Radioactive

How to play Radioactive by Imagine Dragons on guitar

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

Radioactive is a great beginner song because it has a strong, driving feel and a steady pulse that makes you sound locked in quickly. You can focus on the groove and the repeated progression, which gives you a lot of payoff without a lot of chord variety.

The open shapes, D, A, and E, are easier to grab, while Bm and B need more hand strength and cleaner finger placement. The main change to watch is the move between Bm and D, since that shift can feel less natural at first and is easy to rush.

Start by looping the opening progression slowly, Bm - D - A - Bm, until each change feels smooth. Then add the full song at a comfortable tempo, keeping your strums even and relaxed. Once that feels solid, bring it up to speed little by little.

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.