Banjo Paterson · Key of Ab · Public domain
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This is Waltzing Matilda moved from G to the key of Ab, with every chord already worked out. In this key the song uses Ab, Eb7, Eb, Db, Fm, Bbm. If you would rather keep open chord shapes and still sound in Ab, play it capo 1 with the G shapes, or capo 4 with the E shapes, or capo 6 with the D shapes.
The story behind the song and tips for playing it are on the main Waltzing Matilda chords and lyrics page. Other easy guitar keys: key of G, key of A, key of C, key of D, key of E, key of F.
Tap any chord for its diagram, other voicings, and the notes inside it.
In the key of Ab, Waltzing Matilda uses 6 chords: Ab, Eb7, Eb, Db, Fm and Bbm. 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 Ab. The other easy guitar keys for it are the key of G, key of A, key of C, key of D, key of E, key of F, 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.
A swagman is a travelling worker who carries his bedroll, the swag, which is also his "Matilda"; waltzing Matilda means walking the roads with it. A billabong is a waterhole left behind when a river changes course, a coolibah is a eucalyptus tree, a billy is a tin can for boiling tea, a jumbuck is a sheep and a tucker bag holds food. The squatter is the wealthy landholder and the troopers are mounted police.
Yes. Banjo Paterson wrote the words in 1895 and died in 1941; Marie Cowan, whose 1903 arrangement is the version everyone sings, died in 1919. Words and tune are out of copyright in Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and everywhere else. Only particular later arrangements belong to anyone, and this chart uses none of them.
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