The Scientist

How to play The Scientist by Coldplay on guitar

These are the sounding chords. With a capo on fret 5 you play Am, F, C, G, the shapes the player above shows.

This is a great song to learn because the chord loop is simple, memorable, and gives you a steady, reflective feel right away. You can focus on clean changes and smooth timing without having to chase a lot of new shapes.

You can keep most of it in open shapes with Dm, F, and C, while A# is the one harder barre shape to watch. The main change to practice is moving between Dm and A# and then back into F, since that shift can slow you down at first.

Start by looping Dm - A# - F - A# very slowly until the movement feels natural. Then add the rest of the cycle and keep the changes even, aiming for relaxed, accurate fretting before you try to play at full tempo.

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.