Non-musicians think this is a big deal. But anyone playing the guitar a few years will know this and can do it. About 99% of all songs, especially those on the radio, are nothing but 3, 4 chords. Many are just 2. And a few are just one. Good musicians and songwriters, as they develop, would love to add more complex harmonic structure to their songs, but the record companies/producers etc. will not promote them. So mostly you don't hear their more original songs. Check it out. Your ears, your mind is programmed, from birth, to want these same changes slightly rearranged. It's all you've ever heard unless you go back to the jazz/big band era. It's as simple as A,B,C. Or more accurately A,D,E (1,4,5 chords in the key of A). All these megastars are giving you the same patterns over and over and over-ad infinitum. Check out standard jazz songs and their chords and you will see how rich and melodic songs can be.
the guitar playing isn't the impressive part, I just woudn't know how the singing part of the song goes :D, you tell me anys song and my brain says... i think I might have heard that somwhere.... maybe
Yes exactly, been playing for bout 7yrs now properly, before that as a child I played but wasn't very interested until my teens. Music is just a formula to me at this point, I encourage those who are shocked by this video to pick a guitar up and get lost in the music like Ed does here! Once you learn these basics you can do exactly that.
Yeah I used to teach guitar as a buisness in high school didn't pan out because I taught every one the basic open cords and power cords in 2 weeks and I would lose a customer 😅
Ed takes the crowd through an improv version of Uptown Funk. He starts the verse. The crowd is somewhat unsure if he will keep going. Ed leans in and amps up the energy when he hits the pre chorus. The crowd is now sold and literally think they are at a Bruno Mars concert. The amazingly classic build to the chorus continues. The chorus drop is seconds away. Boom. Ed pulls the plug. Savage.
Em7 Cadd9 G D. Plant the ring finger on the 3rd fret on the second string and move around the index and pinky. The note in common is a ringing-out D which anchors the song.
Any musician will know that this isn’t hard. No Matter what key a song is in your no matter what your brain will find a way to put it together and change the melody of what your singing to fit what your playing
Even to a non-musician I think I can explain. Most pop songs are written in a 4/4 time signature (and even those that aren’t are often 2/4 or 3/4) so they’re likely to only use 4 chords. Pop music is designed to be pleasant to listen to so songwriters will usually use chords that sound pleasant to the ear. 4/4 time, pleasant sounding, there you go, 4 chords. The formula is still used because it works.
Well, yeah, those are the basic chords to a lot of songs...but there is probably more/different chords that might be used throughout later in the song.
He was singing The Vengaboys Boom Boom Boom when not ABBA. "When you're alone and you need a friend, someone to make you forget your problems, just come along baby take my hand, I'll be your lover tonight" 😅 he hummed that whole part and still thought it was a different song
I’m an intermediate guitar player and I can do this as well. Most if not all popular songs have the easiest chords. A lot are super boring to play because it get repetitive
They give up the fact that this was (at least partially) scripted here. Dude just coincidentally pulls out the ONE Beatles song that features this chord progression. It's not every pop song, it's just a *super* common series of chords.
He was singing The Vengaboys Boom Boom Boom Boom when he was asked to do Beat It and when he realised he was wrong he thought it was Papa Don't Preach 😂
Actually the whole point he's making is how easy it is in the pop industry that they all pretty much rip on the same 4 chords over and over again. Many beginner musicians already know this. If you want brilliant musicians just look at Stevie Wonder, any Jazz artist or Ne Obliviscaris or Between the Buried and Me. Those are actual good artists.
any song can be sung in deferent keys even if they truly are in another key. lol. he sings them to his voice tone and key doesnt mean it was writen that way at all.
This video best explains why I don't care for Ed Sheeran's music - he can play any song on the pop charts. A wonderful talent, but only as unique as a cookie amongst a batch of millions of dozens of cookies.
Rhythm and Blues from the 50’s was the I vi IV V turnaround. The same 4 chords (C Am F G in the key of C). Even Jazz is just that progression but with a bunch of 7th, add9, diminished, augmented, and other made-up-on-the-spot modifications of modifications of modifications of those chords.
Nope. "Every Breath you Take" has a bridge that is nothing like the current top 40. Ed Sheeran is a serial copy cat. His intro for "Shape of You" is the same as Tracy Chapman's "Mountain o Things" so he credit some excuse to save his arse@@demejiuk5660
Seen this many times but always pre scripted, he gets confused by Beat It (sings Don't go Wasting Your Emotion) and a few others Ok it may not be a big deal but to know that many songs and throw in the names of the guys who don't follow the rules. A man serious about music.
Yeah,Axis of Awesome was about 10 years ahead of Ed on this one. Most metalheads have known this 20-25 years earlier than that. Most of us got bored with it before high school. Hey, no offense to Ed or pop fans though,I actually like him. Nothing personal.
@@curiositydidntkillme what assumption? Where? What are you talkin about? You saw the hosts reaction to his statement and the audience's reaction to the evidence,when he is able to prove it. This response is not unusual at all most people are shocked when they find out how easy it really is,and how they've been hearing the same progressions over and over. They keep cutting the budget for art and music programs in schools (if they even have one at all) so most people have no idea what in the world it is that they are listening to. I think everybody should watch this clip.
@@Luna_Belle_Voix read these "bottom to top", meaning the thinnest string (high e) first and the thickest string (low E) last: Em7: 0-3-0-2-2-0 Cadd9: 3-3-0-2-3-x G: 3-3-0-0-2-3 D: 2-3-2-0-x-x
Which is kinda part of his point... he's not saying "look how fuckin good I am, I can play any song in 4 chords" he's explaining how he was able to win a lawsuit over chord progressions.
Non-musicians think this is a big deal. But anyone playing the guitar a few years will know this and can do it. About 99% of all songs, especially those on the radio, are nothing but 3, 4 chords. Many are just 2. And a few are just one. Good musicians and songwriters, as they develop, would love to add more complex harmonic structure to their songs, but the record companies/producers etc. will not promote them. So mostly you don't hear their more original songs. Check it out. Your ears, your mind is programmed, from birth, to want these same changes slightly rearranged. It's all you've ever heard unless you go back to the jazz/big band era. It's as simple as A,B,C. Or more accurately A,D,E (1,4,5 chords in the key of A). All these megastars are giving you the same patterns over and over and over-ad infinitum. Check out standard jazz songs and their chords and you will see how rich and melodic songs can be.
the guitar playing isn't the impressive part, I just woudn't know how the singing part of the song goes :D, you tell me anys song and my brain says... i think I might have heard that somwhere.... maybe
Yes exactly, been playing for bout 7yrs now properly, before that as a child I played but wasn't very interested until my teens. Music is just a formula to me at this point, I encourage those who are shocked by this video to pick a guitar up and get lost in the music like Ed does here! Once you learn these basics you can do exactly that.
Yeah I used to teach guitar as a buisness in high school didn't pan out because I taught every one the basic open cords and power cords in 2 weeks and I would lose a customer 😅
It's either non-musicians think it's a big deal or some musicians are pompous dbags.
Glad you can play i
Ed takes the crowd through an improv version of Uptown Funk. He starts the verse. The crowd is somewhat unsure if he will keep going. Ed leans in and amps up the energy when he hits the pre chorus. The crowd is now sold and literally think they are at a Bruno Mars concert. The amazingly classic build to the chorus continues. The chorus drop is seconds away. Boom. Ed pulls the plug. Savage.
Why did I read it with the voice of the narrator in BG3? 😂😂
The first 10 years of Rock & Roll was basically just the 12-bar blues format reworked over and over. But it all sounded great, and still does!
Em7 Cadd9 G D. Plant the ring finger on the 3rd fret on the second string and move around the index and pinky. The note in common is a ringing-out D which anchors the song.
Any musician will know that this isn’t hard. No Matter what key a song is in your no matter what your brain will find a way to put it together and change the melody of what your singing to fit what your playing
1 4 5 6m
Even to a non-musician I think I can explain. Most pop songs are written in a 4/4 time signature (and even those that aren’t are often 2/4 or 3/4) so they’re likely to only use 4 chords. Pop music is designed to be pleasant to listen to so songwriters will usually use chords that sound pleasant to the ear. 4/4 time, pleasant sounding, there you go, 4 chords. The formula is still used because it works.
It's like in jazz, there are no mistakes, everything is jazz
Boooo just enjoy a little braggadocio and shut it
Axis of Awesome done this shit for 13 years (at least) before this interview
Truth
This is why I like him, and his music is good just not generally my genre but he's very personable and talented
Ed Sheeran is the Dave Grohl of pop. :)
Well, yeah, those are the basic chords to a lot of songs...but there is probably more/different chords that might be used throughout later in the song.
I bet he was happy he has previously recorded this for his trial 😂
I was thinking the same thing!!
Axis of awesome lol
This brain is doing so many things , connecting melodies like butter
Ed sheeran is a great singer.
It is literally been this way since the 50s the most popular songs are either GECD or CAFG or some variation of those chord progressions.
this is pretty much the first thing i teacher my beginner piano and guitar students. in fact i taught this to a 6 year old earlier today 😂
"I-V-vi-IV progression" if you wanna learn more about it and its origin
He's so talented
Frank Zappa is, of course, a genius...
Damn. The man has an ear. What a machine!
"Never Going to Let You Go" by Sergio Mendes. GO. :P
haha he dips the neck behind the table during the last song because he is using more cords and he looks very gild aware :P
He played Abba whilst trying to play Michael Jackson whilst thinking he was playing Madonna 🤣
Lay all your love on me lmao
He was singing The Vengaboys Boom Boom Boom when not ABBA. "When you're alone and you need a friend, someone to make you forget your problems, just come along baby take my hand, I'll be your lover tonight" 😅 he hummed that whole part and still thought it was a different song
@@melodyvalentine8779 it was abba! "I wasn't jealous before we met, now every woman I see is a potential threat". Lay all your love on me!
Looks like you are both right it sounds like Abba and Vengaboys. How?
Chords he's talking about are G D EM C. Although I did see an ADDC9 in there
Yeah but most people who don't play are not going to recognize the difference between Cadd9 and a regular C.
But he says that "his" four chords are G, Am, C and F
He cheated
Who the f**k is she? Never seen such a beauty!
Yolanthe Cabau
I’m an intermediate guitar player and I can do this as well. Most if not all popular songs have the easiest chords. A lot are super boring to play because it get repetitive
They give up the fact that this was (at least partially) scripted here.
Dude just coincidentally pulls out the ONE Beatles song that features this chord progression.
It's not every pop song, it's just a *super* common series of chords.
The lady that suggested walking away she is so pretty. What is her name. ❤
Axis of awesome did this a few years back
I remember paul mccartney exposing this with the piano too.
Everyone was like keep going T.T
i can do this too. btw is the subtitles in dutch?
He was singing The Vengaboys Boom Boom Boom Boom when he was asked to do Beat It and when he realised he was wrong he thought it was Papa Don't Preach 😂
Yeahh I heard that too 😂
Brilliant musician
Actually the whole point he's making is how easy it is in the pop industry that they all pretty much rip on the same 4 chords over and over again. Many beginner musicians already know this. If you want brilliant musicians just look at Stevie Wonder, any Jazz artist or Ne Obliviscaris or Between the Buried and Me. Those are actual good artists.
@@blakerogers9600Ed Sheeran is a real artista pls
any song can be sung in deferent keys even if they truly are in another key. lol. he sings them to his voice tone and key doesnt mean it was writen that way at all.
Uptown funk is Mark Ronson FEATURING Bruno
What chords?
What are the chords?
He's right about Beat It. It's almost just 4 chords.
Has he found the missing fourth cord for Status Quo 😊
actualy havent you heard plenty of old punk rock and newer use only 3 chords so. this is one chord more.
Peterpan - mimpi yg sempurna
This video best explains why I don't care for Ed Sheeran's music - he can play any song on the pop charts. A wonderful talent, but only as unique as a cookie amongst a batch of millions of dozens of cookies.
Lots of songs use different chord progressions to that
Who is the lady host, she is stunning
Yolanthe Cabau van Kasbergen😉
This only works with new songs because older songs were way more complex and often jazz influenced with plus the older songs had bridges
Rock is Pop as well. 😂
Rhythm and Blues from the 50’s was the I vi IV V turnaround. The same 4 chords (C Am F G in the key of C). Even Jazz is just that progression but with a bunch of 7th, add9, diminished, augmented, and other made-up-on-the-spot modifications of modifications of modifications of those chords.
Jazz is comlex but can be simplified and ultimately distilled down to as few chords as you like.
@@demejiuk5660 exactly. Jazz is about breaking rules and pushing musical boundaries-including its own.
Nope. "Every Breath you Take" has a bridge that is nothing like the current top 40. Ed Sheeran is a serial copy cat. His intro for "Shape of You" is the same as Tracy Chapman's "Mountain o Things" so he credit some excuse to save his arse@@demejiuk5660
I’ll see you in hell Pachelbel…
Omg
Ed Sheeran is the greatest
G Cadd9 EM7(Em7) D(D/G) strumming is the keeeeyyy
nirvana in bloom or lithium. good luck
That's not pop, lol
Im Andrew Li and i thik Ed sheeran.... he's pretty rizzy... dont tell my girlfriend
What are the four chords ?
Em7, G , Cadd9, D
hey buddy THATS 5 CHORDS BROOOOOOOOOOO
@A person can u tell me the name of those chords
Tahmid Bafi Em-C-G-D
Play let's get in on!
Setting up for his lawsuit
Wish he would of went a little further in to let it be
Seen this many times but always pre scripted, he gets confused by Beat It (sings Don't go Wasting Your Emotion) and a few others Ok it may not be a big deal but to know that many songs and throw in the names of the guys who don't follow the rules. A man serious about music.
T.A.L.E.N.T 😳👌🏾
notice how he can openly say GOD DAMN but not saying anything else curse wise...
He said Frank Zappa goes Fucking weird with it, I'd say Fuck is the king of curse words. Open your ears.
This is not a testament to his talent, but rather a testament to how stupidly simple pop songs are.
What chords are they
Em7 Cadd9 G D
@@Xuzzas Nope!
0:59 - ok, but this one (G/F#) is not part of the initial 4 chords 😆
That song is very famously part of the Axis of Awesome - Four Chord song, so yeah it should be part of that.
Yeah,Axis of Awesome was about 10 years ahead of Ed on this one.
Most metalheads have known this 20-25 years earlier than that. Most of us got bored with it before high school.
Hey, no offense to Ed or pop fans though,I actually like him. Nothing personal.
You’re assuming Ed is assuming musical peeps haven’t known this forever instead of realising he’s trying to share with the common non muso person
@@curiositydidntkillme what assumption? Where?
What are you talkin about?
You saw the hosts reaction to his statement and the audience's reaction to the evidence,when he is able to prove it.
This response is not unusual at all most people are shocked when they find out how easy it really is,and how they've been hearing the same progressions over and over.
They keep cutting the budget for art and music programs in schools (if they even have one at all) so most people have no idea what in the world it is that they are listening to.
I think everybody should watch this clip.
You can if you play many songs incorrectly. He like the fake books
They missed the point lmao
Rivalutiamo Ligabue allora... comunque non è vero
Of course he can. All his songs use the same method.
This is a real musician and singer unlike Taylor who just feels so fake
Who’s that woman? 😅
Well, dang 😔😂
whats the 4 chords tho
@@KayvonAfshari When he demonstrated he didn't touch the first fret, how is he supposed to play C then?
@@DucksSchool Em7 Cadd9 G and D
@@DucksSchool plenty of ways to play C without touching the first fret 😂😂😂
@@Luna_Belle_Voix read these "bottom to top", meaning the thinnest string (high e) first and the thickest string (low E) last:
Em7: 0-3-0-2-2-0
Cadd9: 3-3-0-2-3-x
G: 3-3-0-0-2-3
D: 2-3-2-0-x-x
@@lucassoto5918 just curious cause I'm also a beginner what's the difference between an x and a zero on a tabs chart
Axis of Awesome did it first.
Something tells me people were using those 4 chords before Axis of Awesome. It's almost like Music has been around as long as we can remember.
Axis of Awesome did this 1st
Which is kinda part of his point... he's not saying "look how fuckin good I am, I can play any song in 4 chords" he's explaining how he was able to win a lawsuit over chord progressions.
U can play EVERY top song with these four chords. Play Beat It. Whoops seem to have misspoke.
Sir Dr Professor he said every current top charts pop song, which is true.
What a terrible singer
😂😂all pop songs are only 3/4 cords 😂😂
em, c, g,d on Cadd9
What are the chords?
GECD or something along those lines
E minor, C, G, D. You hold down the third fret of the b&e to make it easier to switch between the chords wonderwall style