Guitar Lesson – 4 Chords Songs For Beginners

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Learning guitar chords are an essential part in learning to play the guitar, and mastering all the different chord fingerings can take a great deal of time too. But what if I told you that you could start playing popular songs just by learning four simple chords? Yes, you really can and in this article we will be looking at three popular songs that only uses four chords.

Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton

Wonderful Tonight by Eric Clapton is a great example of what simple four chords can do to create an evergreen song. The entire song is made out of just the chords G, D, C and E minor. The song cycle through the chord sequence of G, D, C and D for the Intro and the verse before changing to a sequence of C, D, G, Em, C, D, C and D for the chorus. This is a slow tempo song so beginners who haven’t yet learn many strumming pattern will still be able to play it quite easily.

Zombie by The Cranberries

When I was starting out, this is one of the songs that I use to play when jamming with my buddies. The entire song cycle through the chords E minor, C, G and D. This is a perfect song for every beginner because strumming wise, you can get away just by playing down strum all the way through. Great song to play with distortion on an electric guitar and it’s just one of those songs that can really get the band going. A lot of fun to play while you’re working on your coordination’s.

Last Kiss by Pearl Jam

Another great example of songs that uses four simple chords is ‘Last Kiss’ by Pearl Jam. Funny enough, this song too cycle through the same chord sequence all the way to the end. The chords sequence are G, E minor, C and D. Again, great song for beginner although you need to learn a strumming pattern that uses a combination of ‘down’ and ‘up’ strums to be able to play it.

Below is an example of the strumming pattern that I’m talking about:

( D D U U D U…and repeat ) D=Down strum U=Up strum

There are a lot more songs that fit into this category and doesn’t necessarily uses the same group of chords, but the three songs above should get you going while you learn more chords to play more songs in the future.

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