Guitar skills (opens in new tab): The clean strummed chords in our tab example have a 60s pop / rock Yardbirds or Stones-y vibe, but could be equally at home in something more contemporary like Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds or Arctic Monkeys. They’re simple shapes, though the barre chords (A, B and D) could pose a challenge for some. Stick with them though – you can move them around the fretboard to play in different keys. Branch out further with ‘5’ chords.
Try out the chords with this track
Many bands of this style would use an acoustic guitar to play a more open-string based chord part, with an electric guitar providing the tighter sounding barre chords.
It’s entirely up to you how you approach our rhythm though. Notice the open strings at the end of bars 1 to 3. These enable swift, easy chord changes.
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