Fire and Rain by James Taylor Guitar Lesson and TAB

Fire and Rain was written by James Taylor in 1970 and is one of Taylor’s best-known and most successful songs. The song appears on his album Sweet Baby James and was written after his childhood friend Suzanne Schnerr committed suicide. The song is also about his struggles with addiction and coping with fame.

Fire and Rain uses fingerpicking more or less throughout, only occasionally strumming during the chorus. Taylor has a rather unorthodox style of playing the guitar and tends to grip chords unconventionally. It’s entirely up to you whether you want to hold down the chords like he does or just play them as you normally would. It’s well worth watching him play the song live before learning it yourself.

Alright, let’s pick up our guitars and learn how to play Fire and Rain!