Guitar Songs, Tabs & Lessons

Hozier

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

Choose a Hozier Song to Play

Take Me to Church - Guitar Lesson

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GuitarLessons365SongLessons Guitar Lesson

Take Me To Church - Guitar Cover

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Kfir Ochaion Guitar Cover

Artist Overview

Hozier is the stage name of Andrew Hozier-Byrne, an Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist from Bray, County Wicklow, who broke through globally in 2013 with the massive hit "Take Me to Church." While many listeners focus on his soaring baritone vocals, guitarists should pay close attention to what's happening underneath. Hozier is a deeply committed fingerpicker and rhythm player whose guitar work draws heavily from blues, gospel, soul, and Irish folk traditions. His playing is deceptively complex, blending open tunings, intricate fingerstyle patterns, and a raw, organic approach to tone that sits beautifully in his sparse, vocal-driven arrangements. For guitarists, Hozier is an essential study in how to make an acoustic guitar sound massive without relying on heavy processing or a wall of distortion. His rhythm playing is rooted in percussive fingerstyle technique, where the thumb handles bass notes while the fingers work syncopated patterns on the higher strings. He frequently employs open and alternate tunings to create drone-like resonance and harmonic richness that would be impossible in standard tuning. Songs like "Take Me to Church" showcase his ability to build dramatic dynamics from a single guitar part, moving from hushed, intimate verses to powerful, driving choruses. Hozier's electric guitar work, while less prominent, reveals a deep love of blues. He plays with tasteful restraint, favoring warm, slightly overdriven tones with expressive vibrato and string bends that channel classic Delta and Chicago blues influences. He is not a shredder or a flashy lead player; his strength lies in feel, groove, and the emotional weight behind every note. Difficulty-wise, Hozier's material sits in the intermediate range. The fingerstyle patterns require solid right-hand independence and a good sense of dynamics. His use of alternate tunings means you will need to retune frequently and learn chord voicings specific to each song. For guitarists looking to develop their fingerpicking, dynamic control, and songwriting-oriented approach to the instrument, Hozier's catalog is a goldmine.

What Makes Hozier Essential for Guitar Players

Hozier's fingerstyle technique is percussive and rhythmic, often incorporating thumb slaps on the lower strings to simulate a bass and drum feel simultaneously. This approach is central to songs like "Take Me to Church" and is a fantastic exercise in right-hand independence.
He regularly uses alternate and open tunings to achieve rich, resonant voicings that standard tuning simply cannot replicate. Open D, DADGAD, and various drop tunings appear throughout his catalog, giving each song a unique harmonic character.
Dynamic control is one of Hozier's greatest strengths as a guitarist. He builds intensity not through added gain or effects but through picking attack, strumming force, and the shift between fingerpicked passages and full open-chord strumming. Learning his songs will sharpen your ability to create tension and release.
His blues-influenced electric guitar work features expressive string bends, slow vibrato, and a preference for the neck pickup position to get warm, round tones. He plays leads with restraint, choosing notes carefully rather than filling every space.
Hozier's chord vocabulary goes well beyond basic open shapes. He frequently uses suspended chords, add9 voicings, and modal-sounding progressions rooted in Irish folk harmony, making his music an excellent gateway into more sophisticated chord theory for intermediate players.

Did You Know?

Hozier taught himself guitar as a teenager by learning blues licks from artists like Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, and Son House, which is why his fingerstyle playing has that deep Delta blues DNA even when the song sounds like indie folk.

The guitar part in "Take Me to Church" was originally recorded in Hozier's attic studio in Wicklow, Ireland. That raw, intimate acoustic tone on the demo was so compelling that elements of it made it into the final release.

Hozier studied music at Trinity College Dublin but dropped out to pursue his own songwriting, partly because he wanted to focus on developing his guitar and vocal style rather than following a classical curriculum.

He is known to keep his pedalboard minimal on stage, preferring the natural tone of his guitars through a clean or lightly broken-up amp. He has said in interviews that he wants the wood and the strings to do the talking.

Hozier has been spotted playing a range of acoustic guitars live, but he has a particular fondness for Lowden guitars, which are handmade in Northern Ireland. The rich, balanced tone of Lowden acoustics perfectly suits his fingerstyle approach.

Despite being known primarily as an acoustic artist, Hozier frequently brings out a Fender Stratocaster and a Gibson ES-335 for live performances, revealing his love of classic blues and soul guitar tones.

His song arrangements often feature only one guitar part carrying the entire harmonic and rhythmic foundation, which makes his music ideal for solo acoustic performers looking for songs that sound complete without a full band.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Hozier 2014

This debut album is the best starting point for guitarists. "Take Me to Church" is an essential fingerstyle lesson in dynamics and percussive acoustic technique, while tracks like "From Eden" and "Work Song" explore bluesy chord progressions and alternate tunings. The album teaches you how to make a single guitar part sound full and emotionally charged.

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Wasteland, Baby! 2019

The second album expands Hozier's guitar palette with more electric tones and layered arrangements. "Almost (Sweet Music)" features a warm, jazzy chord progression perfect for practicing smooth voice leading, while "Nina Cried Power" brings a gospel-infused intensity that challenges your strumming dynamics and rhythmic feel.

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Unreal Unearth 2023

Hozier's third album is his most ambitious guitar record. Songs like "De Selby (Part 2)" and "Eat Your Young" feature inventive fingerpicking patterns and darker modal tonalities. The production is richer, but the core guitar work remains organic and learnable, making it a great album for intermediate players looking to push into more complex territory.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

Hozier's primary acoustic guitars are Lowden models, handcrafted in Northern Ireland, known for their balanced tonal response and exceptional clarity in fingerstyle playing. On electric duties, he frequently plays a Fender Stratocaster (for cleaner, bluesy tones with single-coil sparkle) and a Gibson ES-335 semi-hollowbody (for warmer, thicker blues and soul sounds). He has also been seen with a Gibson J-45 acoustic for certain songs that need a darker, more mid-focused voice.

Amp

Hozier keeps his amplification relatively straightforward. For electric work, he has been seen using Fender-style tube amps (including a Fender Deluxe Reverb) set to clean or just barely breaking up, letting the natural character of his guitars come through. The emphasis is on warmth and headroom rather than high-gain saturation. Acoustic guitars go direct or through quality acoustic preamps for a natural, uncolored sound.

Pickups

On his Fender Stratocaster, the stock single-coil pickups provide that crisp, articulate tone he uses for bluesy leads and clean rhythm parts, often favoring the neck or middle position for warmth. The Gibson ES-335's humbuckers deliver a fatter, smoother midrange ideal for his more soulful passages. On acoustics, his Lowden guitars use undersaddle or soundhole pickup systems designed to reproduce the natural acoustic tone faithfully without piezo quack.

Effects & Chain

Hozier runs an intentionally minimal effects setup. He uses light reverb (likely spring or plate style from his amp or a simple pedal) to add space without washing out his tone. Occasional subtle chorus or tremolo appears in live settings for texture. There is no heavy distortion, no wah, no delay-heavy ambient rigs. His philosophy is tone from the fingers, the wood, and the tubes, making his sound very replicable for guitarists who do not want to invest in a massive pedalboard.

Recommended Gear

Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Hozier uses the Strat's crisp single-coil pickups for articulate bluesy leads and clean rhythms, favoring the neck position for warmth that cuts through his folk-soul arrangements. The guitar's natural sparkle pairs perfectly with his fingerstyle technique and minimal effects approach.

Guitar

Gibson ES-335

The ES-335's warm humbuckers deliver the fatter midrange Hozier needs for soulful passages and blues-influenced solos, adding body to his emotionally nuanced playing. This semi-hollow design gives him sustain and warmth without the heaviness of a full-body electric.

Amp

Fender Deluxe Reverb

Hozier's choice of the Deluxe Reverb keeps his tone clean and spacious with natural spring reverb, providing headroom that lets acoustic and electric guitars breathe. Its warm tube character and gentle breakup support his finger-driven playing without coloring the natural wood tones of his instruments.

How to Practice Hozier on GuitarZone

Every Hozier 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 Take Me To Church - Guitar Cover Practice Take Me to Church - Guitar Lesson