The classic American song Take Me Out to the Ball Game was composed in 1908 by Albert Von Tilzer and lyrics by Jack Norworth. This lesson covers the chords for this song, sheet music for the melody including tabs, and a guitar arrangement.

Grab your guitar and let’s get started!

How to read the guitar chord charts

To clarify how to read the chord charts in the next section, the top horizontal line represents the high E string and the bottom horizontal line represents the low E string. The vertical lines separate each fret. The numbers in the blue dots tell you which fingers to use on the fretting hand. 

For example, on the G Major chord, you use the:

• 2nd finger on the 6th string, 3rd fret
• 1st finger on the 5th string, 2nd fret
• 3rd finger on the 2nd string, 3rd fret
• 4th finger on the 1st string, 3rd fret
• Circles represent open strings
• On some other chords, X means to avoid the string

You can check this link for more on how to read guitar notation symbols.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game chords

The chords we’re using for the sheet music in this lesson are G Major, D Major, C Major, E Major, A minor, A 7, G 7, C# dim 7, G/D, E 7, and D 7. You can click on the chords with links to learn different ways of playing that chord.

Try the following chords one at a time until you feel comfortable switching between them. These chords will be written above the melody in the next section.

Here are some other resources on chords:

• What are the first chords you should learn on guitar?
• 6 tips to get better at switching between chords on guitar
• How to play diminished chords on guitar
• How to play the essential 7th chords on guitar
• How to play chord inversions on guitar
  

Take Me Out To The Ball Game guitar tabs and chords

This section shows you the melody of the song with guitar tabs and the chords written above the staff. Keep in mind that the melody and chords are meant to be played as separate parts. We’ll look at how to connect these parts later in the arrangement section of this lesson.

When playing the chords part, continue playing the same chord when switching to a measure that doesn’t show one. For example, you would play G Major for the first two measures.

You can refer to this simple guide to understanding music symbols if needed.

By the way, you can get all the PDFs of this song below.

You can learn a finger-style guitar arrangement of this song after the lyrics below.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game lyrics

Chorus:
Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don’t care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don’t win, it’s a shame.
For it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out,
At the old ball game.

Reference: Take Me Out To The Ball Game. wikipedia.org

Take Me Out To The Ball Game guitar arrangement

In this section, we are essentially connecting the melody and chords together using a finger-style method of playing.

The numbers next to some notes on the top staff indicate which fingers to use on the fretting hand.

If needed, check out this lesson to learn how to finger pick on guitar.

If you like this style of playing, you can check out this lesson to learn how to connect a melody and chords on guitar.

Get the free guitar practice guide here!

Want to learn more songs? Check out the sheet music with guitar tabs resource on this site.

All the best,

JG Music Lessons

Reference: Take Me Out To The Ball Game. https://loc.gov/item/ihas.200153239/