What's Up

How to play What's Up by 4 Non Blondes on guitar

These are the sounding chords. With a capo on fret 2 you play G, Am, C, the shapes the player above shows.

This is a great beginner song because it keeps cycling a small set of chords and sits at a steady, easy-to-follow tempo. You get a strong, familiar feel right away, and the repeating pattern makes it satisfying to lock in quickly.

You will use open shapes for A and D, with Bm as the harder barre shape. The main thing to watch is the move into Bm, since that change usually takes the most hand strength and accuracy. Once you can switch cleanly between A, Bm, D, and back to A, the song starts to feel much easier.

Start by looping A to Bm to D to A slowly until each change feels smooth. Then practice the same cycle in time with a steady count, keeping your strumming even. When that feels solid, raise the tempo a little at a time until you can play through the full loop comfortably.

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.