How to play Sailor Song by Gigi Perez
Sailor Song by Gigi Perez has been a top 10 hit in numerous countries in the second half of 2024, including reaching No.1 in the UK. It’s dreamy alt-pop soundscape features a sophisticated, interesting strumming pattern that makes an excellent rhythm study for developing acoustic guitarists. Sailor Song is a great example of how you can make a simple progression sound interesting.
Chords: Cmaj7 (Cma7/G) Cma7sus2 Em Emsus4 G
Pick or Fingers? Pick ; the full strum tone on the original is produced with a pick. Gigi Perez is a very strong rhythm player; check out her live versions.
Acoustic or Electric? Acoustic steel-string is best but Electric with a strong, clean tone will also work well. Not suited to nylon acoustic.
Do I need a capo? Yes, Gigi has the capo fixed at the fourth fret. The chart is written in G but the capo at IV raises it to the key of B Major.
How does the rhythm work? The strumming pattern for Sailor Song is what is termed as an ‘asymmetric rhythm’ - meaning the accenting pattern is not in even pulses. Thinking in quavers, the accent pattern can be described as 3 + 3 + 2 ; this equals a bar of 4 crotchets beats but it feels almost like a 9/8 rhythm. The clue to the timing is to listen to the rhythm of the lyrics. Looking at the rhythm slash notation in the chart you see the accents, and the strum grouping equals dotted crotchet + dotted crotchet + crotchet. The best way to count this complex rhythm is to focus on the quavers and count “1 2 and 3 1 2 and 3 1 2” and so on.
How do you do the hammer-on embellishment on the Em? Look at your fingers holding the E minor ; lift them just off the strings > play a downstrum across the open strings followed immediately by the fingers forcefully pushing back onto the 4th and 5th strings. Follow this straight away with the next downstrum, etc.
Relevant pages in Modern Guitar Chord Styles 1 : To learn more about the chords and rhythms used in Sailor Song go to pages 5, 8, 10, 24 - 25, 28, 31 and 36 - 37.
Need a bit of help?
Modern Guitar Chord Styles 1 is the perfect companion for our song guides. It will teach you how to read the rhythm slash notation used in our charts (and in professional theatre and studio charts) and is specially designed to help beginners speed up their chord changes, master strumming patterns, and many other techniques.
