Three Little Birds

Why this song

Three Little Birds is the easiest way to learn the reggae strumming feel that you have been hearing your whole life without quite knowing how to do. Three chords, no capo, no tricky fingerings. The trick is entirely in the right hand.

In reggae, the rhythm guitar plays only on the off-beats (the “and” of every beat) instead of the on-beats. That single inversion is what makes a song sound like reggae. It is harder than it sounds, and the only way to learn it is to play this song.

How to practice it

Set the metronome to 74 BPM. That’s the song’s recorded tempo, with each click marking the downbeats. The reggae chops fall on the off-beats (the “and” of each beat), so the metronome ticks and your strums alternate. No capo.

The chord shapes:

• A: x02220. three fingers on the second fret of D, G, B strings
• D: xx0232. index on G fret 2, middle on high E fret 2, ring on B fret 3
• E: 022100. middle on A fret 2, ring on D fret 2, index on G fret 1

The strumming pattern is the reggae chop. Count “one and two and three and four and” out loud. You strum down only on the ands, never on the numbers. That gives you four down-strums per bar, all on the off-beats.

Practice the strum on a single chord first, before adding any changes. Set the metronome, count out loud, and chop on the offs. When that feels natural, then add the chord changes.

Common snags

Almost every beginner accidentally plays on the on-beats too. The rhythm wants to land there. You have to actively stop your hand from moving on the down-beats and only let it strum on the ups.

Tip: keep your strum hand moving down-up-down-up the whole time, but only make contact with the strings on the ups. The downward motion is silent. That continuous arm movement keeps your timing locked.

Each chord is held for two bars in the verse. So you get eight strums per chord before changing, plenty of time to set up the next shape.

When you have it

Once the reggae chop is in your hand, you have access to a whole genre. Bob Marley’s catalog uses essentially the same right-hand pattern across every song.

For more beginner songs in different feels (rock, country, folk), our list is grouped by what you already know. The open chords you used here are the foundation of pretty much everything we cover.