Perfect

How to play Perfect by Ed Sheeran on guitar

These are the sounding chords. With a capo on fret 1 you play G, Em, C, D, the shapes the player above shows.

“Perfect” is a great song to learn because it stays gentle, steady, and easy to follow once you lock into the repeating cycle. You get a smooth, romantic feel without having to chase a lot of changes, so it works well for building confidence at a beginner level.

The chart uses barre shapes for G#, Fm, C#, and D#, so your main job is getting clean pressure and quick hand placement. The change to watch out for is the move from G# to Fm, then keeping the same relaxed motion through C# and D# as the progression repeats.

Start by fretting each chord one at a time and making sure every note rings clearly. Then loop G# - Fm - C# - D# slowly, pause on each change, and only speed up when the switches feel automatic. Once that feels stable, play the full cycle along with the song and let the repetition build your timing.

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.