Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)

How to play Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) by The Beatles on guitar

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

Norwegian Wood is a great song to learn because it has a memorable, relaxed feel and a repeating progression that helps you lock in the groove. You get a nice mix of bright and moody color, so it feels musical right away without being rushed.

The chart uses open shapes for E, Em, and A, while F#m and B are the harder barre shapes. The main change to watch is the move between E and Em, then back to A and Em, since that shift gives the song its character and can feel unusual at first.

Start by looping E - Em - A - Em slowly until the changes feel smooth. Then add the barre shapes only after your open chords are steady, and finally play the full song at a relaxed tempo, focusing on clean changes over 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.