Coldplay’s soothing song is easy to play on guitar; just four chords will do the trick for recreating this beloved tune.
The A major chord is one of the primary guitar chords and can be found across numerous songs of different genres and genres. Additionally, it makes a good introduction for beginners looking to start playing guitar.
A Major Chord
The A major chord is one of the cornerstones of guitar playing and can be found across genres in numerous songs, as it serves as the root chord for other chords such as seventh chords.
The barre chord utilizes all six strings and is an effective way to add power and intensity to your strumming patterns. Play it easily using just your index finger and thumbtip – they help create clean barres that are quick to play!
Moving your fingers up one fret when playing A major will produce the A sus4 chord, adding tension and moving the listener away from its parallel major or minor chord.
Coldplay songs such as “Yellow” and “Desire” feature this chord, while My Bloody Valentine’s classic album Loveless also makes use of it. Learn to play these and other popular songs with Fender Play’s free online lessons!
Barre Chord
BARRE chords differ from open chords in that there are no open strings; rather, you must place your index finger across five or six strings at once to mute these and give the chord its full and solid sound.
Barre chords also offer the advantage of being moveable, since your index finger acts as a capo. Simply move your E shape (learned in Lesson 1) up or down fretboard to produce different chords depending on which string the index finger is barrering (based on root note of string being barrered by index finger).
Making these shapes requires using just enough pressure so that all strings ring out without placing too much strain on your finger, especially when switching between different barre chords, which can easily overstress it and lead to pain or injury.
D Major Chord
The D major chord is one of the most frequently occurring triads, often found two white notes above C. Its open form makes it particularly easy to play on an acoustic guitar.
The barred version of this chord requires more fingers, making it more complex to produce an accurate sound. Start by using your 2nd finger to barre the second frets of strings one through three before moving your fourth finger over to string four’s 5th fret with its 6th string muted.
This chord can often be found in progressions with other major chords such as G and A, and may even be combined with minor chords like Dm7 to add extra flair or dissonance depending on the music being performed.
E Major Chord
The E Major Chord is one of the most ubiquitous chord progressions found in blues and rock music, appearing prominently in songs like “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by Rolling Stones and Kiss’s “Rock and Roll All Nite.” Additionally, classic folk songs such as “Greensleeves” from before 16th century feature this chord as well. Due to its joyful sound derived from its first note on a scale scale scales have this chord prominently featured.
Notes for this chord can be found by moving two black keys up from D on the circle of fifths. E is keyed with four sharps as shown below in this diagram; there are many variations available such as sus chords (chords that replace third with either fourth or second), inversions and movable variants like Em7 in E key. This beginner-friendly chord works well across most genres!