Song chords
Fast Car chords
Tracy Chapman
One fingerpicked loop — Cmaj7, G, Em, D — running under the entire song with a capo at the second fret. The chorus plays the same four chords as plain strummed shapes, and that swap is the only arrangement change in the whole record.
Before you start
The chords you need.
5 shapes covers the whole song, fretted with the capo at fret 2. Tap any diagram’s play button to hear it, or open its page for every voicing on six instruments.
The chart
Section by section.
Capo 2 with G shapes: Cmaj7 sounds as Dmaj7, G as A, Em as F#m and D as E. Two bars per pair — Cmaj7 with G, then Em with D — repeating without a break. Hit play on any section to hear it walk through at 104 bpm.
Verse
4 barsFingerpicked; the IV–I–vi–V loop never stops.
Shapes as fretted with the capo on — the names above are what you grab, not what you hear.
Chorus
4 barsThe same four chords, strummed with plain shapes instead of picked.
Shapes as fretted with the capo on — the names above are what you grab, not what you hear.
Need it in a different key, or without the capo? Run it through the transposer — move every chord by the same interval and the song is unchanged.
Playing it
What actually trips people up.
The picking pattern, not the chords, is the work. Keep your ring and little fingers planted on the B and high E strings through all four shapes; that anchor is what makes the changes fast enough.
The chart above is the commonly played arrangement — the version a competent player would hand you, not a bar-for-bar transcription of a specific master. Section labels are there to orient you; live and studio versions repeat, extend and drop sections freely, and none of that changes which chords you need.
About this page
Chord names and song structure are facts; for lyrics and official notation, support the artist. This page carries no lyrics on purpose — Fast Car was written and recorded by Tracy Chapman, and the words belong to them. What you get here is the harmony: the key, the capo, the tempo, and which chord goes where.
Next
Songs that sit near this one.
FAQ
Questions people actually ask.
What key is Fast Car in?
Fast Car sounds in A Major. The common arrangement gets there with a capo at fret 2 and G Major shapes, which is why the chords written here are G Major chords rather than A Major ones.
Do I need a capo for Fast Car?
Yes for the standard arrangement: capo 2. Without it you would be playing A Major shapes, which needs barre chords. With the capo on, the shapes are G Major — much friendlier under the hand.
What chords are in Fast Car?
Cmaj7, G, Em, D and C — 5 chords across 2 sections. Capo 2 with G shapes: Cmaj7 sounds as Dmaj7, G as A, Em as F#m and D as E. Two bars per pair — Cmaj7 with G, then Em with D — repeating without a break.
What is the easiest way to play Fast Car?
Intermediate overall. The picking pattern, not the chords, is the work. Keep your ring and little fingers planted on the B and high E strings through all four shapes; that anchor is what makes the changes fast enough.
How fast is Fast Car?
About 104 bpm. Every section on this page plays back at that tempo, so you can hear how long each chord is meant to be held before you try it yourself.
Can I play Fast Car in a different key?
Yes — the progression is the song, not the letters. Move every chord by the same number of semitones and it still works. The transposer will do the arithmetic, or you can move the capo and keep these shapes.