Ain't No Sunshine Chords & Guitar Lesson

Welcome to my Ain't No Sunshine guitar lesson with chords and strumming patterns.

This is such a great and simple song by Bill Wither. I’m going to show you how to play and strum along to this classic. The best thing about this song is that it uses 3 very simple open chords - G, Em and Am

Let's take a look below.

Ain't No Sunshine Guitar Chords:

Ain't No Sunshine Strumming Patterns:

You are going to want to get percussive on this song, especially during the breakdown.

Strum 1:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
XU XU X U X U

Split Measure Strum:
Am    Em   G
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
XU XU X U X U

If you are looking to improve your guitar playing and learning more about strumming, chord and picking, check out my Online Beginner Guitar Course or my Strumming Course.

Ain't No Sunshine Guitar Lesson:

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Ain't No Sunshine Chord Chart:

Intro:
Muted Rake

Verse:
                                                         |Am -   Em G| Am
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone.
                                                   |Am -   Em G| Am
It's not warm when she's away.
                                                          Em                                                       Dm
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone, and she's always gone too long,
                                     |Am -   Em G| Am
Anytime she goes away

Verse: Can bring up dynamics here & remove muting
                                                            |Am -   Em G| Am
Wonder this time where she's gone,
                                               |Am -   Em G| Am
Wonder if she's gone to stay
.                                                    Em                                                           Dm
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone, and this house just ain't no home,
                                      |Am -   Em G| Am (hold)
Anytime she goes away.

Interlude: Percussion on 2 & 4 beat
N.C.
And I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
N.C.
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
N.C.
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
N.C.
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
N.C.
Hey, I ought to leave the young thing alone

Verse:
                                                               |Am -   Em G| Am
But ain't no sunshine when she's gone
                                                          |Am -   Em G| Am
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone
                                       |Am -   Em G| Am
only darkness everyday.
                                                          Em                                                          Dm
Ain't no sunshine when she's gone, and this house just ain't no home
                                      |Am -   Em G| Am
Anytime she goes away.
                                      |Am -   Em G| Am
Anytime she goes away.
                                      |Am -   Em G| Am
Anytime she goes away.
                                     |Am -   Em G| Am
Anytime she goes away.

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.

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.

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