Norwegian Wood is an easy and fun song to learn on guitar, so in this tutorial I will show you how to play its main riff.
This song first made its debut appearance on The Beatles’ Rubber Soul album and marked the first time ever that sitar was used during a recording session.
1. D Major Chord
The D major chord is a popular choice for composers and songwriters in songs, due to its bright sound. As it serves as the tonic chord – or center chord of melody/harmony composition – many composers and songwriters find the D major chord particularly pleasing and inspiring.
To play this chord, place your index finger on the second fret of G (3rd) string and press down with your ring finger to create a D note.
If you want a quieter tone when strumming chords, use your thumb to muffle the open fifth string (E). This will provide a smoother sound from your chord while keeping fingers and wrist relaxed when playing melodies notes.
Remember when strumming chords to keep your downstrums on the beat and your upstrums on the ‘and’ of each beat – this will ensure a consistent rhythm while helping build speed and accuracy with your strumming.
2. G Major Chord
G major chord is often one of the first acoustic guitar chords beginners learn, making it ideal for inversion experiments.
The G major chord can produce an expansive sound while remaining simple to play. It typically comprises the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes from G major scale.
Alternating with the traditional G chord, this variation adds extra fullness. By alternating your index finger as a barre on the second string with your ring finger as a semi-barre on the top two strings, this variation sounds richer while being challenging to finger as your fingers need to move around more freely.
G Major is an immensely popular key, featured on several iconic songs such as Sweet Home Alabama, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door and Eine Kleine Nachtmusik. Furthermore, this key serves as the official key for both British and New Zealand anthems, in addition to many popular rock, country and classical pieces.
3. C Major Chord
C major is one of the most frequently played chords on a guitar, featuring several variations that all share its basic formula: C, E and G arranged in any order and sounding similar when played together. Chords may consist of any number of pitches but generally two or three are preferred for optimal playback.
Jazz musicians tend to use larger chords when performing music. You’ll hear this in songs such as “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Norwegian Wood,” with these chords employing parallel major and minor scales based on parallel major and minor to add melancholy sounds into their progressions. By learning fingerings for these chords and practicing them regularly until they’ve become part of your muscle memory you will be able to play them effortlessly in any key.
4. E Major Chord
E major can be found everywhere from classic rock riffs to some of the oldest known songs, so playing it requires barrening your fingers across three strings while muting one. To play E major, barre your fingers across all three and mute one while performing this technique.
If you want something a bit more challenging, add your third finger to fret the D string at fret 7 while leaving open G string. This type of chord is called an E-shape barre chord and sounds great!
E/G# chord is another fun variation on the E major chord that works well across genres of music, giving your sound some texture with its bass note being G# in your left hand (or bass). Play it to add color and interest! It adds variety while still remaining harmonious.