Fast Car Chords
Chords in this song
Chords for Fast Car by Tracy Chapman, in the key of A, around 104 BPM. The song is built on Dmaj7, A, F#m, E, Esus4, usually played with a capo on fret 2. Press play — the chord sheet above highlights in time with the track, and you can click any bar to jump there.
How to play Fast Car
A is the key you actually hear on the record. Most players don't finger those chords directly — they put a capo on fret 2 and play Cmaj7, G, Em, Dadd11 shapes, which sound as Dmaj7, A, F#m, E, Esus4. That's why chord sites often list this song "in C": they're printing the shapes, not the sounding key.
Difficulty: Easy — mostly open chords, with F#m as the one tricky shape. The capo makes it considerably easier than the key suggests.
Spotify-derived sites say Em - inconsistent with capo-2 evidence; our A matches the recording.
Chords you need
With a capo on fret 2, finger these as Cmaj7, G, Em, Dadd11.
Chord progression through the song
The bar-by-bar timeline above is detected from the audio by EarChords and can include passing voicings the songbooks simplify away — the key, the core chords and the capo position on this page are checked against published sheet music and audio-analysis sources.
Frequently asked
What key is Fast Car in?
Fast Car by Tracy Chapman is in the key of A, at around 104 BPM. That's the key the recording actually sounds in, not the shapes you finger — with a capo on fret 2 you play Cmaj7, G, Em, Dadd11 shapes and it still sounds in A.
What chords do I need for Fast Car?
The core of the song is Dmaj7, A, F#m, E, Esus4, which most players finger as Cmaj7, G, Em, Dadd11 with a capo on fret 2.
Is Fast Car good for beginners?
Easy. Mostly open chords, with F#m as the one tricky shape. The capo does a lot of the work here — it turns the chords into Cmaj7, G, Em, Dadd11 shapes.
What capo do you use for Fast Car?
Fret 2. With the capo there you play Cmaj7, G, Em, Dadd11 shapes, and the song sounds in its original key of A.