Lauren Bateman teaches Bob Marley's "Three Little Birds" using three chords: A, D, and E. The song uses a simple four-down-strum rhythm, with an optional eighth-note strumming pattern for a reggae feel. The intro, chorus, and verse are played slowly so you can follow along.
Hello guitar enthusiasts and welcome to my Three Little Birds tutorial. This song is super, super easy. I love it because it's a three chord song. A D and E chords and we're playing a lot of A in this song. Mostly A and D E only pops in a couple times on the verse section. But very, very simple song. And we're just going to do four down strums per chord for this song. If you want to make it fancy and a little bit more reggae ish, you can do it on up strums one.
But for the purposes of this video, I'm just going to play it on the down strum. So we're going to use four down strums per chord. So if you go and download the chord chart from my website laurenbateman.com you can follow along with me. So the intro for this song is 4A chords. So we're going to play an a chord for four measures. So basically we're going to do 16 down strums in a row and then we're going to start the chorus. This song is very repetitive in that it goes chorus, verse, the same chorus, the same verse and then the chorus again. So it's just very repetitive. Great song, Very, very simple songwriting. So we're going to start with this chorus which is a double A D, A and then it repeats that again, double A, D, A. Pretty simple, right? And then our verse goes to a slightly different chord progression which is A, E, D, A. And then it repeats that A, E, D, A. So there's really only two different chord progressions we're using for this song. So technically three if you count the intro as four A's. So we have the intro which is four A's, we have the chorus which is double A, D, A and we play that twice and then we have the verse which is A, E, D, A. And then you play that twice and then you go back to the chorus and then you go back to the verse. So let's take a look at that chorus. So I'm going to play through one time of the chorus. So it's going to be a 1.
2, 3, 4 a 2, 342 d 2, 3 4, 2 a, 2, 3 then repeat a 2, 3, 4 a 2 or 342 d 234 a 2, 3, 4.
So that is our chorus. Our verse is slightly different. A, E, D, a. So it's 1, 2, 3, 4a 2.
3, 4e 2, 3 4e 2, 3, 4a 2 and then repeat 4a, 2, 3, 4e 2 3, 4, 4d, 2, 3, 4 and a 2, 3, 4.
And that's it. That is literally the entire song. That's why the song is awesome, because it's super, super simple. Very, very easy beginner guitar song. It only uses the three chords and you can use these four down strums and actually sounds pretty good. If you would like to spice it up a little bit more, you could play an eighth note strumming pattern which is 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 1 and 2 and 3 and 4. And so you're just playing down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up, down, up. That can spice it up just a little bit for you. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to play through the intro, the chorus and a verse of this song so that you can hear how it sounds. And I'm just going to do the four down strums. This way, if you want to play along with me, you can. Nice and slow song. So let's take it from the intro.
1, 2, 3, 4.
And a 2, 3, 4. 2, 2, 3, 4. 3, 2, 3, 4, 4, 2, 3.
Don't worry.
About a thing.
Cause every little thing Is gonna be all right.
Singing don't worry.
About a thing.
Cause every little thing Is gonna be all right.
I rise up this morning.
Smile with the rising sun.
3.
Push down my doorstep.
Singing sweet songs of melodies pure and true. Saying this is my message to you.
And that's it. Once you get through that part, then you go through another chorus, another verse, another chorus, and you just want to make sure you end on an A chord at the very end of the song. There you go. That is Bob Marley's three little can't talk, three little birds and simple, simple song. Really great for absolute beginner guitar players. Great for working on that A to D chord change as well as getting into the E major chord. So practice hard, work on those chord changes. Try that second strumming pattern if you feel adventurous and. And I'll see you in the next lesson.
