Maybellene Chords

KeyA Capo2st fret TuningStandard Difficulty Plays415

Maybellene by Johnny Rivers is a beginner-friendly guitar song played in the key of A with a capo on the 2st fret. It uses the chords A, D and E. 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
  			A 
 D 
 E 
  
 
(nd) 
          A 
Oh, Maybellene, why can't you be true, 
          D                      A 
oh, Maybellene, why can't you be true? 
       E                      D                  A 
You've started back doin' the things you used to do. 
 A 
As I was motivatin' over the hill, 
A 
I saw Maybellene in a Coupe de Ville 
A 
Cadillac rollin' on the open road. 
A 
Nothin' outruns my V-8 Ford, 
A 
Cadillac doin' 'bout 95, 
A 
bumper-to-bumper, rollin' side by side. 
 
(Chorus) 
  
Cadillac rolled up ahead of the Ford, 
the Ford got hot, wouldn't do no more. 
It soon got cloudy and it started to rain, 
I tooted my horn for the passing lane, 
rain was pourin' under my hood, 
I knew that was doin' my motor good. 
 
(Chorus) 
 
(Instrumental:) A D A E D A 
 
Motor cooled down, the heat went down, 
that's when I heard that highway sound. 
The Cadillac sittin' like a ton of lead, 
110 half a mile ahead. 
The Cadillac looked like it was sittin' still, 
I caught Maybellene at the top of the hill. 
 
(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