Let Her Go

Why this song

Let Her Go uses the exact same four-shape trick as Wonderwall: ring and pinky stay glued to the high E and B strings the entire time, and only your lower fingers move between Em7, Cadd9, G, and Dsus4-style D. Once your hand finds that anchored position, the changes flow like one continuous motion.

The capo on fret 7 sits high up the neck, which gives the chords their bell-like brightness on the recording. If you do not have a capo yet, you can play the same shapes without one and the song works fine, just lower-pitched.

How to practice it

Capo on fret 7. Metronome at 76 BPM.

The chord shapes (same as Wonderwall, in the same order):

• Em7: 022000, ring on B fret 3, pinky on high E fret 3, plus index/middle on the second fret
• Cadd9: x32030, ring on B fret 3, pinky stays on high E fret 3, plus middle and index lower
• G: 320003, ring and pinky stay anchored, middle and index move to the bass strings
• D: xx0232, this is the only chord where you mute the bass strings; ring still on B fret 3

The pulse is slow, almost half-time. The original recording is fingerpicked, but a soft strum works just as well for beginner practice. Down-down-up-up-down-up per bar.

Common snags

The hand-anchor trick is the whole lesson. If you find yourself lifting the entire hand between chords, you are working too hard. Slow down, place Em7 cleanly, and notice that switching to Cadd9 only requires the index and middle fingers to move. Ring and pinky stay put.

If you previously learned Wonderwall, you already know this. The chord shapes and the right-hand pattern are identical; only the tempo and capo position differ.

When you have it

The hand-anchor four-shape pattern is one of the most useful beginner tricks in modern guitar. It shows up in Wonderwall, Let Her Go, Champagne Supernova, and dozens of other songs from the late-90s onward.

Wonderwall, which uses the same four anchored shapes is the obvious next song if you haven’t learned it yet. Or scan our list of more beginner songs for what to learn next.