Donovan – The Road

Learn how to play Donovan – The Road note-for-note on guitar.
Difficulty level: Intermediate
Barre chords: No
Thumb over chords: Yes
Playing Style: Fingerpicked
Tuning: Standard
This lesson teaches Donovan’s acoustic guitar part from the original album version.
The complete file contains a lesson video, a performance play thru video, full tabs, chords and lyrics. You’ll receive a link to download the lesson which will download as a zip file of 192 Mb containing all the lesson content.
Return to Individual Songs page
Lesson Preview
Tab Preview
Chords & Songsheet Preview
Return to Individual Songs page
You’ll receive at least two videos per song, one lesson and one performance-standard play-through. You’ll receive the chords/lyrics and guitar tabs as PDF files.
The videos are mp4 format and should play on PC’s, Macs and most mobile devices.
They will download as Zip files. If you don’t have a Zip program on your PC you’ll need to install one to open the file.
If you want to download to an iPad or iPhone you’ll need an app to do so, please read here to know more about it.
Browse Our Lessons by
Fingerstyle Instrumental pieces
Lance says
Thanks for all the Donovan songs from HMS Donovan Jerry, one of my favourite albums! His picking style and songs are like no other and The Road is no exception. Keep up the good work!
Anonymous says
Whoops forgot my name – not anonymous it’s Marc :-)
Jerry says
Brilliant! Thanks for that Marc. Now it can become a great songwriting exercise to start that verse on Don’s A chord and then finish it yourself.
Marc says
Ha ha, all in good time, Jerry :-)
What puzzles me is that it’s not like Donovan to do anything unintentional, so perhaps he just didn’t fancy singing that second verse. Or did they run out of room?
Jerry says
Could be either of those. Another possibility is that he started improvising the second verse and didn’t like the results.
Marc says
I think you may well be right, Jerry.
Anonymous says
Thanks so much, Jerry, another super job
Quite challenging to play it just like Don does!
Perhaps the A chord ending was unintentional as it ends
so abruptly with that fade out.
Anyway I like to add the poem’s second verse, to lengthen the song:
“The grown folk pass beneath the trees that stand so straight and tall
But I must stay at home and play, because I am so small
And wait till I am big and strong, before I go to see
What lies along the great white road that beckons now to me”