the string the mic hears is highlighted.

Click Start tuner and allow microphone access. The needle centers and turns green when a string is in tune (within 5 cents).
No microphone? You can still tap any string above to hear its exact reference pitch.

Metronome

100 BPM Andante