Jack Norworth / Albert Von Tilzer · Key of C · Public domain
This chart was made with the free Chord Sheet Maker: write your own charts, transpose in one click, print clean copies.
Opens in the Chord Sheet Maker in this key: change chords, add strumming patterns, and make it yours, with no account needed to start. A free account adds PDF downloads for printing.
Have your own songs? Start a blank chart from scratch, free →
This chart is written in C. Tap any key above the chart to see the whole song in that key, with every chord already worked out. To stay in C with different chord shapes, play it capo 3 with the A shapes, or capo 5 with the G shapes. Singing with a group? Pick the key where the highest note is comfortable for everyone, then print that page.
America's unofficial baseball anthem was written in 1908 by two men who, by most accounts, had never been to a professional ballgame. The vaudeville songwriter Jack Norworth scribbled the lyric on scrap paper during a New York subway ride after seeing a sign that read "Baseball Today - Polo Grounds," and Albert Von Tilzer set it to a lilting waltz melody. The full song tells the story of Katie Casey, a baseball-mad young woman who, when her beau offers to take her to a show, insists on the ballpark instead. The verses are nearly forgotten; the chorus became one of the most-sung pieces of music in America.
The song settled permanently into the game itself through the seventh-inning stretch, a tradition cemented when the broadcaster Harry Caray began leading crowds in the chorus at Chicago ballparks in the 1970s. Published in 1908, both words and music are long in the public domain, so this chart is yours to print, share, and sing at full volume.
A true waltz: count "one-two-three" with a firm downbeat, bass note on one and two light strums after it. The whole chorus lives on seven friendly open chords (C, G7, A7, Dm, D7, C7, and F), and most of it is just C to G7. The famous ending is the fun part: the chords punch once per word on "one, two, three strikes, you're out," so give each one its own strum and slow down into the final "ball game." Want to play the melody too? The matching guitar tab below uses the same key and chords.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game in other easy guitar keys: key of D, key of E, key of F, key of G, key of A. Every other key is at the top of the chart.
C · G7 · A7 · Dm · D7 · C7 · F
Tap any chord for its diagram, other voicings, and the notes inside it.
In the key of C, Take Me Out to the Ball Game uses 7 chords: C, G7, A7, Dm, D7, C7 and F. The chords sit over the words in the chart above, and tapping a chord name under Chords in This Song opens its diagram.
This chart is in the key of C. The other easy guitar keys for it are the key of D, key of E, key of F, key of G, key of A, each with the whole song rewritten. Pick the key whose chords you know, or the one that sits best for the singers: all twelve are one tap away at the top of the chart, with capo options for keeping the open shapes.
Yes. The words and the melody of Take Me Out to the Ball Game are in the public domain, which is why the full lyrics and chords are published here. You can print this sheet, hand it out, and perform or record the song anywhere without a license.
Play the melody: Take Me Out to the Ball Game guitar tab with audio
Further reading: Take Me Out to the Ball Game (Wikipedia)
