The Smiths - Cemetry Gates Guitar Tutorial (Open G like Johnny)

I just learned this the correct way today when Johnny Marr posted a video on Instagram of him playing it. I appreciate the awesome tabs and covers online in standard tuning but Open G gives a much fuller sound especially if you’re playing alone. I did my best to figure out the fingerings just like the video I saw. This is my first time doing a tutorial and I just learned it today (it’s not as smooth as I have not practiced much. Also, there’s one part where say D string but mean the G but you’ll understand. I hope this helps you and all credit goes to Marr. Again, I had not seen the correct tab anywhere online or youtube. Feel free to give tips if you figure out the exact fingerings (I think i’m close though).

[@dstone3241]

What a partnership they had. Marr’s amazing chord progressions and voicings, and Morrissey to flesh it out with melody and lyrics. They created magic.

[@Adam_Barrett]

Greg, if it's okay I'm thinking of doing a cover with this arrangement. I will of course give you full credit for coming out with it! You've done such a fantastic job with it as I said before and I think it elevates the sound completely compared to what I used to play

[@greglewis209]

I got this from Johnny’s video so no need unless you want to let then know how they can learn the chords. Thanks!

[@G.Lopes.96]

Hey, Adam! Love your covers, man! Greetings from Brazil!

[@dermot51]

Keep up the good work Adam

[@victorymansions]

I had a big stupid grin watching you nail this. Thanks for the meticulous lesson, I'm gonna enjoy learning this with your vid, all the best

[@jordanbailey9531]

Greg thank you so much for this, great tutorial and I’ve been dying to learn since I saw the Instagram video come out! Top man

[@dga7364]

I just want to say thank you for doing this video. I really appreciate it it always been a song I wanted to lean. You’re a great teacher and clear to understand. 👍

[@tactikzzF1R3]

Nailed it, man....absolutely superb!

[@junglecat000]

Great job!!! Thanks Greg, definitely the best video I could find on this song.

[@josephthompson8948]

Absolutely gorgeous and you're so humble about it

[@cmaddox1020]

Well, Greg I think you pretty much nailed it. I worked out most of it but I picked up some nuances from you I had missed so thank you!

[@andycatmilne]

I only came across Johnny Marr playing this yesterday and wanted to learn it. Now found this… wow thanks!

[@u_righi]

Thank you so much for taking the time to create this tutorial! This is my favorite Smiths song and I've always had trouble learning how to play their songs, so you can imagine how happy I feel now that I finally learned how to play it. Thank you!

[@maxheadroom3000]

You got eagle eyes my friend. Thank you for sorting it out. Keep cracking ... Keep them coming.

[@RyRaddatz]

Dude. This was great. So helpful. The internet is magic.

[@nelsano3]

Thankyou so much Greg this lesson is the best I've found. Greetings and love from the grim dark north of England 🙏😎

[@7EvilExesToGo]

Thanks for uploading this, was really shocked to see there aren't any tabs online for such an iconic song like this in it's original tuning. Somehow it sounds even better acoustically than in the original imo.

[@grantrmiller]

Excellent. I had about 80 percent in open G. This put me over the edge. One of the few (only?) open G tutorials on YT. Well done.

[@naughtydotdot1232]

You're a literal life saver, i was waiting for an accurate tutorial of this song for LITERALLY YEARS. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, truly

[@TimothySteffes]

Same! So happy!

[@mrduuud]

Same - it brought tears to my eyes.

[@CherryPhosphate70]

Mystery solved!! Many thanks, Greg. great stuff!

[@andrewbranscome7612]

Thank you for such an awesome tutorial, Greg. Peace and love

[@joeh527]

Thanks Greg believe it or not I'm sat in my car in Manchester England the times 12.10am and flicking through you tube and I'm literally parked up opposite Southern Cemetery which is the cemetery the song is about and you pop up it's a small world!

[@greglewis209]

I got to visit from the USA last year right before Covid hit. Can't wait to get back!

[@ManilvaRS]

Good to see a Smiths fan all the way over the other side of the pond.

[@Pjh80]

From a man now in his 40s thank you so much for this.. i will spend days and months learning this👍

[@ithemeparkOFFICIAL]

Awesome tutorial and playing!

[@tdmusic8219]

Great job. Thanks! I was trying to understand why Marr looked like he had the same chord shape in the verse walk down. But you nailed it.

[@user-dj5wk4sm9s]

Fantastic tutorial. I hope you post more videos

[@007wars6]

Thank you! I could exactly find out how Johnny was playing it in his Instagram video, so this helps a bunch!!

[@rowanbarfoot5683]

This is fantastic Greg! Thank you so much

[@dylan9784]

is so nice for you to show this newcomer some love

[@robsheen11]

Great video man, really liked the pace. I’m not exactly at the level to play this yet but I look forward to learning this in time.

[@daiglep]

Thanks for posting this, it was extremely helpful!

[@bencook4720]

Beautiful rendition! Probably my favorite Smiths song - I am a fledgling beginner but this is inspiring to try

[@Adam_Barrett]

Sounds absolutely gorgeous. Great job with this and I can't wait to try it out

[@greglewis209]

Adam Barrett Thanks! By the way your covers are fantastic!

[@Adam_Barrett]

@@greglewis209 thanks a lot Greg! Just listened to your Heaven Knows too and it's amazing!

[@leedredd8505]

I am now sat on my accoustic going through a fender amp with chorus and slight delay... playing the music of heaven. So glad you did this lesson. I can finally play this song properly!!!! Thanks to you ! Top man ! Thank you so much !!!

[@dermot51]

I play through a Roland cube with chorus and delay, sounds ok but this open G tuning sound's fantastic

[@AndoNagasaki]

That’s awesome mate, thank you very much. Great work 👍🏻

[@StephenSpencer-yj9pr]

This clip was an excellent starting point for me to nail this song. It was a favourite of mine since it was released so I know the the nuances really well. This isn't perfect BUT I wouldn't have got anywhere near playing it well without this tutorial. I'd like to sit down with this guy and compare how we both play it.

[@ClayAsbury122]

You’ve solved a decades old mystery for me, my friend. Thanks for this! I thought this was witchcraft for years. Lol

[@louis893]

Thank you, this is exactly what I was looking for

[@meadish]

Great playing and very pleasant sounding guitar.

[@brycesterling947]

Thank you greg for the lesson!!!! you play it perfect.

[@TheHolty76]

Do you know how many years I been looking for this? when I saw Johnny's video I was hoping to find a tutorial. Thanks so much, you should do some more videos was pretty easy to follow

[@greglewis209]

Same here. Thanks!

[@danpriestley9218]

I've always wanted to play this and now I can! Thanks

[@154chairsmissing]

Great job. Many thanks for going to the trouble of unlocking this song. I’ve Wondered for years how it’s done.

[@bentaylor3989]

this is amazing mate, helped so much

[@spread7]

Thanks Greg, that was perfect!

[@nicholas19644]

Thank you. The rhythm is the challenge. 1:56

[@lhovis9401]

Thanks! Comparing to the Marr video, this is pretty much exactly what he's doing. It's funny how people are afraid of open tunings, when the whole point of them is to make things really, really easy.

[@penniesonoureyes3436]

Brilliant. Learnt a few inverted chords using the standard tuning but this one sounds much more like Johnny. Must use that G tuning for my next song...

[@ckallaher]

Whoa. Just, whoa. I’m learning this immediately. Like The Wizard of Iz, going from black and white to color.

[@kerrigooney]

Thanks,mate. Cool song to play in Open G. Sounds much better this way.

[@mijadreams3486]

you killed this !!! thanks for helping me learn it , weird lover wilde is on your side

[@markparker9787]

Excellent work ! More please !

[@DetectiveH.]

You are a godsend sir! Thank you for this.

[@markctaylor4747]

Fantastic sound. Thanx for posting.

[@callistoo2016]

thank you this is great !! :) exactly what I was looking for

[@pl0xyserver]

thanks for the vid! this is so much fun to play

[@Beanoismycat]

That was outstanding!

[@dermot51]

Fantastic arrangement. I play in standard but this tuning is pure class

[@jcomm120]

Lovely version! Bravo☆

[@TimothySteffes]

Thank you! I have been wanting to play the song since it first came out, but could never figure it out. I’m in heaven right now!

[@dermot51]

I have it sussed in standard now to try and learn it in open G

[@monkeysgone2heaven1]

There's always someone, somewhere...with a big nose, who knows

[@chroniclesofbap6170]

You say "Ere thrice the sun done salutation to the dawn"... and you claim these words as your own. But I'm well-read and I've heard them said a hundred times. Maybe less, maybe more.

[@slinkycrown8757]

Johnny marr has a bigger nose

[@tiedyemanatee9291]

Who trips you up and laugh when you faaaall

[@coryinthehouse5734]

@@chroniclesofbap6170 this went clean over your head as it was a smart comment reference the song alongside a video of someone who knows how to play it, it wasn’t an opportunity to just splurt out the rest of the lyrics

[@HalfFlat832]

Havin a go at this one . Your version sounds very full .

[@garyrobinson3967]

Great tutorial, thanks for uploading.

[@meltorment5152]

Thank you Greg! Great lesson 👍

[@lexusuk7901]

Thanks so much for this. Really helpful.

[@user-oy2dt3fb9v]

Thank you for this! I couldn't have figured it out on my own!

[@jimmy2sticks]

nice work, Greg!

[@h.a.8756]

Thanks for the great lesson!

[@rjdmccarthy]

Well done mate, really great 👍

[@jdunn101ify]

Great tutorial and love your accent 👍

[@LouisHillJ]

This was amazing, thanks

[@skellyngton]

fantastic tutorial! cheers man 👍👍

[@jefft5854]

That's a great tutorial for a great song. Thanks a lot.

[@diarmuidsheehan4927]

Thank you so much for this tutorial!

[@stevewilliams8556]

Thanks friend - great job

[@colinimray3682]

Great vid well done, hopefully you do more smiths

[@niteshnmehta]

Super fun to play!

[@user-ye2yr6ym3g]

Well done!!

[@Fazzat333]

Boom ! Getting it done. Thank you 👍

[@adamriggs2698]

Thanks so much for this! You are awesome.

[@rotabush]

Great work!

[@andrewjohnson1199]

Ha you rock man. Thank you for sharing this. Cheers!

[@dennisofficial1408]

You Rock!!!!Great playin!!!!

[@drXabaras666]

Great work! Well done

[@Fauxjob]

Wonderful, thanks, love this song since the 8os.

[@izagrau]

Thank you Greg! Great job!

[@xiscogg]

You did a great job!

[@leftfield70]

superb tutorial. thank you..

[@richardproano8629]

Great tutorial!

[@rossendoperez]

Great video, thanks a million!

[@dancehallc]

This is great, thanks for getting me started. I think he is actually fretting the D string on most of those chords, for example x55050 instead of x50050. It does work both ways, and I can't 100% tell from his video but sounds more Marr-ish to me with the D string fretted.

[@greglewis209]

dancehallc Yeah I think you’re right. It was tough to figure out his hands on those parts. But you can adjust and and add on stuff too. I cannot believe there was not an open g tab or video on this.

[@IrishBog]

Damn - it’s so much easier on my thin nut 67 acoustic without the D so I might just stick with that but yeah sounds better with

[@Fazzat333]

dancehallc Agreed, more prominent when you hit the 10th fret (bit of of a squeeze for my big hands).

[@pdog2715]

Great stuff. Thst's the icing on the cake. Well done both.

[@jacobstokes7611]

Main man great vid👍

[@sarazamet8609]

great tutorial thanks for this!!

[@brianbrooks6336]

Great tutorial 👍🏻

[@milkshakeyellow]

Top stuff, thank you

[@louisonherbelot2064]

Thank you very much !!

[@dippydaday]

Lock down fun, thank you !

[@cjbono1]

Love it!

[@Isahiyella]

Woah, awesome! Thank you!

[@niitsukid]

Sounds great

[@JT-wp4up]

Fantastic