Don't Stop Believin'

How to play Don't Stop Believin' by Journey on guitar

These are the sounding chords. With a capo on fret 4 you play C, G, Am, F, Em, A, the shapes the player above shows.

This is a great song to learn because the progression is familiar, steady, and easy to lock into once you feel the pulse. At about 118 BPM, it has an upbeat, driving feel that makes your playing sound confident right away.

You can lean on the open E and A shapes, but the B, C#m, G#m, and C# shapes will ask for clean barre control. The main change to watch is the move from the open shapes into the harder barre shapes, especially in the opening E - B - C#m - A progression.

Start by practicing that opening progression slowly and cleanly, then loop it until the changes feel automatic. After that, bring the tempo up in small steps and focus on keeping every shape ringing clearly before you try to play it all the way through.

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.