21 Guns

How to play 21 Guns by Green Day on guitar

These are the sounding chords. With a capo on fret 5 you play G, Am, F, C, A, E, the shapes the player above shows.

21 Guns is a great song to learn because it moves with a steady, emotional feel and stays friendly at a beginner level. You can focus on clean changes and let the progression carry the song without needing a fast right hand.

Most of the shapes are open, so your fretting hand can stay relaxed on C, Dm, F, D, and A. The main thing to watch is A#, since that one is the harder barre shape and will take the most time to sound clean in the C - Dm - A# - F opening progression.

Start by looping the opening progression slowly and making each change without stopping. Then practice A# on its own until it feels solid, and finally put the full sequence together at a comfortable tempo before you try to match the song speed.

Use the play-along above to follow each chord change in time with the music, or learn the shapes first with the chord diagrams below.