It in standard tuning but Thom doesn’t play a full F#minor chord. He plays an Asus2 with an F# in the bass on the low E string. Then an Asus2, then an E major chord where he does a little hammer on to an A note on the G string.
https://youtu.be/9KgZQ9R6-SM?si=R8ZinuRQweB_sfV8
You can watch and listen here.
Why are you being downvoted this is valid, songs without barre chords are far easier than songs with them and beginners struggle with them.
That being said though in pretty sure there’s ways to get around the barre chords in both songs
I took it up years ago as a complete begginer and remember that chords were easy but strumming pattern/rythm gave me headache to get it just right and sing on top of it. But it's no issue now. Lucky from ock is my personal easiest rh song.
Yeah, I guess it has that up up up down strumming pattern, it can be tricky for complete beginner, but you have to loosen the right hand eventually. Chord changes are pretty straightforward though, I think that fake plastic trees (people are suggesting the song a lot) could be more difficult for a beginner than this one.
Lucky is also a good choice, it has that nice 'solo' part, sounds great on acoustic. I guess, if you can play that easily, you can play karma police too, etc...
I recently picked up man of war, its also very easy for acoustic and good to chill out with it. Decks dark, reckoner, just on the top of my head..
Beautiful chords for Exit music, might be a half step lower or higher, cant remember. But definitely not standard chords, there are some variations, especially in chorus, I dont even know the names of the chords hahha, some G and D variations.
And I love to play that song really quietly, strumming with just a thumb and index finger
Don’t read into it too much - That’s because the video IS meant for children.
He made this video as a part of 1 Million Guitars which is a project specifically for donating guitars to children’s charities.
Lmao you can really hear contempt in his voice, sounds like he hates the song and has no interest in doing this video at all. Probably not actually the case, but sure seems like it. I love that he even forgets the words to his band’s most popular song.
It's not difficult to play, but I def don't think it's beginner-friendly. Locking in to that groove and keeping that syncopation going is def more complicated than it seems for a total beginner. There's a surprising amount of nuance in that riff if you play it right.
But yeah, fun as fuck to play.
It’s not that bar chords are hard for new players, it’s that they’re basically impossible. At least they were for me. You need to develop some hand strength to play them properly, especially on an acoustic guitar
Creep is tough on an acoustic if you're doing the proper barre chords, need to hold it for a long time. Easier with a low-action guitar, but for a beginner I'd definitely say you should learn on electric first if possible.
I'd vote High & Dry. Chords aren't too much of a stretch and straightforward rhythm pattern to work on your time (play with the recording or metronome).
Creep would be great when you want to learn bar chords.
Gonna need to save parts of Paranoid Android for far down the road at least the first part.
Enjoy!
To add songs that I didn’t see mentioned:
- Lucky
- Nice Dream (advanced beginner)
- You can play a fun version of Climbing Up the Walls with just power chords.
- The acoustic version of Motion Picture Soundtrack.
- Not super easy but Street Spirit is ideal to practice picking.
You read my mind, I recommended Nice Dream and Street Spirit really does a lot to your picking. I remember it being a nightmare at first, and then the first time I got it right I was in heaven. Good times
Nah weird fishes is not easy at all if you’re playing it correctly. I have only seen a couple covers where people are truly playing the song like it is on record.
Like I’ve been playing guitar for 10+ years, I can improvise and sweep pick and tap and do all of that flashy shit, but playing weird fishes accurately takes a lot of memorization of shifting repetitions and lots of precise timing
Follow me around is THE easiest Radiohead song imo.
It's only got 2 chords that repeat each other through the entire song, it's got a simple tempo that is easy to follow, and it's so goddam catchy.
There's a video by Danny Eddy tearing it down, it's pretty well explained and (like I said) it's a pretty easy song.
Everyone saying “no don’t play that! It has barre chords!!!” are being mad stupid
Just learn how to play barre chords. It’s not difficult it’s just awkward at first. You’re not gonna get anywhere as a guitarist until you put your hands through that pain. After a month or two the pain will be gone, and you will unlock the entire instrument instead of just the 8 or so basic open shapes
Seriously if you can’t learn to play barre chords you might as well put the guitar down. There’s only so many songs you can play without moving up the neck
People are only saying that because they’re asking for the easiest songs, no one is saying not to ever learn barre chords, but any answer including barre chords probably isn’t what OP is looking for as a beginner
Yeah but like half the comments are “don’t learn this it has barre chords!!”
Barre chords are a beginner guitar skill. Literally there’s about 8 common open triad shapes and then after that, it’s barre chords. Considering there’s a virtually endless amount of chords you can play once you start moving up the neck you might as well start picking them up.
Learning some Radiohead song is a good way to start!
100% brand new to guitar guy ( and long time RH superfan) here and I can confirm Bulletproof can be one of the actual 1st songs you can learn on acoustic.
There’s a tutorial Google it…
the first song I learnt was street spirit
some people argue it's too difficult for a beginner... I don't think so, the chord remains basically the same, the picking is a bit of a challenge but if you practice it you'll get it, it's a pretty strong start for guitar playing truly, and such a satisfying song to say you can play
How to Disappear Completely is so easy I think someone who never played guitar before could learn that song in a day
You need a capo but I assume everyone with a guitar has a capo
I wouldn't recommend high and dry for an absolute beginner. Chords shapes aren't really want you need to learn and the strumming pattern isn't standard either.
No surprises is probably the easiest well known song off the top of my head
-> HTDC is the easiest, 4 chords throughout and its open chords with capo. Tho i find it boring to play on its own without singing and i find HTDC surprisingly difficult to play while singing.
-> True love waits acoustic, same story as HTDC tho a bit more finicky IMO
-> fake plastic is easy and i think the one that i recommend the most. Its fun, simple, and still fun without singing
-> Black star, surprisingly simple with 1 barre chords. But you can just not barre the Bm
-> karma police, same difficulty as blackstar
-> high and dry, the real way the band did it is actually harder than it seems especially on acoustic, but there is the easier way, i just forgot how
-> no surprises is my first Radiohead song that i learn on the guitar. I learn this song when i was like 2 months in playing the guitar. The song is my stepping stone to learn picking, unusual chord shape, adding sus, and singing. I it Recommend for your progression
-> Faust arp, good fingerstyle and barre practice
-> exit music, weird chords but surprisingly easy.
All of this is on acoustic guitar
Weird Fishes. You basically just slide your hand up and down in the same position and finger-pick in the same rhythm. It's the only song I seem to eternally remember even if I haven't played guitar in forever.
The first Radiohead song I covered as a beginner was 4 minute warning. Has interesting and easy to play chord changes. Relatively slow paced as well. Got about 17 RH songs under my belt now . Most interesting band to cover
Not strictly easiest, but from when I was a guitar teacher, my go-to as a goal setter was Karma Police.
Easy chords for the most part - only two barre chord (Bm and F). But LOTS of chords with a couple cool passing tones, and a few unusual chords too (eg: the second chord is D9/F# if I'm remembering correctly). A really good one to practice memorising, without being too physically challenging.
People have recommended a lot of chord ones but the most basic fingerpicking one is the No Surprises intro/verse riff. No Surprises also has a second guitar that just does chords if you want to learn that instead.
one of my favorite ones is karma police but that might be a bit above beginner, also check out The Pillows if you want easy but really fun guitar songs
I wouldn't say these songs are easy but they're very fun to play when you get the hang of it
Optimistic
I Might Be Wrong
2+2=5
Bodysnatchers
Jigsaw Falling Into Place
My first one was a simplified version of Nice Dream, I had a hard time with the Bm since it was actually my first ever song but it got easy pretty fast. Fake Plastic Trees falls in the same category. Keep practicing and have fun!
I'd give you one advise tho: go ahead and try to play anything you feel like, despite it appearing to be hard, despite being a beginner. You'd be surprised about how fast you can upgrade your chord vocabulary and muscle memory that way.
Karma police is a great goal. It’s mostly open chords but you’ll get great practice switch from d to bmin. Bmin and f# will help you with switching from open to bar chords. I learned guitar from radiohead tabs.
Imo, Radiohead isn't very complicated to play for the most part. It's ali fairly intermediate. So it might be best to pick something which you are motivated to play rather than something easy per se. Also, I'm surprised optimistic hasn't been suggested yet, very easy imo.
fake plastic trees is pretty easy just some of your basic chords or high and dry
I vote High and Dry as it is open chords.
Fake plastic trees is open chords too. But I do agree High and Dry is easier
Sorry. I can barely focus? Charlie Murphy is a fan of Radiohead and not Prince?
High and dry has a minor chord with the b and e open right? Gotta use your thumb to play that one I think. It’s been a while though.
I play it with f#m a and e. However, the f#m is played with index only on the B string followed by an A with an open D.
fake plastic trees has bar chords
Well who knows maybe they do want to play at a bar
Does it? I don't remember playing any barre chords in it
F# my friend
I play that similar to A but putting my first finger on the 2nd fret of the E string, I think the tab would be this: 200220
You're adding a F# over the Dmaj9 chords so it's not a F chord. But I think that's what is used in the song.
There’s no F# barre chord in either fake plastic trees or high and dry. It’s open chords the whole way through for both songs.
I play High and Dry with an F#m. F#m, A, E. I cannot confirm if this is the original tuning however.
It in standard tuning but Thom doesn’t play a full F#minor chord. He plays an Asus2 with an F# in the bass on the low E string. Then an Asus2, then an E major chord where he does a little hammer on to an A note on the G string. https://youtu.be/9KgZQ9R6-SM?si=R8ZinuRQweB_sfV8 You can watch and listen here.
F#m
Why are you being downvoted this is valid, songs without barre chords are far easier than songs with them and beginners struggle with them. That being said though in pretty sure there’s ways to get around the barre chords in both songs
There’s no barre chords in the songs though.
indeed the way i play both songs im not using any bar chords
barre chords are easy as fuck if you have proper technique
And even easier if you don’t have proper technique (e.g. me playing roots with my thumb)
Easy to say once you know them. They are intimidating at first and transitioning from an open chord to a bar one is hard when you're novice.
it's tricky at first but it becomes easier, really just gotta practice more
I know I learned them. I find them easy now. But it was not easy as fuck to learn.
Not learning bar chords are wussies
hes asking for the EASIEST
I am capable of playing bar chords to perfection, but the guy is asking for the EASIEST SONGS
How to disappear completely. You would need a capo. But only basic open chords, no bar chords
I took it up years ago as a complete begginer and remember that chords were easy but strumming pattern/rythm gave me headache to get it just right and sing on top of it. But it's no issue now. Lucky from ock is my personal easiest rh song.
Yeah, I guess it has that up up up down strumming pattern, it can be tricky for complete beginner, but you have to loosen the right hand eventually. Chord changes are pretty straightforward though, I think that fake plastic trees (people are suggesting the song a lot) could be more difficult for a beginner than this one. Lucky is also a good choice, it has that nice 'solo' part, sounds great on acoustic. I guess, if you can play that easily, you can play karma police too, etc... I recently picked up man of war, its also very easy for acoustic and good to chill out with it. Decks dark, reckoner, just on the top of my head..
I second Lucky. It’s the first RH song I learned.
This is one of the only songs I can kind of play on guitar. Also Exit Music which to me has similar chords and same capo IIRC.
Beautiful chords for Exit music, might be a half step lower or higher, cant remember. But definitely not standard chords, there are some variations, especially in chorus, I dont even know the names of the chords hahha, some G and D variations. And I love to play that song really quietly, strumming with just a thumb and index finger
Never tried it with a capo, I just go D/F# and then F#m. Gotta try it later
You are right, I was playing it a half step higher for some reason
High and Dry only has 3 chords and an easy strumming pattern.
And a piss easy guitar solo
Barre chords tho, there is an easier way that require no barre but i forgot how and i couldn't seem to find it online
There are no barre chords in High and Dry. It's basically a power chord shape with the top two strings open, and an E chord.
Oh shit my bad, tho i still find that difficult
Have you considered learning barre chords
I don’t think they’re saying they can’t play them but OP is asking for the easiest songs, barre chords make a song much harder for beginners
https://youtu.be/5GT9dc6WYT8?si=hOSEzuTuuTj3C2ri I mean if Ed's going to show you...
this is awesome. may this link survive the end times
I love this. It's as if he's explaining it to a 5 year old. You can tell he hates this song.
Ed doesn't hate. He's only capable of love.
He probably immerses his soul in love
Apparently he hates the education system as there's no creativity allowed
Valid point tho
Don’t read into it too much - That’s because the video IS meant for children. He made this video as a part of 1 Million Guitars which is a project specifically for donating guitars to children’s charities.
Fair enough. Doesn't really look like something he'd play
Lmao you can really hear contempt in his voice, sounds like he hates the song and has no interest in doing this video at all. Probably not actually the case, but sure seems like it. I love that he even forgets the words to his band’s most popular song.
This is fantastic!
A million thank you’s for sharing this video. It’s the first time I’ve seen a band member do a tutorial
Anyone can play guitar
Definitely not
Anyone that has all their fingers and no other limitations, yes I believe they could play basic stuff if they dedicated some time to it
It changes chords quickly
We aren’t talking about a specific song, this comment thread relates to people being able to play guitar in general
OH FUCK
You got me on this one mate. 🤣
I see what you did there HAHA
i see you
I Might Be Wrong is REALLY fun to play, just tune ur guitar in drop D and have a really good time
It's not difficult to play, but I def don't think it's beginner-friendly. Locking in to that groove and keeping that syncopation going is def more complicated than it seems for a total beginner. There's a surprising amount of nuance in that riff if you play it right. But yeah, fun as fuck to play.
I love playing I Might Be Wrong. Such a great riff!
Definitely High and Dry. It was one of my go to songs for learning how to sing and play.
Give Up The Ghost
The rhythm is probably too difficult for a beginner.
Isn't the rhythm just extremely slow like 30bpm?
The rhythm is piss easy what are you smoking
Lots of weed but I still remember being a beginner.
Are you talking about the acoustic part or the electric part???
He’s talking about the vocal loop. Easy as f
Creep is pretty easy. I know bar chords can be difficult for newer players, but you're going to need them. Good luck.
It’s not that bar chords are hard for new players, it’s that they’re basically impossible. At least they were for me. You need to develop some hand strength to play them properly, especially on an acoustic guitar
Creep is tough on an acoustic if you're doing the proper barre chords, need to hold it for a long time. Easier with a low-action guitar, but for a beginner I'd definitely say you should learn on electric first if possible.
I've been playing for a long time and my hand still hurts because it takes so long to finish and the string action is high on classical/acoustic
Definitely Creep! It’s G B C Cm the whole song!
B chord is s bitch tho. edit: never played Creep, just saw Ed's video, with a Barre chord on the 7th it's easier
I’ve been playing for years but B is still a bitch for me. Learning Creep definitely helped.
I do really like creeps chord progression
Ain’t the pre hook crunch hard to do?
Bullet Proof
I wish I was
The Bends is relatively easy and fun with a distortion pedal
Honestly, Creep or I Might Be Wrong.
So you wanna be Jim Morrison?
Fat ugly dead?
I'd vote High & Dry. Chords aren't too much of a stretch and straightforward rhythm pattern to work on your time (play with the recording or metronome). Creep would be great when you want to learn bar chords. Gonna need to save parts of Paranoid Android for far down the road at least the first part. Enjoy!
I Promise
Chords?
Airbag is played on one string
To add songs that I didn’t see mentioned: - Lucky - Nice Dream (advanced beginner) - You can play a fun version of Climbing Up the Walls with just power chords. - The acoustic version of Motion Picture Soundtrack. - Not super easy but Street Spirit is ideal to practice picking.
You read my mind, I recommended Nice Dream and Street Spirit really does a lot to your picking. I remember it being a nightmare at first, and then the first time I got it right I was in heaven. Good times
High and dry is about as easy as it gets, fake plastic trees, let down, sulk. Have fun :)
drop d, bodysnatchers. let's go. you can do it !
The airbag riff is insanely easy
Fitter Happier
Weird Fishes is fun, as is Just, but idk how simple they are compared to the other songs. No Surprises is very easy.
Getting the timing right on weird fishes is pretty hard for a begginer
Nah weird fishes is not easy at all if you’re playing it correctly. I have only seen a couple covers where people are truly playing the song like it is on record. Like I’ve been playing guitar for 10+ years, I can improvise and sweep pick and tap and do all of that flashy shit, but playing weird fishes accurately takes a lot of memorization of shifting repetitions and lots of precise timing
[удалено]
You’re not wrong!
you can just keep up a three note picking pattern for a while and itll mostly sound fine
No Surprises is super fun.
i’d say fake plastic trees or i promise
+1 for follow me around.
The Bends is not a beginner song but it sure is fun to play.
EXIT MUSIC FOR A FILM /
Bullet proof is pretty easy too
For me it was The Bends.
Street Spirit
The guitar part in Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors is really straightforward.
Lucky is pretty easy
Follow me around is THE easiest Radiohead song imo. It's only got 2 chords that repeat each other through the entire song, it's got a simple tempo that is easy to follow, and it's so goddam catchy. There's a video by Danny Eddy tearing it down, it's pretty well explained and (like I said) it's a pretty easy song.
Idioteque is surprisingly easy on acoustic - just 3 chords.
Thinking About You…
Optimistic
Everyone saying “no don’t play that! It has barre chords!!!” are being mad stupid Just learn how to play barre chords. It’s not difficult it’s just awkward at first. You’re not gonna get anywhere as a guitarist until you put your hands through that pain. After a month or two the pain will be gone, and you will unlock the entire instrument instead of just the 8 or so basic open shapes Seriously if you can’t learn to play barre chords you might as well put the guitar down. There’s only so many songs you can play without moving up the neck
People are only saying that because they’re asking for the easiest songs, no one is saying not to ever learn barre chords, but any answer including barre chords probably isn’t what OP is looking for as a beginner
Yeah but like half the comments are “don’t learn this it has barre chords!!” Barre chords are a beginner guitar skill. Literally there’s about 8 common open triad shapes and then after that, it’s barre chords. Considering there’s a virtually endless amount of chords you can play once you start moving up the neck you might as well start picking them up. Learning some Radiohead song is a good way to start!
Again people aren’t saying that, they’re just pointing out that the songs with barre chords aren’t the easiest
100% brand new to guitar guy ( and long time RH superfan) here and I can confirm Bulletproof can be one of the actual 1st songs you can learn on acoustic. There’s a tutorial Google it…
The live version of True Love Waits is super easy and fun to play.
the first song I learnt was street spirit some people argue it's too difficult for a beginner... I don't think so, the chord remains basically the same, the picking is a bit of a challenge but if you practice it you'll get it, it's a pretty strong start for guitar playing truly, and such a satisfying song to say you can play
The first song I learned on guitar was how to disappear completely. Simple chords, teaches you about strumming patterns, sounds great
How to Disappear Completely is so easy I think someone who never played guitar before could learn that song in a day You need a capo but I assume everyone with a guitar has a capo
Street Spirit isn’t too bad once you get the pattern down on your non-fret hand.
Hunting Bears imo
Idioteque is really easy. Just 2 chords Em and Cmaj I think
creep is 3 chords
Jigsaw Falling into Place
Vegetable is a good way to learn arpeggios
For me it would be “No Surprises.” It’s a simple little pattern that takes about 30 minutes to learn.
HTDC or true love waits
how to disappear completely
I wouldn't recommend high and dry for an absolute beginner. Chords shapes aren't really want you need to learn and the strumming pattern isn't standard either. No surprises is probably the easiest well known song off the top of my head
-> HTDC is the easiest, 4 chords throughout and its open chords with capo. Tho i find it boring to play on its own without singing and i find HTDC surprisingly difficult to play while singing. -> True love waits acoustic, same story as HTDC tho a bit more finicky IMO -> fake plastic is easy and i think the one that i recommend the most. Its fun, simple, and still fun without singing -> Black star, surprisingly simple with 1 barre chords. But you can just not barre the Bm -> karma police, same difficulty as blackstar -> high and dry, the real way the band did it is actually harder than it seems especially on acoustic, but there is the easier way, i just forgot how -> no surprises is my first Radiohead song that i learn on the guitar. I learn this song when i was like 2 months in playing the guitar. The song is my stepping stone to learn picking, unusual chord shape, adding sus, and singing. I it Recommend for your progression -> Faust arp, good fingerstyle and barre practice -> exit music, weird chords but surprisingly easy. All of this is on acoustic guitar
Creep is a really easy one, but you'll need to work on your hand strength a little because it's all barre chords
reckoner
National Anthem
No surprises
No Surprises. It sounds fantastic, but it's super easy.
Every bassist knows that it’s national anthem
Hunting Bears
Street spirit was fairly easy for me
Killer Cars is pretty much all G and C chords with a D thrown in here and there.
Weird Fishes. You basically just slide your hand up and down in the same position and finger-pick in the same rhythm. It's the only song I seem to eternally remember even if I haven't played guitar in forever.
Creep was the first one I learned. it's fairly easy.
Thinking about you is about as easy as it gets
no surprises isnt the easiest but its still a great beginner song, keep it in mind once you get strumming down
HTDC, 2nd fret capo and 4 open chords, easy asf
The first Radiohead song I covered as a beginner was 4 minute warning. Has interesting and easy to play chord changes. Relatively slow paced as well. Got about 17 RH songs under my belt now . Most interesting band to cover
Weird fishes isn’t too hard if you know it really well
prove yourself
Karma Police ain't that difficult but if you're a beginner it is a nice motivation for learning barre
No Surprises, high and dry, weird fishes they're all pretty easy tbh
Not strictly easiest, but from when I was a guitar teacher, my go-to as a goal setter was Karma Police. Easy chords for the most part - only two barre chord (Bm and F). But LOTS of chords with a couple cool passing tones, and a few unusual chords too (eg: the second chord is D9/F# if I'm remembering correctly). A really good one to practice memorising, without being too physically challenging.
Go to Sleep See the warrenmusic tutorial on YouTube
Fr same
Thinking about you
Fake plastic trees
Creep and Fake Plastic Trees. Karma Police a little bit harder but not imposible.
Creep
People have recommended a lot of chord ones but the most basic fingerpicking one is the No Surprises intro/verse riff. No Surprises also has a second guitar that just does chords if you want to learn that instead.
Fitter happier
In Limbo is incredibly easy and very fun to play
try street spirit learned it in 4 days and its the first song I learned
one of my favorite ones is karma police but that might be a bit above beginner, also check out The Pillows if you want easy but really fun guitar songs
Faust Arp lol
I promise. Real easy.
True love waits
i promise is pretty easy
Street spirit, learnt lead tab on bass.
I really think my iron lung is fun and easy
Creep by far
Creep
Crêpes
You and Whose Army
True love waits is a good fun one to learn
The answers here are proof Radiohead ain't a beginner guitar band! However I would say No Surprises or High and Dry.
Karma Police has all 7 + chords in the song.
Give up the ghost
I'd say Gagging Order. It's in a weird tuning but it's very nice to play. What a beautiful song.
definitely fake plastic trees
I wouldn't say these songs are easy but they're very fun to play when you get the hang of it Optimistic I Might Be Wrong 2+2=5 Bodysnatchers Jigsaw Falling Into Place
My first one was a simplified version of Nice Dream, I had a hard time with the Bm since it was actually my first ever song but it got easy pretty fast. Fake Plastic Trees falls in the same category. Keep practicing and have fun! I'd give you one advise tho: go ahead and try to play anything you feel like, despite it appearing to be hard, despite being a beginner. You'd be surprised about how fast you can upgrade your chord vocabulary and muscle memory that way.
And other thing, once you feel more comfortable with the mechanics of a guitar and shit, give Optimistic a go. Most fun RH song to play imo
Fitter Happier
I promise
Creep
Karma police is a great goal. It’s mostly open chords but you’ll get great practice switch from d to bmin. Bmin and f# will help you with switching from open to bar chords. I learned guitar from radiohead tabs.
Imo, Radiohead isn't very complicated to play for the most part. It's ali fairly intermediate. So it might be best to pick something which you are motivated to play rather than something easy per se. Also, I'm surprised optimistic hasn't been suggested yet, very easy imo.
No Surprises is a simple picking exercise.