The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army

How to play The White Stripes - Seven Nation Army by v94j on guitar

This song is worth learning because it is instantly recognizable and feels strong and driving even at a beginner level. You get a steady, riff-like groove that makes you sound locked in quickly, and the pace around 120 BPM keeps it energetic without being too fast.

You will move between open shapes and a harder barre shape, so the main challenge is keeping the hand relaxed while the shape changes cleanly. The opening progression is E - F - B - E, so watch the jump to B and back again, since that is the change most likely to slow you down.

Start by practicing the chord changes slowly and evenly, then repeat the opening progression until the move to B feels automatic. After that, bring it up to tempo in small steps and focus on staying steady rather than playing hard. Once the shapes feel secure, run the full song a few times to build consistency.

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.