How to Play Fast Car on Guitar

Today I want to share with you how to play “Fast Car” by Tracy Chapman on guitar. If there's one song that beautifully encapsulates the essence of Tracy Chapman's profound storytelling and soul-stirring melodies, it's undoubtedly "Fast Car." 

This timeless fingerpicking tune resonates with people from all walks of life, and you only need 4 chords to play it. Whether you're new to this style or a seasoned player looking to add this classic to your repertoire, this post will guide you through the fingerpicking and strumming for "Fast Car". Plus show you to harness the emotive power of this remarkable tune.

So make sure you’re tuned up and let’s dive in!

Who wrote Fast Car? 

"Fast Car" was written by Tracy Chapman, an American singer-songwriter and musician. Born on March 30, 1964, in Cleveland, Ohio, Chapman rose to fame in the late 1980s with the release of her self-titled debut album, which included the iconic hit song "Fast Car."

Released in 1988, "Fast Car" resonated deeply with audiences around the world, propelling Chapman to international stardom. The song's simplicity and emotional honesty struck a chord with listeners, who connected with its poignant themes and relatable storytelling. 

"Fast Car" received widespread acclaim and a lot of accolades, including Grammy nominations for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Record of the Year in 1989.  

Fast Car Chords

Essentially the entire song uses just 4 chords. C, G, Em, and D. These are the primary chords however we are going to use a few different voicings (or ways to play) a couple of them. 

To start off let’s take a look at the chord shapes needed for the main riff and the verse progression. Here we’ll start with C played as a standard open-position chord like this:

For G we’ll use just two fretting hand fingers like this:

For Em we’ll move up to the 7th position and play this:

And finally, this D chord has a fancier name, and this is what I meant above when I talked about different chord voicings. Don’t worry it has a fancier-sounding name but you only need 2 fingers to play it. Here we’ll play a Dadd11 like this at the 5th fret:

Verse

Once those chord shapes feel comfortable, next try putting them into the progression for the Intro and Verse. The progression is only 2 bars long and goes like this:

C, G (1 bar)

Em, Dadd11 (1 bar)

Rhythmically the chords alternate. The first chord in each bar is on the downbeat and the second chord is on the “and” of 2 like this:

C      G

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

This gives the song a fun groove. When I play it I don’t use a standard flatpick. I take a fingerstyle approach with this one. I primarily use my thumb, index, and middle fingers. To help you start getting the feel for this. Try the following rhythm and pinch the strings of each chord shape in rhythm to start getting the feel. C to G would go like this:

Next, try playing Em to Dadd11 using the same rhythm as C to G like this:

Em    Dadd11

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

From there you can try breaking up certain notes in the chords and add some folk-style embellishments like this:

Note the use of the hammer-on in beat 1. This is a common folk-style move where you play open strings and then hammer to notes right in the chord shape.

Then you slide up to the Em at the 7th fret and finish it all off with a pinch on the Dadd11 and then 2 individual strings plucked from that chord shape like this:

Chorus

The fingerpicking riff is played for the majority of the song. The only time this varies is when Chapman sings the chorus. The lyric cue for the chorus is…

“So I remember when we were driving, driving in your car”

Here we move to a 9-bar chord progression. The first 4 bars of the chorus go like this:

C (1 bar)

G (1 bar)

Em (1 bar)

D (1 bar)

This first part of the chorus is the same progression as the verse but the chords are stretched out longer. So instead of having 2 chords per bar here each chord last 1 bar.

During the chorus, I play all the chords as open-position chords. So instead of going up to the 7th and 5th frets for Em and Dadd11 as we did in the verse, here I play those two chords like this:

When I get to the chorus I use a strumming pattern instead of a fingerpicking pattern. Here’s the pattern I play:

D    DU   U D U

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

The next 5 bars of the chorus go like this: 

C, Em (1 bar)

D (1 bar)

C, Em (1 bar)

D (1 bar)

C, D (1 bar) 

Here we have a mix of sometimes 2 chords per bar, and sometimes 1. In the bars where there are two chords, the chord changes follow the same rhythm as we did in the verse. So this means that the 1st chord is on the downbeat and the 2nd chord is on the “and” of 2 like this:

Still, the strumming pattern remains the same you just put two chords into one pattern.

D    DU   U D U

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +

C      Em

If you put all 9-bars together the chorus progression goes like this:

C (1 bar)

G (1 bar)

Em (1 bar)

D (1 bar)

C, Em (1 bar)

D (1 bar)

C, Em (1 bar)

D (1 bar)

C, D (1 bar)

Conclusion:

In summary, there are only those two sections and 4 chords that you need to know to play “Fast Car”. By getting a handle on the chord progressions, you've got the building blocks to make the song your own. And don’t forget about those fingerpicking patterns. Playing in this style gives the song its distinctive riff and brings out its intimate vibe. Don’t worry if it’s not perfect at first, it won’t be, but with practice, your fingers will develop more coordination and accuracy.  

So keep working on each part one section at a time and when you’re ready try to put it all together and play along with the recording. Let the lyrics guide you and take you on a heartfelt ride. And for another great fingerpicking tune check out “Shape Of My Heart” next!