How to play The Horses by Darryl Braithwaite
Darryl Braithwaite’s version of The Horses, an early ‘90s banger that gets trotted out every Spring for premium horse races like the Melbourne Cup, makes a great sing-along strummer for acoustic steel-string, or electric guitar. The 1989 original by Ricki Lee Jones was an album track that received little attention but the 1990 Braithwaite version became a huge hit and went on to earn ten platinum records in Australia! The Horses is a great chord piece for intermediate guitarists but features bar-chords and syncopated rhythms (ie: not suitable for beginners).
Bar-chords: G#m 4th fret, B 2nd fret, F# and F#4 2nd fret, C#m 4th fret, and E and A in open-position
Can I use a Capo? No, this is one of those progressions that obliges you to use bar chords. A capo at the 2nd fret is possible but you would then need to play the E and A as bar-forms. The chords shown are what you hear on the Braithwaite recording.
Pick or Fingers? Pick, definitely. The Horses is a great example of the strong, precise attack that a pick makes on steel strings. You need that attack on the chord to create a bright tone and place the chord precisely on the beat/off-beat. Hold the pick securely with your thumb-pad flat on 3/4 of the pick & include your forearm in the down - up action to create a strong strum attack. Also, follow the down and up-stroke indications; they may look complicated but they are correct.
Acoustic or Electric? Electric guitar is best but a good steel-string acoustic will also work well. Don’t risk your hand health by playing full bar-chords on a cheap acoustic guitar. If you don’t have a good quality acoustic, electric guitar will be your best option.
What are the crossed strums for? A rhythm-slash with a cross-head is a ‘percussive strum’ - a muted effect made by relaxing the chord fingers just enough to make sure you only hear the blunt percussive sound of the pick striking the muted strings.
How does the timing work? There are quite a few tied strums and syncopated chords in The Horses. If these look too hard you need to do some work on rhythm reading and advanced timing. The ‘tied strums’ are where you see a curved line connecting two rhythm slashes. Think of these as a plus sign; a tie adds two time values together to make a longer value.
Relevant pages in Modern Guitar Chord Styles 2 : to learn more about the bar-chords and rhythm techniques used in Locked Out of Heaven go to pages 4 - 7, 14 and 32 - 33.
Need a bit of help?
Modern Guitar Chord Styles 2 is a must-have guide to Electric guitar chords and rhythm styles. It teaches you how to read the rhythm slash notation used in our charts (as used in professional theatre & studio charts) and is specially designed to build your strength and stamina with bar-chords, and extend your moveable chords vocabulary. An excellent tutor for the developing electric guitarist.
