The absolute and definitive classic. We will divide the song up into a few ActionTabs, which will make it easier to work through. In this first part we will look at the clean guitar part (which plays from the start of the song until the solo begins with rock guitar backing).

NB - There is another ActionTab which shows an easier way to play Stairway to Heaven. Some of Jimmy Page's chord changes in this ActionTab can be tricky and you may prefer to start by learning with that easier version, especially if you are a new beginner!

In the original Song Jimmy uses a few guitar backing parts (including 12-strings), however, here we will show how to play it all on just one normal guitar. Use a clean tone on your electric for this first part, or use an acoustic.

Jimmy alternates between fingerpicking and strumming, he usually did this by playing the bass notes with his pick, and fingerpicking the rest of the strings. Try it if you like, but we recommend doing it the way we show here. Just regular fingerpicking through the verses and gentle strumming through the choruses (you can switch to a pick for the strumming if you wish, or just use your fingers to strum).

Here are the song sections (use the links below to jump to them):

Intro (Just guitar, and notice the following verses are the same thing, with some sight flourishes or differences):

Verse 1 There's a Lady....

Verse 2 There's a Sign....

Verse 3 On the tree.... (Notice the picking speeds up halfway through this verse before the chorus comes in)

Chorus It makes me wonder.... Switch from fingerpicking to strumming for the choruses

Verse 4 There's a Feeling....
Chorus

Verse 5 There's a Lady....
Chorus

Verse 6 If there's a bustle....
Chorus

Verse 7 Your head is humming....

Bridge In the Next ActionTab we'll deal with what happens after the Bridge.

You may notice that a lot of the song parts are repetitive. That means you can cut a few corners if you wish to learn the song quickly. Just learn the following segments and apply them wherever necessary:

Intro (just keep repeating the intro to play through Verses 1-3 too)

2nd half of Verse 3 where the picking speeds up just before the chorus...

Chorus After that, the guitar chords change for the middle section of the song...

Verse 4 + Chorus

Now just repeat that Verse 4 + Chorus combo until the Bridge at the end!

Now obviously, there are some slight variations between the different verses / choruses. Jimmy doesn't always play the precise same sequence of notes twice. But still, they've very close. If you learn those main parts, you'll learn the whole song in a fraction of the time! You can always add in your own flourishes, or go through this complete ActionTab to stick close to Jimmy's way of playing it!

If some of the chord changes are throwing you, don't give in. Switch to the Easier Version, even if it's just for a specific part that's too difficult. For example, the chords in the choruses are definitely easier to play there (also the Bridge)!

Tip....

Don't forget to use your Bookmark Option (in the Menu Bar at the Top Left of the ActionTab) when working through the ActionTab yourself. That way you can quickly jump back to where you left off whenever you return! You can set as many bookmarks as you need. Just pick a point in the ActionTab you want to save, click on Bookmark, and it will remember that positon. To return, just click on Bookmark again and click again on the time listed for your save. The ActionTab will jump to that place instantly!