Wonderwall Guitar Chords — Oasis Play-Along Guide

Why Wonderwall Is Every Guitarist's Rite of Passage

There's a reason the phrase "here's Wonderwall" became a cultural joke: this Oasis classic from 1995 is the first song millions of guitarists learn. Written by Noel Gallagher and featuring Noel's acoustic guitar work throughout, it has one of the most iconic chord progressions in modern rock. Four chords, a capo, and a strumming pattern — that's all it takes to play the whole song.

What Capo Do You Need?

Wonderwall uses a capo on the 2nd fret. Without a capo, the open chords won't match the recording. A capo shifts the pitch of the guitar up, so chord shapes stay simple while the key changes. Place it directly behind the 2nd fret (not on top of it) for a clean, buzz-free sound.

If you don't have a capo yet, you can still practice the chord shapes and muscle memory — just know that it'll sound in a different key than the original.

The Four Wonderwall Chords

Here are the four chords you need, written as open shapes with capo on fret 2:

• Em7 — Fingers: 2nd string 1st fret (middle finger), 3rd string 2nd fret (ring finger). Strings 1, 4, 5, 6 are open. This is the chord that opens the song.
• G major — Fingers: 2nd fret A string (middle), 3rd fret B string (ring), 3rd fret high E (pinky). All 6 strings ring. The open G gives it that chiming sound.
• Dsus4 — Like a D chord but with your pinky on the 3rd fret, 1st string instead of 2nd. Only strum strings 1–4. The suspended 4th gives it that unresolved, melancholy feel.
• A7sus4 — All open strings except the 2nd fret on the G string (middle finger). Strum strings 1–5. This one sounds deceptively open and droning.

The chord progression for the verse and most of the song is: Em7 → G → Dsus4 → A7sus4. The pre-chorus and chorus swap Dsus4 and A7sus4 in different orders. Listen to the original to get the feel — Noel Gallagher's guitar tone is clean and slightly compressed.

Wonderwall Strumming Pattern

The recognizable Wonderwall strum is a down-down-up-up-down-up pattern with heavy use of palm muting on the first beats. In strumming notation:

D D U U D U (with slight palm mute on beats 1 and 2)

At 87 BPM, this pattern gives the song its driving, rhythmic feel. When learning, start at half tempo (around 44 BPM) and focus on keeping the strumming hand moving consistently — even on muted or skipped beats, keep your wrist moving in a pendulum motion. The consistency of the strumming hand is more important than hitting every note perfectly.

How to Transition Between Chords Smoothly

The hardest transition for most beginners is moving between Em7 and G. Here's a tip: keep your middle and ring fingers anchored (or close to their positions) when moving between these chords — they don't move as much as you think. Think of it as adjusting around your ring finger rather than completely repositioning your hand.

The Em7 to G transition is also helped by the fact that Em7 is so minimal (just two fingers) — you have time to set up the G before the next strum.

Practice the transitions without strumming first: just click between chord shapes to a metronome until they feel automatic. Then add the strum.

Common Mistakes Playing Wonderwall

The biggest mistake beginners make is strumming all six strings on Dsus4 and A7sus4. Both chords use a smaller string subset — strumming the low E will muffle or muddy the sound. Focus your strum on the right string groups.

The second common mistake: not using a capo. The chords will feel the same but the song will be in a completely different key — which sounds fine for practice but is jarring when you try to play along with the recording or with other musicians.

Play Wonderwall Along with the Video

The best way to really learn this song is to play along with the recording. Guitaring's song play-along feature shows you the chord changes in real time as the video plays — so you can focus on your strumming and transitions without having to mentally track "which chord is next."

Wonderwall is available in the Guitaring song library with chord diagrams and real-time sync. Try playing along at reduced speed while you're learning, then gradually bring it back up to full tempo.