Horse With No Name by America

A Horse With No Name is a classic tune written and recorded by folk-rock trio America in 1971. Originally released as a single, it was quickly added to a rerelease of the bands’ debut album America, after achieving success in Europe and the US.

The sound and rhythm of the song are meant to inspire the feeling of the hot dry desert. Writer Dewey Bunnell reflected on his childhood in the deserts of the south-western US, when his family lived at Vandenberg Air Force Base. In his own words the song is a metaphor for a vehicle to get away from life’s confusion into a quiet, peaceful place.

The tune comprises of acoustic guitars, bass guitar, drums, bongos, and vocal harmonies for which the trio were famed. The song has a driving bass line with a hammer-hook in each chorus and a waterfall-style solo.

Pictured is a black and white photo of America. From left to right Gerry Beckley, Dan Peek and Dewey Bunnell. The trio met as teens in London while their parents were stationed there with the US Air Force.

This is a fairly easy song to get into, using just four simple chords. The hardest part to master is the strumming pattern which spans two bars, and the rhythm.

Start with an E Minor chord, using your second and third fingers will help you avoid hitting other strings and produce a cleaner sound.

The first bar of the strumming pattern is bass down, down up down up, the bass string for Em being the sixth. Aim to hit the first three strings when strumming the down ups to give it a nice bright contrast to the bass note.

The song uses a shuffle or swing rhythm which is a more relaxed sound than normal strumming, and creates the travelling feel of the song. You can hear this in the video lesson below or by listening to the acoustic guitar in the song. Practise this a few times with the Em chord.

The second bar of the pattern is down up down up, up down up, with a pause on the third beat. Here the chord changes to a D6+9/F#, which is similar to Em except the second finger moves to the sixth string and the third moves to the third string.

Pictured is a diagram of a D6+9/F# chord, second finger on the sixth string second fret, third finger on the third string second fret.

Practise this a few times until you have mastered the strumming, then try both bars together.

The chorus uses the same strumming pattern with two new chords, Em9, which can be hard to reach, and Dmaj7add9/A.

Pictured is a diagram of an Em9 chord. Bass note is the sixth string, first finger on the fifth string second fret, second finger on the first string second fret, third finger on the second string third fret.

Pictured is a diagram of a Dmaj7add9/A chord, second and third fingers on the second and third strings second fret.

Practise switching between these two to get the hang of it.

Now practise them together. The chord sheet below will help you learn where the chords change in relation to the lyrics. It might be easier to master the strumming and chord changes before trying to sing at the same time.

Try playing through the whole song, you can slow down the tempo to make mastering it easier. This is a fun tune to strum and sing along to, once you get the hang of the rhythm it will sound great!

Here is a chord sheet I made…

Watch the full lesson here…