The wheels on the bus is a famous children’s song known by many. It is trendy in North America, the U.K, and Australia. But you can find a translated version in Italy, Denmark, and many more countries.
The song was published in 1937 and originally intended to keep children entertained and busy on their bus trips. However, today you can hear the song everywhere, not just on bus trips. It is fairly easy to learn the lyrics as the song has a repetitive and cyclical structure.
The song is easy to play, even for beginners who just started today because it has only two chords. The song has two common versions that can be played with open chords. The first is in the key of D major, while the other is G major. Furthermore, you can always use a capo to match your child’s voice or your own.
Tuning And Tempo
The tuning for this song is E standard (E A D G B E). As for the tempo, it is usually played at 130 bpm. However, you can play it as fast or slow as you want, depending on the singing tempo.
Guitar Chords
There are two common versions of the song that uses open chords. The first one is in the key of D. The chords in the version are D and A.
The second version is in the key of G. The chords in this version are G and D.
The easier version, which I also recommend, is the first one. The one that uses the D and A chords. Because the transition between D and A is much easier, and it is in a higher pitch which is more suited for children’s voices.
If you want to play the song in a higher pitch than the two versions I mentioned, you can simply put a capo on any of the frets and play one of the two open chord versions.
Just remember that the first version (D and A chord) is in a higher pitch than the second one. So if you choose to play that version, just be aware that it is a whole step higher in pitch than the G version.
Play The Song Without A Capo
If you don’t have a capo and want to play in a higher pitch, all you have to do is play two barre chords. You just choose a place on the guitar and play an A barre chord shape and the E barre chord shape.
Suppose we take the first version in the key of D with the chords D and A. Both of these barre chords you can find on the 5th fret. D is the A shape barre chord, and A is the E shape barre chord.
It is very convenient that both chords are on the same fret. Thus, making it easy to move along the fretboard if you want to play the song in a different key.
Main Strumming Pattern
The simplest strumming pattern for this song will be just strumming the chords on the downbeat.
But if you want to make it a bit more interesting, here is a simple strumming pattern you can use for this song. It is slightly more complex but makes it much more enjoyable.
If you can the pattern without issues, just add an upstroke between the 2nd and the 3rd downbeat.
I play that strumming pattern with my hand rather than a pick because it sounds much warmer this way. I do it by playing the downstrokes with my thumb and the upstroke with my index finger. I don’t use my fingers in this strumming but rather my skin.
Main Chord Progression & Strumming pattern
Once you figure out the strumming pattern, it is time to combine the chords and the strumming pattern.
The chord progression goes like this: twice on the D chord, one time on the A chord, three times on the D chord, one time on the A chord, and one time on the D chord. In short, 2x D, A, 3x D, A, D. This chord progression repeats throughout the entire song.
The Wheels On The Bus Chords & Lyrics
Verse 1
D D
The wheels on the bus go round and round
A D
Round and round, round and round
D D
The wheels on the bus go round and round
A D
All through the townVerse 2
D D
The doors on the bus go open and shut
A D
Open and shut
, Open and shut
D D
The doors on the bus go open and shut
A D
All through the townVerse 3
D D
The wipers on the bus go swish swish swish
A D
Swish swish swish, swish swish swish
D D
The wipers on the bus go swish swish swish
A D
All through the townVerse 4
D D
The signals on the bus go blink, blink, blink
A D
Blink, blink, blink, Blink, blink, blink
D D
The signals on the bus go blink, blink, blink
A D
All through the townVerse 5
D D
The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep
A D
Beep, beep, beep
, Beep, beep, beep
D D
The horn on the bus goes beep, beep, beep
A D
All through the townVerse 6
D D
The motor on the bus goes vroom, vroom, vroom
A D
Vroom, vroom, vroom
, Vroom, vroom, vroom
D D
The motor on the bus goes vroom, vroom, vroom
A D
All through the townVerse 7
D D
The people on the bus go up and down
A D
Up and down, Up and down
D D
The people on the bus go up and down
A D
All through the townVerse 8
D D
The babies on the bus go, "Wah wah wah"
A D
"Wah wah wah", "Wah wah wah"
D D
The babies on the bus go, "Wah wah wah"
A D
All through the townVerse 9
D D
The mommies on the bus go, "Shh shh shh"
A D
"Shh shh shh", "Shh shh shh"
D D
The mommies on the bus go, "Shh shh shh"
A D
All through the townVerse 10
D D
The daddies on the bus go, "I love you"
A D
"I love you", "I love you"
D D
The daddies on the bus go, "I love you"
A D
All through the townVerse 11
D D
The wheels on the bus go round and round
A D
Round and round, round and round
D D
The wheels on the bus go round and round
A D
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