Summer of '69

How to play Summer of '69 by Bryan Adams on guitar

These are the sounding chords. With a capo on fret 5 you play A, E, F#m, D, C, F and more, the shapes the player above shows.

“Summer of '69” is a great one to learn because it has a strong, driving feel and a classic rock energy that stays fun from start to finish. At about 139 BPM, it pushes you to keep things steady without feeling too fast, so it’s a good intermediate workout for your rhythm and chord changes.

You can lean on the open shapes D, A, and G for most of the song, with Bm and A# asking for the harder barre grip. The main thing to watch is the quick back-and-forth between D and A, especially in the opening progression D - A - D - A, so keep those changes clean and relaxed.

Start by looping D - A - D - A slowly until your hands move without hesitation. Then add the other open shapes, and only bring in the barre chords once the basic flow feels solid. When that feels easy, raise the tempo in small steps until you can keep the groove steady 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.