Download the chords & lyrics for Puff the Magic Dragon by Peter, Paul & Mary and learn to play it on guitar with this simple beginner lesson. Six easy open chords and a simple strumming pattern is all it takes. Enjoy!
Puff the Magic Dragon was written by Peter Yarrow and is one of the most popular songs enjoyed by beginner guitar players in particular and other types of musicians in general. Not only is this famous classic relatively easy to learn and play, it’s also lots of fun. This free online tutorial teaches you how to play it quickly and properly so that you can be entertaining listeners in no time at all. All you need to learn are a few simple guitar chords along with a very basic strumming pattern. Folks songs are typically simple and straight forward, musically speaking. So learning this classic tune won’t take much time and effort.
The lyrics in “Puff the Magic Dragon” are said to be based on a 1959 poem by Leonard Lipton, a 19 year old student at the time atttending Cornell University. Lipton said he was inspired by the Ogden Nash poem “The Tale of Custard the Dragon.
“Lipton was a friend of Peter Yarrow’s (of Peter, Paul and Mary fame) housemate when attending Cornell. In fact, he used Yarrow’s typewriter to write the poem and forgot about it for years. A friend then called saying Yarrow was looking for him in order to give him credit for the lyrics. Yarrow then credited Lipton with half the songwriting credit with which he was paid royalties to the song until he died in 2022.
Looking for more easy songs to learn and play on guitar?
Check out other pages on this website featuring easy beginner guitar songs and 3-4 chord songs. Fact is, some of the greatest songs ever written and recorded are actually pretty easy to play on guitar. Enjoy!