Common 3-Chord Progressions
Most popular music repeats a handful of chord progressions. Learn these and you know the skeleton of thousands of songs. Press ▶ to hear them strummed — the chord changes every bar.
I – IV – V (G – C – D): rock, folk, country
I – V – vi – IV (G – D – Em – C): the "four chords of pop"
vi – IV – I – V (Em – C – G – D)
The same four chords starting from a different place give a more melancholic feel:
12-bar blues (E – A – B7)
Look up a song in the chord archive and see which progression it resembles — very often it's one of these four!
Famous Single-String Riffs
Riffs are short melodies played one note at a time on single strings. They build fretting-finger independence and alternate picking. Play slowly first and compare with ▶.
Seven Nation Army — The White Stripes
All on string 5. You can even slide it with one finger.
e|-------------------------| B|-------------------------| G|-------------------------| D|-------------------------| A|-7---7--10--7---5---3--2-| E|-------------------------|
Smoke on the Water — Deep Purple (single-string version)
The original uses fourths (two strings); here's string 3 only to get started.
e|---------------------------------------| B|---------------------------------------| G|-0---3---5-------0---3---6-5-----0---3-| D|---------------------------------------| A|---------------------------------------| E|---------------------------------------|
Iron Man — Black Sabbath
A heavy, powerful riff on string 6. Slide between the notes.
e|-----------------------------------------| B|-----------------------------------------| G|-----------------------------------------| D|-----------------------------------------| A|-----------------------------------------| E|-7---10-10--12-12--15-14-15-14-15-14-10-10-12-12-|
Ode to Joy — Beethoven
A public-domain classic, entirely on string 2. Use fingers 1-3-4.
e|-----------------------------------------------| B|-5-5-6-8-8-6-5-3-1-1-3-5-5---3-3---------------| G|-----------------------------------------------| D|-----------------------------------------------| A|-----------------------------------------------| E|-----------------------------------------------|