Old Phone

How to play Old Phone by Ed Sheeran on guitar

These are the sounding chords. With a capo on fret 3 you play G, D, C, Em, the shapes the player above shows.

This is a great beginner song to learn because the same small chord loop keeps coming back, so you can settle into the feel quickly. At about 120 BPM, it should feel steady and familiar once your hands lock in, and the repeating progression makes it easy to hear your progress as you go.

You can lean on the open F shape for the easier part, while A#, D#, and Gm are the barre shapes that will take more finger strength and clean pressure. The main change to watch is the move from A# to F and back again, since that switch will test both your timing and your hand position.

Start by fretting each chord cleanly one at a time, then practice the opening A# - F - D# - A# loop slowly until the changes feel smooth. After that, add a steady count at a slower pace, and only then bring it up to full tempo. Keep cycling the same shapes until the motion feels automatic.

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.