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Hozier - Take Me To Church - Guitar Cover

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Key Em minor
Hozier - Take Me To Church guitar cover video
Kfir Ochaion
Kfir Ochaion Top Contributor
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Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
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Hozier (Expanded Edition) album cover
Hozier (Expanded Edition)
2014 4:02
Listen on Spotify
Hozier Folk Rock 2014 Em minor
Capo Advisor 0 Em minor · Original key

About Take Me To Church

At 88 BPM in E minor, "Take Me To Church" has a slow, weighty feel that can fool you into thinking it's easy to hold together. The real challenge is sustaining that brooding dynamic arc: the verses demand restrained fingerpicking or quiet strumming, and the song builds to a chorus that needs genuine power without simply getting sloppy. The chord movement is straightforward, but the phrasing and spacing between chords is where most players slip up. Keeping that sense of space in the verses while staying in time is something worth isolating. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the verse-to-chorus transition slowed down until the swell feels controlled rather than rushed. Hozier sits this song in a Folk Rock tradition of sparse, emotionally direct guitar writing, where tone and touch matter more than technical fireworks. E Standard tuning means no retuning is needed, so your effort can go straight into feel and dynamics.

  • The song is in E minor and E Standard tuning, so no retuning is required before you start playing.
  • The hardest skill to nail is the dynamic contrast: keeping verses quiet and controlled before opening up for the chorus without losing the tempo.
  • Looping the verse fingerpicking pattern slowed down in the Practice Toolbar will help lock in the spacing and ghost notes that give it the right atmosphere.

How to Play Take Me To Church

Tuning: E Standard · Key: Em minor · Tempo: 88 BPM

The song is built around a fingerpicked chord progression in E minor that drives the verse, and mastering the interplay between the bass notes and upper strings is the core challenge here. The dynamic shift into the chorus, where the strumming becomes fuller and more aggressive, requires deliberate control so the contrast lands effectively rather than sounding abrupt. A common pitfall is rushing the fingerpicked verse pattern at 130 bpm before it feels secure under your fingers; loop that section at reduced speed until the alternating bass movement is steady. Once the verse pattern is solid, the chorus strumming falls into place naturally.

Loop each section and focus on clean, even timing rather than speed, with the metronome at 88 BPM.

Fender Stratocaster
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.

Gibson ES-335
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.

Fender Deluxe Reverb
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.

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