With or Without You

How to play With or Without You by U2 on guitar

With or Without You is a great song to learn because the progression is steady, emotional, and easy to lock into once you settle in. You get a strong, driving feel without needing a lot of movement, so it rewards a clean, even approach and sounds bigger than the chord count suggests.

You can lean on the open shapes for most of the song, while Bm is the main barre chord that asks for more hand strength and accuracy. The change to watch out for is moving between D and Bm, then back into G and D, since that shift can break the flow if your fingers are late.

Start by looping D - Bm - G - D slowly and making each change clean before worrying about speed. Then add the rest of the song in the same order, keeping your strumming even and your hand relaxed. Once the shapes feel automatic, bring it up to tempo and focus on staying steady through the transitions.

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.