4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 1 of 18 Introduction !

First of all, I’d like to welcome you to the course - besides learning about one of the most common and useful chord progressions in contemporary popular music, I hope you’ll have a great time playing examples for yourself and writing your own songs based on what you’ve learnt!

The Axis of Awesome may be a comedy band but, when it comes to understanding modern Pop music, their hit song “4 Chords” is no joke. A truly vast amount of today’s hit songs are based on a simple 4 chord progression and the goal of this course is to help you crack this formula for yourself.

By the end of this course you’ll not only be able to recognise when songs you hear are using a “I-V-vi-IV” progression, but also write your own songs based on these chords in any key you wish - without any struggle.

Who knows? One of the songs you write based on what you’ll learn on this course might even be the next big hit!

Good luck! !

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 2 of 18 Songs Featured in “4 Chords”

As has already been mentioned, ’s hit song and video perfectly demonstrate the widespread use of the chord progression you’ll be studying on this course.

It seems like they play a lot of songs, but exactly how many songs do they cram into that funny track?

Well, here’s the list… and it’s long!

You Can Watch The Video Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=5pidokakU4I

1. Journey - Don't Stop Believing 2. - You're Beautiful 3. Alphaville - Forever Young 4. - I'm Yours 5. Mika - Happy Ending 6. - Amazing 7. - Wherever You WIll Go 8. - Can You Feel The Love Tonight 9. - She Will Be Loved 10. The Last Goodnight - Pictures Of You 11. - With Or Without You 12. - Fall At Your Feet 13. - 14. - Let it Be 15. -

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 3 of 18 16. Daryl Braithwaite - The Horses 17. - No Woman No Cry 18. Marcy Playground - 19. - Land Down Under 20. Banjo Patterson's Waltzing Matilda 21. A Ha - 22. - When I Come Around 23. Eagle Eye Cherry - Save Tonight 24. Toto - Africa 25. Beyonce - If I Were A Boy 26. - Self Esteem 27. The Offspring - You're Gonna Go Far Kid 28. Pink - You and Your Hand 29. - Poker Face 30. Aqua - Barbie Girl 31. - 32. 30h!3 - Don't Trust Me 33. MGMT - Kids 34. - Canvas Bags 35. - Torn 36. - 37. Axis Of Awesome - Birdplane 38. - Scar

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 4 of 18 C.P + S = S2

I imagine you’re probably looking at the title of this chapter and thinking something along the lines of… “What in the world does C.P + S = S2mean?”

It’s actually just a very simple formula I teach to our students here at the Guitarist Academy; it’s also the exact same formula I use to learn songs on the guitar in half the usual time and with much less frustration, too!

Here’s what C.P + S = S2 stands for: ! C.P = Chord Progression S = Strumming S2 = Song ! The extend version of my simple song learning formula looks like this: ! ! Chord Progression + Strumming = Song ! ! In this course we’ll be applying this formula first hand to learn how to play the 4 Chord Song step by step. ! As you can see, the first thing we need to learn is the Chord Progression of the song or, in other words, which chords are played and in what order. ! The beauty of the 4 Chord Song is that it’s a perfect illustration of how you can take just 4 chords and play over 30 songs on the guitar. This is because a huge number of the greatest hits over the past 30 years are based on a I-V-vi-IV chord progression.

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 5 of 18 ! Just like the Axis of Awesome song, we’ll initially be looking at this progression in the key of E: ! ! E Major —> B Major —> C# Minor —> A Major. ! In a later section, I’ll be going over how you can transpose this song into a different key to make playing some of the chords a little easier. ! !

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 6 of 18 E Major Chord - I

The first chord you’ll need to learn and master is actually one of the very first chords I learnt to play, back when I was getting started with the guitar myself.

Out of all the different chords you can play on the guitar, I believe the open position E chord is probably the easiest to master: your fingers are grouped closely together, it’s easy to remember and you can strum every string (unlike some other chords, such as A Major, where you can’t play the thickest string). !

Step 1: Press your 2nd finger onto the 5th string, at the 2nd fret.

Step 2: Press your 3rd finger onto the 4th string (directly below your 2nd finger), at the 2nd fret.

Step 3: Press your 1st finger onto the 3rd string, at the 1st fret.

Step 4: Strum the guitar from the 6th string to the 1st string.

As I already mentioned, the E chord is a great first chord because you’re allowed to strum every single string - even those that aren’t pressed down (left “open”) can be played because they all correspond to notes in an E Major chord while still keeping an E as the lowest note.

This makes it easier to get strumming straight away, as you don’t need to worry about which strings you’re hitting.

It also allows you to focus on the proper placement of your fingers and rhythm of your strumming.

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 7 of 18 B Major Chord - V

Our next chord is a little trickier to master than the E Major Chord.

The B Major Chord is a form of Barre Chord. !

Step 1: Lay your index finger across strings one through five to form a Barre at the 2nd fret.

Step 2: Lay your 3rd finger across the 2nd, 3rd & 4th strings at the 4th fret.

Step 3: Strum the guitar from the 5th string to the 1st string. ! !

As I mentioned earlier, this chord can be tricky to play at first as it requires you to form a Barre with your 1st finger.

The first thing you need to do is use the outer edge of your index finger when forming the ‘Barre’ at the 2nd fret. The edge of your index finger is slightly harder than the flat face of your index finger. By rolling your finger slightly and using the outer edge, you can more evenly distribute the pressure and don’t need to press down as hard on the strings.

Another trick I recommend is rolling your wrist down and placing your thumb in the middle of the neck.

If you try to play this chord with your thumb wrapped around the neck of the guitar, you’ll find it extremely difficult to make it ring out cleanly and clearly.

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 8 of 18 C# Minor Chord - vi

If you take a moment to compare this chord to the B Major Chord on the previous page, you’ll notice that the shape of the fingering on the diagram is very similar (everything is just shifted up by 2 frets, except on the 2nd string) but the fingers you use for each string are completely different.

Step 1: Lay your index finger across strings one through five to form a Barre at the 4th fret.

Step 2: Press your 2nd finger onto the 2nd string at the 5th fret.

Step 3: Press your 3rd finger onto the 4th string at the 6th fret.

Step 4: Press your 4th finger onto the 3rd string at the 6th fret.

Step 4: Strum the guitar from the 5th string to the 1st string.

You probably found this chord to be much easier than the last, simply because you didn’t have to form a Barre with your 3rd finger in addition to the 1st finger Barre.

Every technique exists for a reason though!

Take a shot at playing the B Major using the fingerings for this chord and then try playing this chord with a 3rd finger Barre across the 3rd and 4th strings.

Much harder than the suggested fingering, isn’t it!

The Barre is a necessary challenge, most people find it to be quite tricky but it’s really much easier than the alternative.

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 9 of 18 A Major Chord - IV ! If this chord seems familiar to you, there’s a reason. This A Major Chord is simply the B Major Chord you tried earlier, but shifted down the neck two frets. The notes you barred in the B Major Chord are still there but now they correspond to open strings, so you don’t need to form a Barre with your 1st finger. ! Step 1: Press your 2nd finger onto the 4th string at the 2nd fret ! Step 2: Press your 3rd finger onto the 3rd string

at the 2nd fret. (Directly below your 2nd finger)

Step 3: Press your 4th Finger onto the 2nd

string at the 2nd fret (Directly below your 3rd

finger)

Step 4: To strum the A Chord, you begin playing the chord at the 5th string. Make sure you don’t play the 6th

(Low-E) string or your chord will sound a bit off. ! Don’t get complacent though, just like the last chord which had less barring you still need to make sure you play this one clean and clear without any buzzing. Just because it’s not as tricky as a Barre chord doesn’t mean you won’t have to practice it, at least a little bit! ! ! Important: Even though the 5th string & 1st string aren’t pressed, ensure that you include those strings when you strum. Those 2 strings are played open, meaning not pressed.

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 10 of 18 Why the Roman Numerals?

Before we dive into strumming, there’s one more thing you might be unsure about: the roman numerals used to describe the chord progression. If this seems confusing to you, don’t stress too much; it might be better to come back to this page later. ! Why don’t we just use the names of the actual chords? Well, that works for an individual key – the chords for this progression in the key of E, which you’ve just learnt, would be a good example – but that won’t help you write a “I – V – vi – IV” progression in any key you want! ! Firstly, let’s make this visual: ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! E Major E F# G# A B C# D# ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! C Major C D E F G A B ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Numeral I ii iii IV V vi VII ! I’ve laid out an E major scale and a C major scale so you can compare them against the numerals. The numerals correspond to the degree of the scale, in other words “I” means the first note of the scale, “V” means the fifth and so on. However, the numerals here are also telling you the chord “quality”. With the exception of “VII”, which is diminished, capital numerals are major chords and lower case numerals are minor chords. ! This pattern works for major and minor triads (three-note chords) in any major key, so as long as you know the notes in a key you will also know how to play a “I – V – vi – IV” progression in that key.

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 11 of 18 Strumming

Strumming Pattern #1:

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

D D D D U

Strumming Pattern #2:

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

D D D U

Strumming Pattern #3:

1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &

! ! ! ! D D D D U

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 12 of 18 Transposing Into A Different Key

Transposition is when you move something from one key to another.

Reason #1: Singability

Have you ever tried playing a song on the guitar but found it to be impossible to sing along with because the key was either too high or too low? To fix this problem, you might transpose or change the key of the song or chord chart to make it easier to sing. The more comfortable you are with transposing chord progressions, the better. Maybe you’ll have a gig with a singer who needs the song to be in a lower key on the night due to a cold!

Reason #2: Playability

Many songs are written in keys that people are less comfortable with, or contain chords that are difficult to play – requiring you to Barre or do wide stretches with your fretting hand. While you’re still learning, it can be beneficial to transpose a song into a key that includes chords you’re more familiar with.

For example, if you struggled previously with the B Major & C# Minor chords, you can transpose the song from the original key of ‘E’, to the key of ‘G’, and the chords will then look like this: !

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 13 of 18 Chord #1 - I

Was a E Major Now a G Major !

! ! !

Chord #2 - V

Was a B Major Now a D Major

! ! !

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 14 of 18 Chord #3 - vi

Was a C# Minor Now a E Minor

! ! ! !

Chord #4 - IV

Was a A Major Now a C Major

! !

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 15 of 18 Transposing Cheat Sheet

Key Chord 1 Chord 2 Chord 3 Chord 4

A A Major E Major F# Minor D Major

B B Major F# Major G# Minor E Major

C C Major G Major A Minor F Major

D D Major A Major B Minor G Major

E E Major B Major C# Minor A Major

F F Major C Major D Minor A# Major

G G Major D Major E Minor C Major ! !

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 16 of 18 Well done! You made it!

By this point, having used the course’s videos and this companion booklet, you should be very comfortable with a “I – V – vi – IV” chord progression.

You should also be comfortable with the idea of transposing the progression to any key you want, whether for ease of play or for ease of singing along.

If you feel that you aren’t entirely comfortable with any of this, it would be a good idea to revisit relevant videos and sections of this booklet.

If you are feeling comfortable now though, it’s all in your hands from here on out! You now have complete control and understanding of one of the most effective songwriting tools around.

So, what’s next?

Well, you could write your own song. In fact, I’m going to give you a challenge to prove to yourself how you’ve developed your skills:

1) Pick a chord, any chord.

2) Using that chord as the root (or “I” chord), build a “I – V – vi – IV” progression.

3) Choose or come up with a strumming pattern to play them with.

4) Come up with some lyrics for yourself, or another singer to sing over it.

Once you’ve completed all the steps, you’ve written your very own 4 Chord Song!

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 17 of 18 That wasn’t too bad, was it? Now the only thing left is for you to take the Pop charts by storm!

4 Chords, 30+ Songs Workbook Page 18 of 18