Wonderwall

Why this song

Wonderwall is the most-played beginner guitar song of the last thirty years for one good reason. The four chord shapes share a magic property: your ring and pinky fingers stay glued to the high E and B strings the entire time. The other fingers do a small shuffle to switch between Em7, G, Dsus4, and Cadd9.

Once your hand finds that anchored position, the changes start to feel like one continuous motion. That’s why an entire generation of guitarists learned this song first.

How to practice it

Set the metronome to 87 BPM. Capo on fret 2.

The chord shapes:

• Em7: 022000. index on A string fret 2, middle on D string fret 2, ring on B string fret 3, pinky on high E fret 3
• G: 320003. middle on low E fret 3, index on A fret 2, ring on B string fret 3, pinky on high E fret 3
• Dsus4: xx0233. index on G string fret 2, ring on B string fret 3, pinky on high E fret 3
• Cadd9: x32030. middle on A fret 3, index on D fret 2, ring on B string fret 3, pinky on high E fret 3

Notice that ring and pinky never move. They stay on B fret 3 and high E fret 3 for all four chords. Only the lower fingers reorganize. This is the trick that makes Wonderwall flow.

Strumming is the standard down-down-up-up-down-up. One bar per chord.

Common snags

The Em7 to G change trips beginners up. Both shapes use the index on the A string, but at different frets (2 vs 3). The instinct is to lift the whole hand, but you only need to slide that one finger up a fret. The ring and pinky stay put.

Cadd9 is the trickiest of the four because the middle finger has to reach all the way to the A string fret 3. It feels stretched until your hand learns the shape.

When you have it

The chord shapes you need to play Wonderwall are the same shapes that show up in dozens of other modern alt-rock and folk songs. Once these four are in your hands, you’ve got a working vocabulary for a lot of late-90s and 2000s acoustic material.

If the sus and add shapes feel too much, Stand by Me for the simpler four-chord version uses plain Em, C, G, D and the same general groove. Or browse more beginner songs for what to learn next.