The guitar

Follow the links above and learn to play the guitar accompaniment for the music of Dear Old Illinois. Familiarity with the notes of the staff is helpful and is encouraged. Beyond that, knowledge of written music and/or the ability to read are optional.

The Chords page provides detailed instructions on the fingerings and picking patterns for all of the chords used in the book.

The Capo page gives information on the use of the capo, including a comprehensive chord conversion chart.

At the Rhythms page, you can hear examples of the accompaniment for all of the different time signatures used in the book, as represented in the book's accompaniment chart.