Brooklyn Baby

Lana Del Rey’s “Brooklyn Baby” is a song from her third studio album, Ultraviolence (2014). It is a satirical ode to the hipster subculture of Brooklyn, New York, and it is one of her most popular and critically acclaimed songs.

With Brooklyn Baby, I was able to perfectly capture what I wanted. This piece works easily and eloquently as a solo, fingerstyle guitar piece. Everything is basic open chords — but Lana Del Rey has an unexplainable twist to her progressions. There’s always a perfectly placed A minor or F chord that lends to her bittersweet lyrics and sultry vocals.

How to play Brooklyn Baby | fingerstyle guitar

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The guitar tab for Brooklyn Baby is 3 pages long. I basically play straight through all 3 pages, two times. I would recommend Brooklyn Baby for intermediate guitar players and up. The chord shapes are not that difficult, but the fingerpicking might be advanced for some guitar players who are just starting out.

My song structure, in accordance with the tab is:

Intro, Verse, Chorus

Intro, Verse, Chorus.

Enjoy, the guitar tab is available below:

**Brooklyn Baby | fingerstyle guitar

This arrangement is played in standard tuning with a capo on the first fret. However, in the video I’m playing a 1970 Yamaha that is permanently tuned 1 half step down. So, my capo is placed on the second fret instead. This actually has the effect of making the fret board easier to read as well.