A Lauren Bateman YouTube guitar lesson teaching how to play 4 Non Blondes' "What's Up" (no capo). She covers the three core chords used (A, D, Bm), a very simple beginner strum, a detailed four-measure intro strumming pattern (explained measure-by-measure), a main strum for the verses, and a short, beginner-friendly solo broken down by fret and timing (notably a long held note of six beats at the solo's start). The video includes demos, counted practice runs, and a brief course/subscribe plug at the end.
Chapters
Hey, guitar enthusiasts. We're going to be doing a super cool song for the 90s by 4 non blondes called what's Up? I'm going to show you the strumming and I'm going to show you how to play the really simple solo section to the song. So let's get started.
We will not need a capo for this song. This song uses the chords, A D, B minor. Okay, A D and B minor. A great three chord song. Unfortunately it does have that B minor chord, but if you need a beginner version of B minor, you can just play the bottom three strings. It doesn't sound the greatest, but it will work to get you through the song. So I really feel the strumming is what makes this song. So first I'm just going to show you for a beginner, I'm going to show you an easy version and then I'm going to show you what I think I'm really hearing in the song to make this come alive. So the first strumming pattern, we'll just keep it super simple. It's just going to be 1, 2, 3, 3, 4 and down, down, down, down, up. It'll sound like this.
Okay. It sounds good enough for the song, right? I think it works. I think it's fine. If you wanted to play and sing this, I don't think anyone would argue if you played the song just like that. But now if you really want to get into what I think's happening on this song, I'm going to show you some strumming patterns for the intro. The intro I think has a little bit more of an intricate pattern and then I'm going to give you a go to pattern for the rest of the song. So the intro, the chord progression, actually the chord progression for this entire song is great because it's the same four chords over and over. It's double A, double B minor, double D, double A. And it just much repeats that for the entire song. So we don't have to worry about the chord progression changing much for this song. So thank you for Non Blonde. Love it when people keep it simple. So the intro, the strumming pattern is actually going to be 1, 2, 3, 4 measures. We have a four measure strumming pattern. So stick with me on this guys. We're going to go through it one measure at a time, but there is some repetition. Okay, so we're going to start with this A chord. Okay. And the first half of the first part of the strumming pattern is going to be one Two and three, four. And down, down, up. Down, down, up.
Okay, one, two, and three, four. And down, down, up, down, down, up.
So it'll sound like this.
One more time.
Okay, so that's the first measure. The second measure is going to be 1, 2, and and 4. And so that next part is going to be down, down, up, up, down, up. Pretty common patterns we've used before in other songs and tutorials. We're just mixing them together now. So again, it's down, down, up, up, down, up. So.
So if we put those two measures together, it's going to sound like this.
All right, so that's the first half of the intro. Now it looks like the next part is going to be 1, 2 and 3, 4. And so that's the same. Okay, nothing new there. So the second measure or the second half of this last pattern, it just has one extra strum. Nothing crazy. Okay, so it's 1 and 2 and. And 4, and just a little bit different, not a lot. So that second half of the pattern.
Would be 1, 2, and 3, 4. And 1 and 2 and. And 4.
And so if I. This entire pattern for the intro, it would be.
Okay, you can hear that extra strum on the end there. So we got.
Okay, and then you would switch to your next chord, B minor. And you do do the thing.
And that's what you would do for this intro. Now, the main strum we're going to use for the rest of the song. Once we get out of this intro, there's probably a little bit of improv of his improvisation here and there, but the main strum is going to be.
The 1, 2, and 3, 4. And 1 and 2 and.
And 4.
And 1, 2, and 3. Down, up, down, up. Down, up, up.
Okay, you can really hear the song now. Like I said, this song really is made by the strumming pattern. So I really would work hard on getting this strumming pattern down. Now, this song is very hard to sing and play this strumming pattern at the same time. So what I'm going to do is I'm just going to go through a verse with you guys just so we can practice the strumming pattern. We'll be going through this chord progression a couple times, so let's pick it up at the A, 1, 2, 3, 4.
Destination.
I realized.
Whatever that means.
And that's when we get into our pre chorus section. Now, what I'm going to do is I'm going to show you guys really quick the super cool solo for this, which is very simple to play even if you're at the beginner level. So let's check that out. Hey, guys, hope you're enjoying this lesson so far. Don't forget to subscribe to the channel. Turn on your notifications this way. YouTube will let you know when I release more lessons just like this one. Hey, guitar. Enthusiastic? Got the Gretsch off the wall for this solo over the interlude. And you'll hear this a bit in the intro of the song, too. So if you want to play it in the intro, you can. So this is what it's going to sound like. I'm just going to play the main part, and then we'll get into how to play it. So it'll be like this.
Okay. And then there's a little connector part, and then we repeat it again. So let's go over what I'm actually playing. I didn't play that in perfect timing because this first note is held for a very long time. It looks like it's held for six beats here, based on my music in front of me. So we would play this note. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
So that is the timing of that first note. It gets held for a long time. And we're starting with the second fret on the G string. So remember, second fret, I'm going to use my first finger. Fourth fret, I'm going to use my third finger. We're mostly going to be playing on frets two and four. Every once in a while, we add a different one. And I'll let you know what to do. So we're starting on the G string, second fret, first finger. One, two, three, four, five, six. And then we hit two again really quick. So we got one, two, three, four, five, six, three. And. Okay. And then we come up to the D string with our third finger on that fourth fret. Okay. And then we come down to the second fret on that same string. Okay, so so far we've got.
All right, and then what we're gonna do, I just roll my first finger down, and I'm gonna grab that second fret on the G string. Okay, so we've got.
All right, that's the first three measures of this solo. And next part, we're gonna come back up to the fourth fret on the D string. Back to the second fret on the D string. Roll that finger down again, G string on the second fret. Third finger on the fourth fret of the D string, and then back down to the second fret on the G string. So that's the main part. Okay, there's a little bit more, but let's play through that so far. So we got 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
And now this next part kind of mimics a D chord. So we're going to be using our second finger here on this third fret of the B string. So we're going to go first finger, second fret of G, third fret, second fret of B, back to the second fret on the G string, open B string, and then second fret on that G string again. So that little section is just this.
Again.
So if I take it from the top, it's going to be.
And then we have a little connector point that gets us kind of connecting the two spots. We play this on the D string, and it's going to be 1, 2, 1, 2.
Okay. And then we start it again. 2.
And then the last little pickup to get us back into the verse is two. One, two. All right. And that's the very end. And then we get right back into the verse. So let's take it again from the very, very top. Here we go. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Da Da.
T. Four, five, six.
Again.
So I was looking at the timing of this. All right, so from that last Note, we've got 1, 2, 3, 4, 4. 1, 2, and M4. That's the timing of that last bar. And if you're going to jump back into strumming, you may not have enough time to play that. So you may just end on this note anyway. But it's 1, 2, 3, 4. 1, 2, and 3 and 4. And then right into the next verse of the song. So I hope you guys enjoyed this lesson. Don't forget, I have a course. If you guys are interested in learning more about guitar or supporting the channel, put a link in the description below. You guys can go check that out. YouTube is gonna put a couple more videos up over here. Go check those out. And I hope to see you guys in another lesson video very soon.
