The Scientist

How to play The Scientist by Coldplay on guitar

This song is a great one to learn because it has a calm, reflective feel and a steady pulse that lets you focus on clean changes. You can keep it relaxed and expressive, and the slower tempo gives you room to make each chord ring clearly.

You’ll mainly move between open shapes and a couple of harder barre shapes, so the left hand has both easy and demanding moments. The change to watch most closely is the shift from Dm into A# and back into F, since that move can break the flow if you rush it. Keep the shapes close to the fretboard and aim for smooth transitions.

Start by looping Dm - A# - F - Dm slowly until the changes feel automatic. Then add the other open shapes, and only after that spend extra time on A# and Fm until they feel stable. Once the chord changes are clean, bring it up to tempo in small steps and keep your strumming even.

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.