My wife bought me my first guitar a month ago after my years of wishing I could play. I found it easier to learn than I ever thought it could be. Learning two simple chords and then playing along to a song, no matter how bad it may sound, is an instant confidence builder. I've learned five chords now, and can already do a basic strumming pattern to A Horse With No Name with fairly smooth chord changes. Why the heck did I wait so long to start? I'm 60 and having fun 😄

I have watched a lot of tutorials on this song, and this is the first one that really captures the sound of the recorded version.

I’ve watched many tutorials for this song but this was by far the best sounding and most helpful so thank you.

3 years later and this is still the best tutorial for this song I’ve found on YT. That strumming pattern as a beginner was TOUGH, but this guide was a major step forward in helping me understand my guitar. THANK YOU.

Shanes ability to speak the strum in time is impressive and really helpful.

Funny thing is: During my whole four weeks (haha!) of guitar learning, I had to fight with the campfire version. That always felt wrong. With the real strumming patterns the song now is beginning to form in my head. I'm still a bit slow, of course. But I'm getting there. Thanks a lot!

In fact Dewey plays three chords (see: America - 1975 - A Horse With No Name)! His guitar is tuned D-E-D-G-B-D. The first chord starts with: pointer on 6th-string/2nd fret; middle on 4th-string/2nd fret and pinky or ring finger on 1st-string/2nd fret. Play this chord for 1 bar, then change pointer to 5th-string/2nd fret and middle to 3rd-string/2nd fret and leave your pinky/ring where it is. Play this chord for a half bar. Then just lift your pointer and leave your other fingers in place to play the third chord for another half bar. Play these chord changes throughout the song till you're old and grey. La la lala la la …

If you are a beginner, start circling back to the 8:00 mark and then adjust the speed of playback on youtube to 1.25 and then 1.5 and it makes the transition easier than jumping right into the full speed version at 9:00 ( the gear symbol by the CC is where you change speed at bottom right corner of video screen). Thanks Man!

Picked up my first guitar today and spent about an hour watching this video and memorizing the strings and patterns. Easy to understand and well put together. Thank you!!!

Holy S***.. i spent the last 4 hours trying to learn when the cord change was supposed to happen, i watched several guides with no luck at all... I watched 4 minutes of your video and i got. Thank you sooo much Guitar At Work. Much appreciated.

Been playing for 40 years..and a teacher... you have a gift my friend...

I’ve been playing for 30 years and I’ve always struggled to strum this song properly. Thank you!

I've just brought my first quilter as I want to learn so bad! This is the first song I'm going to learn. Thank you for sharing it sounds amazing and my favourite song 😌

Thanks Shane. At 66 years old, I'm trying to learn my first song. Great lesson!

It's been 3 decade when i stop playing with my guitar and singing, i lost my memory about musics their lyrics.....so happy you have a channel to teach me again thanks a lot sir

This guy is great. I feel like he would teach well in person. Awesome video!

Aura around you is wonderful. Your technique and explaining is always on point, and a pure joy to watch and listen too, I've been playing guitar for 27 years, bass for 12, and mandolin for about 7 years, music saved my life. Thank you for all that you do and to those keeping the music and instrument learning alive from your videos. Peace and Love to you Good Sir from Ireland

This is by far the best online lesson on this song. No one explained the strumming pattern nearly as clearly. Thank you.

Shane, the main reason you're an excellent teacher is the fact you take your time explaining and don't whiz along and you don't assume everybody knows this stuff already..... Good job instructing!

Playing for decades, and discovered that each instructor uses a unique personal style on the classics. Very cool!

have always liked this song since the early seventies. 2015 i started to learn the guitar and this was the second song i attempted. fast forward to 2019 and i feeling happy with myself that i have learnt the solo as well. its a hobby and i dont take it too serious ,but i really enjoy learning and improving my playing.

Shane, you have a gift for making tricky things do-able (without being so slow as to be boring or so quick as to make it impossible to follow) - great job as always, and thanks so much!

Hi Shane from Australia, imm a 66 year old woman learning for the pasr 6 months, you are so good to learn with thank you so much, just loving your lessons, much appreciated

I first heard that song on the AM car radio while travelling through Western Kansas on I-70 for the first time. No, the Great Plains are not a desert, but to a guy from the heavily-forested South who had never seen plains, it might as well have been. So, a half-century later when I hear this song, I imagine riding a horse through Kansas. Strange how the mind works.

Love the tutorial, well done! I'll be back for more. Thank you for simplifying this song. I appreciate the open chord to transitioning between the Em to the Crazy D chord.

I use two more chords which are Em9 and E13sus4. The part where they sing' I've been through the desert on a horse with no name'. Em9 is played on the word 'been' and E13sus4 is played on the word 'horse'. The chords are fretted as such: Em9= 020002 and E13sus4= 000220.

I started learning guitar a couple of weeks ago and struggled with learning an actual song. Practiced this for about 2 days straight and managed to keep up with your playing at the end! This is easily the best tutorial I’ve seen of this song, and your instructions were so clear and easy to follow. I look forward to learning through the rest of your videos! Thanks 😄

I'm 56 bought a 6 string 2 months ago learning chords better late than not trying at all these lessons are rather priceless.

i just got out my dad's old guitar and started playing - i've never even held a guitar but your tutorial is amazing, thank you so much:)

There are tons out there doing this song. Yours is the best I’ve found. I’m 58 and just started. Thanks for your help!

No one could explain better than you did.....Extremely clear...thank you!!

Eighteen months after picking up a guitar for the first time, playing this song as taught by you makes me feel like a proper guitar player! Brilliant lesson. Many thanks!

Best guitar tutorial on this song, mate! Keep up the good work!

After two weeks with my daughter's guitar, I was able to play the basic version of this well enough that the family actually recognized the song! Good video.

Ive watched dozens of videos to try to play this song and they always just sounded Wrong. Now when I play it it just sounds like i need to practice it more THANK YOU!!!!

I really enjoyed your video. I’ve been playing for 45 years, and never even thought of the one string thicker or thinner when teaching. Much easier for a beginner to understand.

Wow I normally can't stand watching videos on how to play songs but this one was so well said and explained it's like he really gave you time to learn he didn't expect you'd get it immediately he just sort of helped you and guided you. Needless to say I learned this song quite easily with well practice.

At first I struggled with the rhythm, but after a good practice sesh I have this song under my belt. It’s so fun to play!

I fell in love with this song as a young boy and always wanted to play it. This by fare is the best tutorial on the strum pattern. Rock on and Inner Peace to you all.

To my ear this is the first lesson I've seen to get the strum pattern right. Thanks

I learned this song from some other videos but I'll have to do it over again because this sounds so much better! Great explanation

This is the best strumming pattern that I’ve seen in any of the tutorials. I think you nailed it and it sounds like the song for sure. It isn’t easy but it sounds great when you get in the groove with it. Nice job!

I just picked up a guitar for the first time yesterday tried using a different tutorial to learn this song and it didn’t sound good. I tried this one and I’ve been practice for about 45 mins and have the song mastered at full speed. You sir are a great man.

Hi Sir. Just want to thank you for this tutorial. I started to play guitar at the beginning of the covid lockdown in France and this song was my very first on guitar. Now I can play it almost like you do. You are a very good teacher. Have a nice day !

this was the first song I learned and I learned it trough guitar at work

Awesome video, you just successfully taught me my first song!

I've been playing guitar for 40 years, err, I mean for "over" 40 and go with the LONG periods of no guitar in hand and feel like I'm back to intermediate at best. You are without a doubt the best tutor I have ever run across in all my years. I can't even explain the fascination with which I watch your videos. Your sheer joy of the instrument comes through as if you're in the room with me! Wish I had you with me from start to now. Thanks so much for your time and work for those you have never even met. I think of so many folks rushing off to practice after watching your vid's and forgetting to leave a remark. They're all grateful! Thanks again compadre!

Brilliant. This is the first song I tried to teach myself a few months ago. I shelved it but now I am most definitely inspired to get right back into it following your instruction. I’m saving this. Huge appreciation sir. Many thanks.

Nicely explained ! Detailed break down , slowly , easy to follow and pick up on ; calming, soothing , gentle and patient ; I'd like to have you as my personal guitar instructor ! Best/Most helpful thought in the lesson: "It's almost like ..someone else is playing it..you know..really great" !! 😎

Brill lesson, so easy to understand and play straight away. Bring on more

good skill to pick up during quarantine

That's perhaps the best tutorial on this strum pattern

dude, one of my favorite all time songs. just started to play guitar and just love it. excellent video on how to play this song. thanks will be back to your channel.

Wow, your tutorials are amazing

Its amazing to know what youre doing in between strums. A magicians sleight of hand.

Best tutorial for this song hands down

Practiced it for 2 days almost nailed it

"I know you can read that diagram." Nope, that's why I'm using a KZfaq video. However, I do appreciate your description of the crazy D when noting how the middle finger moves down to a thinner string and the pointer finger moves up to the thicker string. This is how to teach beginners.

That slap/strum on crazyD is what gives it the authentic sound. Now I can play it properly and I can sing it. If only I could do both at the same time.

Taking things back to the basics I wanted to look at your from the ground up teaching and I learned some things I didnt know. Like the landing of the percussive slap lower VS higher ready for the up Strum even the holding of the pick and why is something I learned. The song I learned as a straight forward strum and switching of chords So it sounded droney and never spent much time on it. Im gonna go back to this and learn it like this. Ive tried to help others learn enough to get them started I tell them Im not a teacher but this song is one of the first I show people cause it was the first Ive learned I show them it to explain anyone can play. Watching this has taught me one thing. Instead of just giving them something to play they'll get bored with and never play and wont sound right. Teach them the importance of learning a song the right way VS the fast way. A little longer practice to play a song right Vs a droning strum to show someone you know the bare bones seems far more worth it. I'm not a teacher but people ask to learn from me so I try to learn things the best I can to get anyone started I always refer them to youtube where I started. Ill be referring to your videos for sure. Very thorough understandable and to the point.

Just started learning guitar and this is my first song. Really well taught and easy to understand. Nice job on the video. Thanks

yeah......very well explained ....a good teacher makes it sound simple....a fantastic song.......thanks

On the first part of the journey, I was looking at u playing chords, there strums and riffs and rhythms too, patterns to memorize, the first thing I met was a familiar song that took me back in the years😂. Thanks buddy 🇺🇸🇨🇦

Have tried to learn this song, as I'm still a new player at 54. This is the 1st video where I have seen the playing of the low E before the chord. Adds a little more to the song. Nice!

Great tutorial!!

9:00 for the strum at full pace.

This is the third video I've watched on how to play this song and it's the only one that explains it in enough detail to play it.

Thankyou so much. I am 50 years old run my own business and need to de stress. You have helped massively with your excellent teaching style. I need every help I can as just starting out. Thanks again.

They used to call me Crazy D

I just started playing guitar recently and I'm a complete beginner, but Horse with no name was the one song that made me want to learn guitar. You're teaching so good and easy to follow, I love the video! I'm just wondering why my high E sounds so loud and dominant when I am playing and strumming all strings (I tune the guitar every time before I start), it just doesn't sound right. When playing along the song I got the rhythm and the timing is right, but I hear that high note all the time!

Wow not resting my bicep on the guitar might just be one of the most helpful strumming tips I've gotten in my couple month journey. Gonna take some getting used to but feels much more relaxed. Thank you!

My son has just started to learn to play and has only had 4 lessons. We watched your video and he said 'I can do that'...and he did!...he's now off to his next lesson to show his tutor what he can do. Thank You!

I went to the channel you mentioned for the “worksheet” could not find them?

Awesome video! Playing this on My electro acoustic sounds simply beautiful. Keep up the great work.

Superb, very good

My man thanks bro been jammin that song on my journey livin it for 20 years and bingo keep the faith

Good job

Clear, accessible, and inspiring. Thank you!!!!

This tutorial best ever ❤ hello from turkey 🇹🇷

It is helpful. Others focused on the left hand on how to put your fingers on different chords but this man covered both, especially on your right hand step by step. Champion.

Is it possible to post the actual chords used? Makes it a little easy to do the fingering. Thanks!

nicely explained, thank you

I've been playing on & off since I was Ten, I'm now 55, taught myself everything I know - mostly Pink Floyd & Hawkwind Riffs & just making up rhythms, my mate used to play this song on his guitar & I thought WOW - much too hard for me, then I stumbled across this tutorial & I am so happy, also the solo,I can almost play it perfectly. Big Big thanks to you Shane.

Agree, best sounding strumming pattern for the song after listening to other tutorials. Shane thanks for the great lesson and sharing all of your talent to help others learn.

I was paying $135 for Physical Therapy I decided to do $20 guitar lessons, I think it was a good idea.

There are four chords to this song not two, the chorus has two other chords

My vote for greatest guitar song ever. Not my favorite but I learned it in a class and everyone could play it and it sounded good, plus lyrics are excellent.

Really great tutorial, thank you very much

Great tutorial, even for a french beginner like me ! :-) However I did'nt understand how you're doing the whack sound, when i try to do it just mutes the sound without "whack" !

Good lesson. (Like the coffee mug)

this is one of my favourite songs and the first time i’ve truly been able to understand how to play/manage to use a guitar pick, thank you so much for this tutorial it was very helpful and simple to follow!

Absolutely THE BEST tutorial channel on you tube. Thank you sooo much. You boost my confidence to learn songs that I like

Second chord is at 1:50

awesome tutorial :)

I must say shane you have a great way of teaching people that have little experience thank you very much for sharing your knowledge.

Just like your others, this is the best tutorial there is for this song. Thank you. Your concise communication is both amazing and appreciated.

Why do so many say that this is a 2 chord song? Although it can be played with only 2 chords, if 1 guitar is going to cover what all 3 guitars were playing in the original version, it's NOT a 2 chord song-it's a 4 chord song...

8:50 \m/ \m/

I love the way this instructor breaks down each step... god knows it works for me.

I play since 5 weeks and I practice this song for appr. 5 days now. I just wanted to thank you for the help because my play becomes fluid, a groove knocks on my door and playing guitar starts to make FUN!!!