Scarborough Fair
Strumming: 3/4 time: fingerpicking
Focus: Dorian modal color + 3/4 fingerpicking
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 4 chords ringing one by one and switchable (Em · G · A · D). 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 finishUsing the “3/4 time: fingerpicking” 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 breathDorian modal color + 3/4 fingerpicking。
- 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.”
Music theory deep dive
Key: E DorianUnderstanding 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
- Modal traitThe major A chord rising out of a minor key: the Dorian signatureiIVi
The magic of this tune is all in the A chord. E minor should use Am (minor) as its iv chord, but here it uses A major — which contains a raised sixth degree, C♯, the very note that sets Dorian apart from ordinary minor. Add it and a cold, ethereal, ancient folk flavor shines through the melancholy.
Tip: Compare it to the site's Dorian vamp (Dm with a major G): the same color formula of “minor + major IV.”
- Progressioni–♭III–♭VII: minor-key flow without the dominant functioni♭IIIIV♭VII
Apart from that characteristic A, it just circles among Em (i), G (♭III), and D (♭VII) — with almost no real dominant chord the whole way. The harmony advances not by “tension–resolution” but by a few color chords sliding in parallel, and this “floating” quality is the shared temperament of Celtic / British traditional folk.
- Time signature / fingerpicking3/4 arpeggios: stepping from strum-and-sing toward fingerstyle
3/4 time (oom-pah-pah) with slow arpeggios gives it a swaying, narrative breath. First get the four chords changing smoothly with a simple three-beat arpeggio, then connect the top notes into a melodic line, and you have a respectable little fingerstyle piece — the natural ladder from traditional folk's “strum-and-sing → fingerstyle.”
Don't know these chords? Learn them in the courses
English traditional folk, public domain. The A major chord that appears in this minor key is exactly the characteristic note of the "Dorian mode" (echoing Stage 7's "Intro to Modes"). Simon & Garfunkel's famous arrangement is separately copyrighted; here we only use a simplified chord progression of the traditional melody.