Hotel California Chord Chart
by The Eagles

Hotel California Chords: capo 2nd fret

In the easy version, we only have one barre chord to contend with which is the F major barre chord, but, capoed at the second fret, it should be easier to play. If not, you can always use the Fmaj7 chord below.

The strumming will vary between the verse and the chorus, but you can stick to a simple strumming pattern throughout the entire song if you choose. Obviously, this song has quite an amazing intro which we won’t be going over here, but feel free to do some finger picking if that pleases you as well. For the purposes of this song lesson, we are going to stick with strumming.

Hotel California Strumming Patterns

Simple Strumming:
1 + 2+  3+  4+
D         D   DU 

Simple Chorus Strumming:
1  2 3  4  +
D D D D U

Intro: P=picked note
1 2 + 3 + 4 + 1
D   P    P P   D

Verse Strumming:
1 + 2 + 3  4 +
D         D DU 

Chorus Strumming:
1  2  3 + 4 +  1 + 2  3 + 4 +
D     D   DU  D   D  DUDU

Want to learn more about 16th note strumming and improve on your playing? Check out Lauren’s Guitar Strumming Course.

Now, when I play this song, there is definitely A LOT of improvising on the strumming pattern. I will increase dynamics and intensity because on the lead guitar player too at times. Things to keep in mind for a song this amazing. I’ll give you a couple of examples of courses that you can play around with.

The intro, of course, has a lot of picking and again, this can all be improvised to. You can pick a few notes and strum as long as it’s in time. This is a timing that works well. Sometimes you can strum the 4 + and sometimes you can just hold on to the 3 and not strum. Variation is key.

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Hotel California ACOUSTIC Guitar Lesson YouTube Video:

Hotel California Chord Chart By The Eagles
Capo 2nd Fret

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.

All chords are 2 measures each. This mean you will play the strumming pattern twice per chord.

Intro:
Am E G D F C Dm E
Am E G D F C Dm E

Verse:
Am                                         E   
    On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
G                                  D   
    Warm smell of colitas rising up through the air
F                                        C   
    Up ahead in the distance,  I saw a shimmering light
Dm   
    My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
E   
    I had to stop for the night
Am                                              E   
    There she stood in the doorway; I heard the mission bell
G                                                                    D   
    And I was thinking to myself this could be heaven or this could be hell
F                                       C
    Then she lit up a candle, and she showed me the way
Dm                                                      E   
    There were voices down the corridor, I thought I heard them say

Chorus:
F                                           C   
    Welcome to the Hotel California.
                E7                          Am  
    Such a lovely place, such a lovely face
F                                                   C   
    Plenty of room at the Hotel California
Dm                                                                  E   
    Any time of year (any time of year) you can find it here

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.

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