Margaritaville Chords & Guitar Lesson

Welcome to my Margaritaville chord chart by Jimmy Buffett. Grab your shaker of salt because here we go. This is a great song for beginners. I do usually use a syncopated rhythm with students when teaching them this song but I will show you two strumming patterns, one simple, one syncopated. And remember, you can always use 4 down strums per chord.

There are some 7 chords in this songs so if you do not know those yet, you can play the regular chord. For example, instead of D7 play the D chord.

Margaritaville Guitar Chords:

Margaritaville Strumming Patterns:

Strumming 1:
1  2  3 + 4 +

D D D U DU

Strumming 2:
1 2 +  3 + 4 +

D DU    U DU

The are a couple chords where we strum down once over "woman to blame". Those will be marked by down arrows. Many of the chords are held for a very long time so I put the number of measures (number of times you will play the strumming pattern) next to the chord.

Have fun!

Margaritaville Guitar Lesson:

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Margaritaville Chord Chart:

Dx6
Nibblin on sponge cake, watchin the sun bake, all of those tourist covered
         Ax8
with oil.  Strummin my six string, on my front porch swing, smell those
                                                      D      D7
shrimp there beginning to boil.

   G            A                                  D          D7    G                           A                         D   D7
Wastin away again in Margaritaville,      searchin for my lost shaker of salt.
   G                         A                               D↓  A↓         G                    A    A
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame, but I know,    it's nobody's
   D       D
fault.

Dx6
Don't know the reason, I stayed here all season.  Nothin to show but this
                           Ax8
brand new tattoo.  But it's a real beauty, a Mexican cutie, how it got here
                       D      D7
I haven't a clue.

   G            A                                  D          D7    G                           A                         D   D7
Wastin away again in Margaritaville,      searchin for my lost shaker of salt.
   G                         A                               D↓  A↓         G                    A    A
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame, but I know,    it's nobody's
   D       D
fault.

   Dx6
I blew out my flip flop, stepped on a pop top, cut my heal had to cruise on
            Ax8
back home.  But there's booze in the blender, and soon it will render, that
                                                                             D    D7
frozen concoction that helps me hang on.

   G            A                                  D          D7    G                           A                         D   D7
Wastin away again in Margaritaville,      searchin for my lost shaker of salt.
   G                         A                               D↓  A↓         G                    A    A
Some people claim that there's a woman to blame, but I know,    it's nobody's
               D    D7                   G                         A                                D↓  A↓        G
damn fault.     Yes and, some people claim that there's a woman to blame, and
      A    A                                        D        D (hold)
I know,    it's my own damn fault.

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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