How to play "Sand In My Boots" Chords
on acoustic guitar
Morgan Wallen singing the 'Sand In My Boots' in the music video.
Guitar Lesson ahead — a concise but vivid Tutorial that
walks you through every brush of the pick.
Song Overview
Performance of 'Sand In My Boots' by Morgan Wallen in the music video.
Key E♭ major (capo 3, play in C shapes)
Tempo 70 bpm, 4/4 feel
Difficulty Early-intermediate: open-chord shapes,
steady strum, a few bass-note walks.
Chords Used
Screenshot from the 'Sand In My Boots' music video, capturing the mood and meaning of the song.
Fingerings in the open-position sweet-spot:
C x32010
G 320003
F 133211 (easier: xx3211)
C/E 0x2010 (thumb skips low-E if it booms)
Am x02210
Strumming Pattern (≈ 70 bpm)
Count: 1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &
Move : D D U U D U
Keep your wrist loose; let the up-strokes graze only the thinnest strings so
the groove breathes.
Sections Breakdown
Intro | C – G – F – C – G – C
Light palm-mute, paint a picture before the story starts. Let the F ring full,
no hurry.
Verse
C/E – F – G – C | Am – F – G – C
Walk the low-E (3 ▶ 2 ▶ open) into
C/E for a cinematic step-down. On G lift your third finger briefly to
slip in a gentle sus4, echoing the lyric’s
questioning mood.
Chorus
C – C/E – F – C | F – C – G
Accent beat 1 and the “&” of 2; let beats 3-4 relax. That pocket mirrors the
tired drive of the narrator’s Silverado.
Break / Solo
Cycle Am C F twice.
A handy spot for a
tasteful pentatonic lick over the C-major scale.
Bridge
C/E – F – G – C | G – Am – F – G
Mute the first bar with the heel of your picking hand; open up the
second to let hope shine, then drop back to the chorus.
Common Mistakes
Visual effects scene from 'Sand In My Boots' enhancing the experience of the song words and music.
Over-strumming F: roll the chord from bass to treble instead of
hitting all six strings at once.
Rushing the up-strokes: use a metronome at 60 bpm, then
nudge to 70.
Capo buzz: place the capo just
behind fret 3, not on top of it.
General Tips
Tune a hair flat (–5 cents) to match the studio
track.
Dial in a warm dreadnought tone: bridge pickup rolled back,
mids bumped, light phosphor-bronze strings.
Practice the bass-note
walk separately: C ▶ C/B ▶ Am to build muscle memory.
Song Facts
Released August 23 2021 as the third single from Dangerous: The Double Album,
“Sand In My Boots” was penned by Ashley Gorley, Michael Hardy, and Josh Osborne
and produced by Joey Moi. It topped Billboard’s Country Airplay chart in
February 2022 and earned a Song-of-the-Year Grammy nod.
Luke Bryan recently confessed he passed on the song, fearing another
“truck-song” stereotype — a sliding-door moment that underlines the tune’s
universal pull.
Compositionally, the piece sits in E♭ major yet uses capo-Three C shapes,
giving it an open, storyteller feel. At 70 bpm its pulse is unhurried,
matching the reflective lyric: a lone traveler recalls a fleeting connection on
a Gulf Coast beach, the stubborn sand symbolizing memories he cannot shake.
The clever inversion C/E
sonically hints at instability — love upside-down before it
begins.
Song Meaning – part by part
Verse 1: Introduces the girl and the beach; dialect and dogwood
trees ground the scene in Tennessee nostalgia. Chorus: The Silverado road-trip frames regret; potholes echo
heart-holes. Verse 2: Tequila versus whiskey banter reveals clashing
expectations; the perfect sky suggests possibilities never realized. Bridge: The unanswered sunrise meeting crystallizes loss; hope
meets reality. Final Chorus: Acceptance surfaces — all that remains is literal
grit in worn boots. A simple object becomes the emblem of a weekend that could
have altered a life.
Comparisons to previous works
If “7 Summers” was nostalgic daylight and “Whiskey Glasses” a bar-room
forget-me-not, “Sand In My Boots” splits the difference: daylight memory told
from the bar-stool afterglow. Musically, Wallen sheds the pop-country
hi-hat of “More Than My Hometown,” leaning instead on sparse acoustic
guitars and brushed drums — a sonic cousin to “Cover Me Up,” yet lyrically
leaner and more image-driven. The growth? Vulnerability without
melodrama.
Questions and Answers
What capo fret matches the studio key?
Third fret puts open-C shapes in E♭, the original key.
Can I strum without barre-chording F?
Yes, use Fmaj7 (xx3210); keep bass notes light.
Ideal metronome subdivision?
Set clicks to 140 bpm eighth-notes for tighter groove.
Best moment to add a hammer-on?
On beat 2 of the Am in the
break; hammer B–C (1-2 fret on B-string).
Alternate tuning option?
Drop-D with capo 1 replicates the bass growl while preserving open
shapes.
==========================
[Intro]
C G F C G C
[Verse 1]
G C F
She asked me where I was from
G C
I said "Somewhere you never been to"
Am F
Little town outside of Knoxville
G
Hidden by some dogwood trees
C F
She tried talkin' with my accent
G C
We held hands and waded into
G Am
That blue water
F G C
She left her flip-flops by my Red Wings on the beach
[Chorus]
C F C
Yeah but, now I'm dodging potholes in my sunburnt Silverado
F C G
Like a heart-broke Desperado, headin' right back to my roots
C F C
Somethin' 'bout the way she kissed mе tells me she'd lovе Eastern Tennessee
F C G C
Yeah, but all I brought back with me was some sand in my boots
[Verse 2]
C F
I said "Let's go shoot tequila"
G C
So we walked back to that beach bar
Am F
She said "Don't cowboys drink whiskey?"
G
So we drank bottom shelf
C F
She said "Damn, that sky looks perfect"
G C G Am
I said "Girl, you've never seen stars like the ones back home"
F G C
And she said "Maybe I should, see 'em for myself"
[Chorus]
C F C
Yeah, but now I'm dodging potholes in my sunburnt Silverado
F C G
Like a heart-broke Desperado, headin' right back to my roots
C F C
Somethin' 'bout the way she kissed me tells me she'd love Eastern Tennessee
F C G
Yeah, but all I brought back with me was some sand in my boots
[Break]
Am C F Am C F
[Bridge]
C F
I said meet me in the mornin'
G C
And she told me I was crazy
G Am F G
Yeah, but I still thought that maybe she'd show up
[Chorus]
C F C
Oh, but now I'm dodging potholes in my sunburnt Silverado
F C G
Like a heart-broke Desperado, headin' right back to my roots
C F C
Somethin' 'bout the way she kissed me tells me she'd love Eastern Tennessee
F C G C G
Yeah, but all I brought back with me was some sand in my boots
F C G
Yeah, but all I brought back with me was some sand in my boots
[Outro]
C G F C G C
