Creator Area
Sign in Creator Area

Guitar Songs, Tabs & Lessons

Dave Matthews Band

3 guitar songs · Tabs, Lessons & Tone Guide Alternative Rock

Choose a Dave Matthews Band Song to Play

Band Overview

History and Guitar Legacy

Dave Matthews Band emerged from Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991, becoming one of the most successful live acts of the 1990s and 2000s. What distinguished them was the musicality of their arrangements, fusing folk, jazz, rock, funk, and world music. Dave Matthews' approach to acoustic guitar is rhythmically sophisticated and harmonically adventurous, developed almost entirely through self-teaching. His unconventional style and non-standard voicings make studying his playing exceptionally valuable for guitarists seeking to expand beyond textbook patterns.

Playing Style and Techniques

Matthews employs intricate fingerpicking patterns, unusual open-string chord voicings, and percussive right-hand attack that blurs rhythm guitar and solo performance. His style features major and minor triads with added 9ths, 11ths, and 13ths voiced unexpectedly. The right hand constantly mixes thumb-bass patterns with fingerpicked arpeggios and aggressive strumming, sometimes within single measures. These techniques create a distinctive approach that electric guitarists can study to develop acoustic proficiency.

Why Guitarists Study Dave Matthews Band

DMB's sound benefits from interplay between Matthews' guitar and Boyd Tinsley's violin, LeRoi Moore's saxophone, and Carter Beauford's complex drumming. Guitar parts lock into polyrhythmic grooves rather than carrying songs alone. Learning these arrangements teaches guitarists to function as rhythmic anchors while playing melodically interesting parts. This approach develops understanding of how guitar integrates with ensemble texture and dynamic interaction.

Difficulty and Learning Path

Songs range from intermediate to advanced. Chord shapes themselves aren't always difficult to finger, but mastering right-hand patterns, syncopated rhythms, and dynamic control requires dedication. The real challenge lies in nailing the fingerpicking groove and timing. Successfully playing 'Ants Marching' with correct fingerpicking and timing indicates significant guitarist development and readiness for more complex arrangements.

What Makes Dave Matthews Band Essential for Guitar Players

  • Dave Matthews' right-hand technique is a hybrid of fingerpicking, thumbslapping, and percussive strumming. He often strikes muted strings between chord tones to create a drum-like pulse, making the acoustic guitar sound like a full rhythm section by itself.
  • His chord voicings are unconventional, he favors open-string shapes that incorporate extensions like 9ths and suspended tones. Songs like 'Crash Into Me' use simple-looking shapes that produce lush, ringing harmonies because of how the open strings interact with fretted notes.
  • Matthews tunes to standard tuning for most songs but relies heavily on partial capo positions and unusual fingerings that mimic alternate tunings without actually retuning. This creates chord textures that sound exotic but are technically played in standard.
  • Rhythmic precision is paramount in DMB songs. 'Ants Marching' features a syncopated fingerpicking pattern that locks with Carter Beauford's drum groove, if your timing drifts even slightly, the whole feel collapses. Practicing with a metronome at slow tempos is essential before attempting full speed.
  • Dynamic control is a hallmark of Matthews' playing. He moves from whisper-quiet fingerpicked passages to aggressive, almost violent strumming within a single verse. Learning to control your attack velocity on acoustic guitar is one of the biggest takeaways from studying his catalog.

Did You Know?

Dave Matthews is largely self-taught on guitar. He never took formal lessons, which explains why his chord voicings and fingerings often look 'wrong' to trained players but sound incredibly rich and unique.

Matthews' main acoustic guitar for decades was a custom Taylor 914ce, but he's also been closely associated with Martin acoustics in the studio. His signature percussive tone comes more from his aggressive right-hand technique than from any specific guitar model.

The fingerpicking pattern in 'Ants Marching' is one of the most-searched DMB guitar lessons online. The tricky part isn't the notes, it's maintaining the syncopated groove while switching between chord shapes without losing the percussive ghost notes.

'Crash Into Me' was written on acoustic guitar using a deceptively simple four-chord progression, but the way Matthews voices those chords with open strings ringing creates an almost 12-string-like shimmer that's hard to replicate without matching his exact fingerings.

'What Would You Say' features one of DMB's more electric-leaning arrangements. The song's main riff uses a blues-rock vocabulary that's more accessible to electric players, with a harmonica-driven groove that makes it a great entry point for learning the band's catalog.

Carter Beauford's drumming is in odd subdivisions and polyrhythmic patterns, which means if you're learning DMB songs by ear, you might misinterpret the time signature. Always count carefully, many parts that sound like they're in an odd meter are actually in 4/4 with heavy syncopation.

During live performances, Matthews often improvises variations on his guitar parts, changing fingerpicking patterns and adding fills. Studying multiple live versions of the same song reveals how he thinks about the guitar as a spontaneous instrument rather than a fixed arrangement.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Under the Table and Dreaming album cover
Under the Table and Dreaming 1994

This is the essential starting point for any guitarist diving into DMB. It contains 'Ants Marching,' 'What Would You Say,' and 'Satellite', three songs that collectively teach you syncopated fingerpicking, percussive strumming, and how to voice extended chords on acoustic guitar. The production by Steve Lillywhite keeps the guitar relatively upfront and uncluttered, making it easier to hear exactly what Matthews is doing.

Spotify Apple Music
Crash album cover
Crash 1996

Home to the iconic 'Crash Into Me' and the dynamic 'Two Step,' this album showcases Matthews' ability to create emotionally resonant guitar parts using simple chord shapes with open-string voicings. 'Two Step' is particularly valuable for developing your right-hand dynamics, it moves from delicate fingerpicking to explosive strumming and teaches you how to build intensity over a long arrangement.

Spotify Apple Music
Before These Crowded Streets album cover
Before These Crowded Streets 1998

DMB's most musically complex album features darker, more jazz-influenced guitar work. Tracks like 'Rapunzel' and 'Don't Drink the Water' push your rhythmic skills into genuinely challenging territory with odd accents and layered arrangements. This is the album to study once you've mastered the basics, it teaches advanced syncopation, dynamic range, and how to play guitar parts that interlock with horns, strings, and polyrhythmic drums.

Spotify Apple Music

Tone & Gear

Guitar

Dave Matthews' primary acoustic is a Taylor 914ce with the Expression System pickup, known for its balanced grand auditorium body and bright Sitka spruce top. He's also used Martin HD-28 guitars in studio settings. For the occasional electric parts in DMB songs, Matthews has been seen with a Fender Telecaster and Gibson ES-335, though acoustic guitar is overwhelmingly his main instrument. His Taylor is typically strung with medium-gauge phosphor bronze strings for a full, projecting tone that holds up under his aggressive attack.

Amp

Live, Matthews' acoustic signal runs through the Taylor Expression System pickup into a DI and then through the PA system, often supplemented by a microphone on the guitar for natural tone blending. For the electric guitar parts heard on songs like 'What Would You Say,' the band has used clean Fender Twin Reverb-style amps with moderate volume, the goal is warmth and clarity, not overdrive. The acoustic tone is shaped more at the mixing board than at an amp.

Pickups

The Taylor Expression System is a behind-the-saddle piezo/body sensor combination designed to capture the guitar's natural acoustic tone without the quacky, plastic quality of older under-saddle piezos. This is critical to Matthews' live sound, it reproduces the percussive ghost notes and dynamic swells that define his playing. On the rare electric outings, stock single-coil or PAF-style humbucker pickups are used without modification, as the electric guitar is never the focal point of DMB's sound.

Effects & Chain

Matthews keeps his signal chain remarkably clean, no distortion, no modulation, and very minimal effects on the acoustic guitar. Occasionally a touch of reverb and compression is added at the board for live performances, but the philosophy is that tone comes entirely from the hands and the wood. For electric parts, a clean channel with perhaps a hint of spring reverb is all you'll hear. If you want to nail the DMB guitar sound, forget about pedals and focus on right-hand dynamics, fingerpicking precision, and clean articulation.

Recommended Gear

Fender Telecaster
Guitar

Fender Telecaster

Matthews uses the Telecaster for occasional electric parts in DMB songs, relying on its bright single-coil tone and clean articulation rather than distortion. The guitar's cutting clarity works perfectly within the band's minimalist electric approach, where warmth and transparency matter more than impact.

Gibson ES-335
Guitar

Gibson ES-335

The ES-335's warm, woody humbucker tone provides a gentler alternative when Matthews ventures into electric territory on songs like 'What Would You Say.' Its semi-hollow body naturally complements DMB's focus on clean, reverb-tinged textures without ever overshadowing the acoustic guitar's dominance.

Fender Twin Reverb
Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

The Twin Reverb's lush spring reverb and clean headroom are perfect for Matthews' rare electric moments, delivering warmth and shimmer that enhance rather than distort the signal. This amp embodies DMB's philosophy that tone comes from touch and wood, not from gain or processing.

How to Practice Dave Matthews Band on GuitarZone

Every Dave Matthews Band song page on GuitarZone includes a built-in Practice Toolbar. No app to download, no account needed. Open any song, then use the toolbar to slow the video to 0.5× speed, set an A/B loop around the exact riff you're working on, and jump between song sections instantly.

The toolbar appears automatically on every guitar tab, lesson, and cover page. Pick a song below, hit play, and start practicing at your own pace.

Practice Crash Into Me - Guitar LessonPractice What Would You Say - Guitar LessonPractice Ants Marching - Guitar Lesson