Wonderwall Acoustic Guitar Lesson with Intermediate Strumming Patterns

Hey, guitar enthusiasts, welcome to the lesson video. We're going to be doing kind of like a piece de resistance here. This is Oasis, Wonderwall. Super, super cool song. You're gonna really feel like a guitar player after we go through the strumming on this one. So let's get into the lesson video.

So I have to give a shout out to one of my business mentors. Her name is Danelle Delgado. She has been bugging me to. To do this song and she's actually a lifetime member in my guitar course. So I decided, hey, I'm gonna do this song. And I think this is a great song for intermediate guitar players because we're gonna get into doing a lot of different types of strumming. So what I recommend go download the chord chart for my website, laurenbateman.com you're gonna notice that we have the capo on the second fret of the guitar here. We're gonna need that for this song. So. So let's get into how we're going to play Wonderwall. So first let's go over the chords we're going to be using throughout the song. Most of these, these are like those stuck like glue chords. I'll put a link to a video up here for the stuck like glue chords. But I'll also put the diagrams on the screen here because we'll have a couple others. So we have this E minor chord. So we're always going to have the third and fourth fingers down on the bottom strings. A really bright song. It's very popular in a lot of 90s songs and in a lot of country music too. So we're going to leave the third and fourth fingers on the bottom string. So we have the E minor. It's an E minor 7 chord. We have a G chord. We have a C add nine, a D sus four and an A seven Sus I think a seven sus four. Okay, so there you go. So it's. That's. Those are all the chords we're going to be using for this song and it's so somewhat repetitive. So that's great. The chords themselves are not hard. The thing that makes this really an intermediate level song is all the strumming we're going to be going through for this song. And there are some timing things, some interesting timing things that happen. So we'll definitely want to pay attention to that. But those are the chords we're going to be using for the song. So let's start out with our intro and get into this really, really cool syncopated strumming pattern. All right, so the intro is the. The chord progression first is going to be E minor 7G, the DSUS 4 and then this A7SUS 4. So those are our chords, E minor and it's splitting a measure with G. And then we have DSUS4 splitting a measure with the A7SUS4. Okay, so those are the four chords we're going to be using. And that's going to repeat four times. But. But it's the strumming pattern that is the really intricate part. So. But once you do this, I promise you, you can feel like the best guitar player in the world. This song just makes everyone feel like an amazing guitar player, which is why I love teaching it to my intermediate students because it really gets you going. So we're going to be using some 16th note rhythm patterns here. This is going to not only be a 16th note rhythm pattern, it's going to take the space of two measures to go through the full thing. So it's a doozy. So let's start off with the E minor 7. Okay. And we'll some time on this. Feel free to. If you. If you're getting it, feel free to jump ahead. But I'm going to go slow because if you've never done these types of rhythms before, it can take a minute to get through it. So we're gonna start with the E minor 7. And all we're gonna do is gonna.

Go down, down, down.

Perfect. That's it. That's all The E minor 7 is.

It's 1 and 2.

What happens is now we're gonna switch to our G chord and it switches on the up strum. Okay. It switches on the right before we change to three.

So it's going to be down, down, down, up.

Okay, so the G switch is on the up strum. Let's just talk about what the G is going to be. The G is going to be up.

Down, up, down, down.

That's all I want you to do. Just do the G chord. For now.

It's going to be up, down, up, down, down.

So the timing of that is a 3, E and 4.

Up, down, up, down, down. A 3, E and 4.

So now what we're going to do is we're going to try and combine the E minor 7 and the G together. So we've got E minor 7 down.

Down, down to G. Up, down, up, down, down.

Okay, so we're going to build this one chord at a time. E minor 7 first.

Down, down, down to G. Up down, up, down, down.

Let's do it one more time. Ready?

So we got down, down, down, and up, down, up, down, down.

Okay, so that gets us through our E minor 7 and our G. We're going to move to our DSUS chord right now, which is going.

The. It's going to be the last 16th note of that measure, all right? And it's going to sound exactly the same as the D chord. It's going to be. Or, sorry, the G chord.

It's going to be up, down, up, down, down.

All right, so it's going to be.

A one, E and two. Up, down, up, down, down.

But it's a one E and two. All right, so we've got.

Starting at E minor, down, down, down, G. Up, down.

Up, down, up, down, down.

All right, three chords in. Let's do it again. Starting from the E minor 7. Sweep.

Down, down, down.

Here we go.

Up, down, up, down, down to the D. Up, down, up, down, down.

Now we have an extra little down that the D gets, so there's a little extra down we're going to do here. So, so, so far we've got down.

Down, down, up, down, up, down, down, up, down, up, down, down, down, up.

So that up is going to be the change for the last chord.

Okay, so we got down, down, down, up, down, up, down, down, up, down, up, down, down, down, up, up, up, down, up, down, up.

Holy crap. So let's talk about what we're doing on just this final chord. This final chord starts. It's the last 16th note after the two. So it's. It's hard to say because there's so many ups. So it's. Let me see, if I look at my chord chart, here it is.

And four E and so mouthful. But here's what it's going to sound like. Don't worry. I'll put the diagram over here so that you guys can see the actual rhythm as we build this. So don't worry about that. But first let's just talk about what the A that a 7 sus is doing. So we've got up, up, up, down, up, down, up.

So it's up, up, up, down, up, down, up.

Okay, one more time.

Up, up, up, down, up, down, up.

Maybe one more time.

Up, up, up, down, up, down, up.

So it's A, E, A Horianda. There it is, A, E, A Horianda. So let's take it from the beginning. I'm gonna go very slow. Okay, starting at E minor 7. So we got 1, 2, ready, and.

Down, down, down, G Up down, up down, down D Up down, up down, down, down, up up up down, up down, up.

And then we repeat the whole thing again back to E minor 7.

Down, down, down, up down, up down, down, up down, up down, down, down, up, up, up down, up, down, up.

That A always throws everyone for a loop. Let's do it again. So here we go. E minor 7.

Down, down, down, up down, up down, down, up down, up down, down, down, down A Up, up, down, up, down, up.

All right, so let me play this at full speed so that you guys can hear what this thing's cooking. So here we go. One, two, three.

Now you probably hear that there's maybe a couple extra strummings coming in here and there. I'm sure this strumming pattern is highly improvised when they are playing the song. I'm really. My hand is just moving at a 16th note pattern and it's moving so fast, not thinking about what exactly I'm doing. So you may even add an extra strum here and there. But I like doing this, this strumming pattern as the foundation for what we're going to use for most of the song. So it's a very important part of the song outside of the chords. We're going to use this strumming pattern. It's going to come back again later in the song. But this is what we're going to use for our intro and this is what we're going to use for our verse. So take it slow and build up speed because it is fast, but keep your strumming hand relaxed. And if you throw in an extra up or an extra down strum here or there, it doesn't matter. As long as you got the general feel, you're going to be fine. So let's move into our verse now where we're going to talk about the chords and how we're going to get through the verse. Hey guys, I really hope that you're liking this video. I put a lot of work into it, so make sure to give me a thumbs up if you because it helps show my videos on YouTube to more students just like you. Let's get back into the lesson. Okay, so this is a little bit of a, I guess, trick answer. Cause there's really no difference between the intro and the verse. So you've already learned the verse.

Yay.

It's the same strumming pattern, the same chords in the same progression. So it's E minor.

Down, down, down, up, down, up, down, down, up, down, up, down, down, up, up, so we got.

Today is gonna be the day that.

They gonna pour back to you. By now you.

So there's the verse. You've gone through the. Basically by learning the intro, you've learned the entire verse. Now a little note on singing and playing this at the same time. If you cannot walk around with your guitar while doing this strumming pattern, then there's no way in hell you're going to be able to sing the song and strum at the playtime at the same time. Playtime. So the strumming. To sing a song like this with this complicated of a strumming pattern, this strumming pattern, this strumming hand has to be on autopilot. You can't be thinking about it at all. So that's why this is a super intermediate level guitar song. Especially if you want to sing. It's very hard to sing and play at the same time. But what we're going to do now is we're going to move into the pre chorus now that we've come to our note on singing. And we're going to change things up just a little bit for our pre chorus. So let's talk about what's going to happen next. So we're in the pre chorus of the song. Things are going to change up a little bit here. We're using some different chords. So we're going to introduce the C add 9 chord followed by the D sus 4. And then we're going to play E minor 7 twice. And then towards the end of this, we are going to introduce a walk down into the song. But first let's talk about the strumming pattern. So the strumming pattern is going to.

Be down, down, up, up down up down, down, up up down, up down, down, up, up, down, up, down, down, up, up, down, up as that motorcycle goes by.

So we're gonna play C on nine here.

So it's gonna be down, down, up up down up down, down, up up.

Down, up E minor and we're do.

It twice on E minor and we're gonna do it again.

So we got C add 9 to.

The D sus 4 in E minor.

Many things that I would.

So we went CN9D SUS4. We're gonna do a walk down right here. So it's just gonna be down, down, up. So it's gonna be G and then we're gonna move our first finger, we're gonna get rid of the second finger, move the first finger up to the top string. We're gonna get that F sharp note. And we're not gonna really strum the whole chord, but down, down, up, down. We're really more focused on this bass note.

So it's going to be down, down, up, down, down, up and then E minor 7. Down, down, up.

DSUS 4.

Down, down, up.

And then we've got the A7 SUS 4. We're going to do that for two measures.

Down, down, up, up down, up down, up, up, down, up.

Okay, so that whole part is in.

All the roads we have to all go winding.

All the lights that lead.

And then. Oh, there are many things I would like to say to you, but I don't know how.

And maybe we're gonna get into the.

Chorus of this song next. So the great thing about the chorus is we're sticking with a very consistent chord progression. It's gonna be C, add 9, E minor 7, G and E minor. And we are going to be splitting these measures and we're going to be going back to that same intro strumming pattern. So we've just come out of a 7 sus 4.

Okay, doing down, down, up, up down, up down, down, up, up, down, up down, down, up, up, down, up.

There we got.

And maybe.

Gonna be the one that saves me.

So we're doing C at 9.

Is down down, down to E minor 7. Up, down, up, down, down to G. Up, down, up, down, down, down, up, up, up down, up, down, up.

So we've just taken the chords and we've just rearranged them. The strumming pattern's not changing at all. So we got C at nine and.

Maybe.

Gonna be the one.

So. And I'll make a little extra note for you guys. If you want to spice up your strumming a little bit here. You'll notice that I'm kind of hopping the rhythm. And what I'm doing this is. This is more like a late intermediate skill. So if you guys want to try adding it here, you can, because I think it works really well on the chorus. So we've got the same strumming pattern, see?

And then when I get to that E.

I'm releasing my fingers. I'm releasing the pressure on the strings, which essentially mutes the strings.

So I'm strumming and then release the pressure, particularly on these two fingers. It's harder to do on the bottom three or the bottom two. So I'm going up, up, up. So on those ups, I'm releasing the pressure, which gives it a little bit of a hop. I might be doing it sometimes on Other chords, but let me just see. So we got.

I think I'm just doing it on the ups. I tend to do this a lot on the ups. So all we're doing is we're up, releasing the pressure.

Up, up, down, up, down, up.

So I'm releasing the pressure and it cuts. The sound has a really cool percussive dynamic to your strumming. So if you want to do that on the chorus, you can, because it's a way to make the same strumming pattern sound just a little bit different. And I think it works really, really well. Now, the ending of this chorus has a really weird timing thing. This only happens once in the song. And we've got, you know, you're my wonder woman.

So we end on the G. We're not going into the E minor after the G. So we basically have a cut measure. So we're ending that measure in 2, 4. So what does that mean? That means we're playing a full measure. One, two, three, four. And then we're one, two, one, two, three, four. One, two, three, and a four. E and A. I think they're playing the A7 sus, four chord. Three E and A four.

E and A.

Okay. That's how we end this post chorus. And this only happens once in the song. So once we get through that, we're fine. And basically we're jumping back into another verse. We've got our pre chorus again, and then it looks like we've just got basically chorus and then outro. So you've pretty much learned the entire song after we get through this tricky part. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go and play a little bit of this song. I sometimes get hit with copyright from YouTube, so if I have to. If I get hit with a copyright, I might have to cut out this section of the song. But I'm gonna try playing through a little bit because this is a really, really tricky song. And I'd like you guys to be able to hear a little bit of it. And maybe we'll go through to this post chorus section for you guys. So let's take it from the intro. So instead of playing like four measures of an intro that you four, you know, intros that you don't need to hear. I'm just gonna start at the verse. So we got 1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4.

Today is gonna be the day that.

They'Re gonna throw it back to you.

By now you should have somehow realized.

What you gotta do I don't believe that anybody it feels that I do about you.

Now.

I'm gonna skip to the pre chorus.

And all the roads you have to walk a winding.

And all the lives that lead us they're blinding.

There are many things that I would like to say to you But I don't know how.

Cause may.

Me you're gonna be the.

One that saves me.

And after all.

You'Re my one, the one.

Today is gonna be the day that.

They'Re gonna throw it back to you.

And there you go. Okay, so now I have to add in percussive strumming because I just played it for you guys. And you guys probably heard on that pre chorus, I just did some random strumming. I didn't stick to the down, down, up like I. Like I was doing. And I just. I don't even know what I was just doing. I was just playing. And this what happens when I sing and play. I just let my hand do what it wants to do, whether it's correct or not. But you guys probably didn't even know if it was correct or not. So let's talk a little bit about percussive strumming to wrap up this video lesson. So when I came out of the pre chorus and I went into the verse, I was kind of hitting my guitar here.

I'm using the same strumming pattern, not changing the strumming pattern at all. I'm just adding on some of those down strums. I am literally karate chopping my guitar. You're not going to break strings. You're not going to break the guitar. I mean, I don't know if you can see it. I have a big crack in my guitar. It's not for me hitting my guitar. So essentially what we're doing is we're going.

That's all on the E minor.

Kind of like palm muting almost.

All right, so we've got.

And just when you do that downstrom, just karate chop your guitar, it's acting like a drum on your guitar.

So all I'm doing is I'm kind of bouncing my palm off of the guitar. I do go over percussive strumming in my online guitar course. Again, that's kind of. I would consider that more late intermediate stage. But for. For strumming, I mean, that's. You really got to have a lot of control over your strumming hand and a super understanding of what you're playing to really. To really get that going. So again, just real quick, it's.

I'm just down, down, karate chop. So Instead of like really strumming the string, I'm just karate chopping my guitar.

What's the chord progression?

So I'm doing a little bit of percussive rhythm here. I think it changes up the dynamic of the song a little bit. And just a little thing that you can try doing with your guitar if you want to, but there you go. That is Wonderwall's Oasis. Like I said, it is a massive piece of work. So if you can get this done and make it sound great, then congratulations. You are a phenomenal guitar player because this song is. Is just. You should get an award after playing this song because it really is a really difficult song to play on the guitar, particularly rhythm wise and for acoustic guitar players. I really hope you guys enjoyed this lesson video. Really one of my favorite songs to teach guitar students. YouTube's gonna pop over a couple more videos over here. I hope you guys go and check those videos out. Maybe there's something over there that you want to learn song wise. But I hope to see you guys in another lesson video. Don't forget to subscribe to the channel and make sure to give me a thumbs up because I really put a lot of work into this video and I really appreciate it. Thank you so much, guys and I'll see you in another lesson video.