My Grandfather’s Clock — open G

Henry Clay Work · Level 3 (Late beginner) · traditional · Guitar, sheet music and tablature

Henry Clay Work’s 1876 song about the clock that stops when its owner dies, with its “tick-tock” refrain. Arranged in G major in open G. John Fahey recorded it on Days Have Gone By (Takoma, 1967).

▶ Play this piece with the interactive score

How to practise it

• Listen first: the site plays it while the score scrolls.
• Wait mode: the score waits for you at every note, at your own pace.
• Tempo challenge: play in time, with a score and a map of the bars you got right.
• The verse is repeated with two endings (bars 4 and 5). Bars 10 and 18: short notes, then silence — the clock stopping. Refrain: the low B (4th fret, 5th string) alternates with the open D; the thumb keeps the low D on the 6th string.