Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here is the intermediate-guitar song. It uses Em7 and G chords (lesson 6 vocabulary), a memorable intro lick (lessons 7-8 technique), and a slow tempo that rewards expression over speed.
Play along
wish you were here
The chord progression
Intro: Em7 → G → Em7 → G → Em7 → A7sus4 → Em7 → A7sus4 → G Verse: C → D → Am → G → D → C → Am → GYou already know Em7 and Am (lesson 6 + Beginner track). G, C, D you've known since the Beginner track. New chord shape: A7sus4. New: putting them all together at this tempo.
The intro lick
The opening riff uses hammer-ons and pull-offs (lesson 7) across the lower and middle strings. Watch the video above for the exact phrasing, it's worth learning slow and bringing up to speed.The strumming
Pink Floyd's rhythm guitar here is an easy down-up strum. The signature feel comes from space between strums, not the strums themselves. Don't fill every beat.Practice metronome
60BPM
Start at 60 BPM. The real song is around 60 BPM, so once your version sounds clean at this tempo, you're playing along with David Gilmour himself.
Practice plan
- Day 1: just the chord changes (C → D → Am → G → D → C → Am → G). 10 minutes.
- Day 2: add the intro riff. Slow tempo. 15 minutes.
- Day 3: play the whole song with the recording at half speed (YouTube has a speed control). 20 minutes.
- Day 4: full speed. Mistakes are fine. Don't stop.
- Day 5: solo over the chord progression using A minor pentatonic shapes 1-2 (lesson 9-10). Add hammer-ons (lesson 7) for expression.
A note on tone
The recording is acoustic. On electric, use a clean tone and light reverb.Next: where to go from here.