Summer Solstice (夏至, original fingerstyle)
Focus: E-minor fingerstyle; the i–♭VII–♭III (Em–D–G) minor color; Em7's suspended bass and right-hand independence
Transpose · Capo
The original key is inferred from the first chord in the chart. Transposing changes the chords you have to play; to keep easy shapes, switch to “Capo” instead.
💡 Too high to sing? Move down. Too low? Move up. Guys often go a few keys below the original, women a bit above — that's just a starting point. You've got it right when you can sing the highest line of the chorus comfortably.
Chords in this song
✦ = harder to play (mostly barre); try a capoChord progression
Play-along
Chords change automatically to the beat (following the current key E). Get it smooth slowly, then speed up.
One bar of count-in first, then the chord changes automatically each bar. Get it smooth slowly, then speed up bit by bit.
Practice ladder · from playing it to playing it well
Not sure how to practice? Follow these four steps — each has a clear goal and a concrete method.
- 1
Get the chords ringing
Goal: every chord clear, no buzzingGet this song's 5 chords ringing one by one and switchable (Em · Em7 · G · D · B). Press each alone first, then switch in pairs; for any that won't ring, scroll to “Don't know these chords?” below, or use the chord-change timer for a one-minute challenge.
- 2
Play it through in time
Goal: no stalls with the metronome, start to finishPick a steady strum, open the metronome and connect the whole song from a slow tempo, no pausing on the changes.
- 3
Play it with feel
Goal: dynamics and a sense of breathE-minor fingerstyle; the i–♭VII–♭III (Em–D–G) minor color; Em7's suspended bass and right-hand independence。 This song has full tablature — follow the play-along playhead to drill the right-hand order and rhythm.
- 4
Own it & make it yours
Goal: explain why it works and change up your own versionUnderstand why the harmony goes the way it does, then use the Transpose / Capo control above to change keys, and try reworking the rhythm, adding color chords or improvising — turn “I can play this one” into “I can play many.”
Practice this in the courses
A course uses this very song as a practice piece — follow it step by step, faster than fumbling on your own:
Music theory deep dive
Key: E minorUnderstanding why a song's harmony moves the way it does matters more than memorizing the chords.
Structure
Chord function
Function: Tonic= the stable home · Subdominant= sets up the departure · Dominant= tension that wants to come home. Harmony is the story of leaving → tension → coming home.
Highlights
- Minor-key colori–♭III–♭VII: natural minor's “no tension” loopi♭III♭VIIi
The body of “Summer Solstice” rocks back and forth between Em7–G–D (i–♭III–♭VII). The whole way it uses no dominant function, switching between the brightness of the relative major G (♭III) and the softness of D (♭VII) — the feel is “melancholy but relaxed,” the most comfortable foundation of natural-minor folk / pop: it advances not by tension but by flowing color.
Tip: First get the bass line E–G–D of Em7→G→D moving smoothly, then add the arpeggio; don't push the emotion too hard — keep that “looseness.”
- Fingerstyle / colorThe suspended color of Em7: a stage for right-hand independence
Instead of a bare Em, the tonic uses Em7 — adding one more seventh note (D) leaves a trace of “hanging, unresolved” space in the bass register. In fingerstyle the thumb holds the bass framework while the upper fingers pluck out that seventh, so one guitar has three layers: bass, harmony, and resonance.
Tip: Play Em against Em7 and listen to how that added seventh makes the chord “dissolve.”
- Harmonic minorThe borrowed major B: the only “wanting to come home” in the minor keyiVi
The color section swaps a chord in the loop for B major (V). In E natural minor the V chord is Bm (minor) — soft, with no desire to return home; raised to B major (containing the leading tone ♯D) it gains a strong pull to resolve back to Em — exactly the use of harmonic minor. The whole tune uses the dominant function only here; the tension lights up at once, then dissolves back into Em7.
Tip: When you reach B, pause slightly and add a bit of arpeggio to hold it suspended; play softer when you fall back to Em7, and the light-dark contrast comes right out.
Full tablature (TAB) · play-along
An original by the site's author, auto-transcribed from the GuitarPro project file (not an official release). Numbers = fret (0 = open), ‹12› = harmonic; it wraps by measure and scrolls sideways. Tap “Play along” to follow.
Tap any column in the tab to start playing from there (stuck on a bar? practice from that bar — the loop returns there too). The playhead moves through the tab; adjust speed, loop, and toggle follow. Note: this play-along uses uniform eighth notes at aneven, steady tempo (not the song's actual rhythm — the rhythm wasn't kept during transcription). Use it to grasp the note flow and right-hand order — refer to the original recording for the real rhythm.
Don't know these chords? Learn them in the courses
An original fingerstyle piece by the site's author (E minor · standard tuning · no capo). This is the harmonic skeleton auto-extracted from the author's own score; it's mostly an Em7–G–D minor groove, occasionally borrowing B (the V) for tension. The full tablature is the author's own work.