The Reason

How to play The Reason by Hoobastank on guitar

These are the sounding chords. With a capo on fret 4 you play C, Am, F, G, A, A#, the shapes the player above shows.

This song is worth learning because it gives you a strong, emotional progression that feels steady and memorable under your fingers. At about 120 BPM, it sits in a comfortable mid-tempo groove, so you can focus on clean changes and a smooth, even feel.

You’ll use a mix of open shapes and barre shapes, with E, A, and D staying more relaxed while C#m, B, and C# ask for more hand strength and accuracy. The main change to watch is the opening move between E and C#m, since it repeats right away and sets the tone for the whole song.

Start by looping E - C#m - E - C#m slowly until the switch feels automatic, then add the other shapes one at a time. Once the changes are clean, play along at a slower pace and build up to full speed while keeping your strums even and controlled.

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.