Oh, Susanna - guitar tab, notes, chords and lyrics
“Oh, Susanna” is a very familiar song by the American composer Stephen Foster, who is also the originator of songs such as “Swanee River”, “Old Black Joe” and “Beautiful Dreamer”. “Oh, Susanna” was in the early days performed at minstrel shows (a minstrel was a name of a musical entertainer; minstrel shows were typically staged of white males in blackface makeup). The lyrics tells about a person who comes from Alabama and sometimes the song is referred to as “Alabama”.
The music transcriptions of the song with tabs and notes are available for download as PDFs. It's free for personal use only.
Oh, Susanna (full accompaniment)
"Oh, Susanna" for guitar with full accompaniment. Free download in pdf-file and audio.
Oh, Susanna guitar accompaniment
Oh Susanna for flute
"Oh Susanna" for flute in the key of C. Free download in pdf-file and audio.
Oh, Susanna flute
Oh, Susanna for ukelele
"Oh, Susanna" for ukelele in the C tuning. Free download in pdf-file and audio.
Oh, Susanna ukelele
Oh, Susanna (only melody)
"Oh, Susanna" tablature notation for guitar. This version doesn't include notes, se pdf versions above for notes.
Tips on how to learn this song
Notice the AABA structure: the first part which included bars 1-4 (the pickup bar not counted) repeats almost exactly in the next four bars and the second part when repeats again in the last part (bars 13-16). Notice also that the melody only involves the three highest strings and never go outside the scale.
Lyrics and chords
Oh, Susanna chords in the key of A
Verse 1:
Oh I (A)come from Alabama with a banjo on my (E)knee,
I'm (A)going to Louisiana, my true love (E)for to (A)see
Chorus:
(D)Oh, Susanna, (A)don't you cry for (E)me
For I (A)come from Alabama,
with my banjo (E)on my (A)knee.
Verse 2:
It (A)rained all night the day I left, the weather it was (E)dry
The (A)sun so hot I froze to death; Susanna, (E)don't you (A)cry.
Chorus:
[reprise]
Only three chords are included in the version above, the I, IV and V chords. Whereas the progression in the verse shifts simple between the I and V chords, the chorus begins with introducing the IV chord (a refrain starting with the IV chord is a common feature).
There are possibilities to change to key by using a capo. These are the keys that the song would transpose in depending on which fret the capo is put:
- Capo 1: A# / Bb major
- Capo 2: B major
- Capo 3: C major
- Capo 4: C# / Db major
- Capo 5: D major
Key, time, tuning and tempo
Information about "Oh, Susanna" considering musical key, time signature, tuning and bpm.
Key
The presented version of Oh, Susanna is played in the key of A.
Time signature
The song is played in 4/4 tempo (counted one, two, three for each measure)
Tuning
The song is normally played in standard tuning (EADGBE).
Tempo (BPM)
The tempo in beats per minute is 120 for the presented version.