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The Gambler Acoustic Guitar Lesson - Kenny Rogers

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Uploaded by on Apr 18, 2009

Here is an acoustic guitar lesson on how to play The Gambler originally by Kenny Rogers. This lesson has been done by James from the acoustic covers duo "Handsome Alvin", please check out our covers at:

http://www.youtube.com/aushandsomealvin

Capo 3rd Fret (original Capo on 1st (Verse 1-3 and 1st chorus) and Capo 2nd Fret for the rest of the song)

Intro Chord Progression:

D; G; D; G;

Strumming for Entire Song:

D D DUDU

Verse Chord Progression:

D; D; G; D;
D; D; D; A;
D; D; G; D;
G; D; A; D;

Chorus Chord Progression:

D; D; G; D;
G; D; D: A;
D; D; G; D;
G; D; A; D;

Lyrics:

Intro

Verse 1

On a warm summer's evenin' on a train bound for nowhere,
I met up with the gambler; we were both too tired to sleep.
So we took turns a starin' out the window at the darkness
'Til boredom overtook us, and he began to speak.

Verse 2

He said, "Son, I've made a life out of readin' people's faces,
And knowin' what their cards were by the way they held their eyes.
And if you don't mind my sayin', I can see you're out of aces.
For a taste of your whiskey I'll give you some advice."

Verse 3

So I handed him my bottle and he drank down my last swallow.
Then he bummed a cigarette and asked me for a light.
And the night got deathly quiet, and his face lost all expression.
Said, "If you're gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.

Chorus

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

Verse 4 [Slide capo to 2nd fret]

Ev'ry gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin' what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
'Cause ev'ry hand's a winner and ev'ry hand's a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep."

Verse 5

And when he'd finished speakin', he turned back towards the window,
Crushed out his cigarette and faded off to sleep.
And somewhere in the darkness the gambler, he broke even.
But in his final words I found an ace that I could keep.

Chorus (3 times)

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.
You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

Enjoy

James from Handsome Alvin

Category:

Music

Tags:

License:

Standard YouTube License

  • likes, 8 dislikes

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Uploader Comments (educationalmaterials)

  • You definatly will make kenny proud with this !

  • THanks

  • Absolutely perfect tutorial! Thanks

  • Gald you liked it, thanks for the comment!!!!

  • Thanks ... good work as always

  • No problem and thanks for the comment!!!

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All Comments (52)

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  • This is amazing! Well done. This is helping me lots!

  • Thanx Bro!! Appreciate!

  • wow nice video! This is my first song i try to learn and it helped me so much!! thabk you!

  • what a prick

  • What a great tutorial! I get lessons but I decided to be brave and try teaching myself a song, and this is one of the best tutorials. It's easy to keep up with, explains everything including the strumming pattern (something a lot of others don't which isn't so helpful when I have no idea what to do lol)

    Nice work! Thanks for making it easy for us beginners! :)

  • I've been following your videos for the past few weeks; absolutely brilliant!! Thankyou =D

  • brilliant thank you...just learning and your lessons are so easy to follow....i can now play it whoop whoop x

  • I'm sure you are British =)

    Nice tutorial, and a great song. Very easy for beginners, thanks mate.

  • i can't understand why is it played capo 3 and capo 2 for another part of the song... how do you play this with one guitar? =S =(

  • thnx man. Now it's easy :D . Greeting from CROATIA

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