Guitar chords to Wish You Were Here

What are the guitar chords to Wish You Were Here?

Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd uses six chords: Em7, G, A7sus4, C, D and Am, with no capo and standard tuning. The intro alternates Em7 and G, then Em7 and A7sus4, before landing on G; the verses run C, D, Am, then C, D, G.

What is the intro chord progression?

The intro is Em7, G, Em7, G, Em7, A7sus4, Em7, A7sus4, G, played twice: once with the famous single-note riff over the top and once with the lead fills. Hold each chord for a full bar and let the open strings ring.

How do I play the Em7 and A7sus4 shapes?

Em7 here is an open Em with the ring and little fingers on the third fret of the B and high E strings (022033), and A7sus4 is the open A7 with the little finger on the third fret of the high E (x02033). Keeping those two top-string fingers down through the whole intro is what gives the song its ringing sound.

Is Wish You Were Here easy for beginners?

The chords are all open shapes with no barre, so the song is beginner-friendly once the Em7 to G change is smooth. The riff between the chords takes longer; learn the chords and strumming first and add the riff when the changes are automatic.

What is the strumming pattern?

Down, down-up, up-down-up per bar works for the verses, and the intro is mostly ringing chords with picked single notes rather than strummed. Play along with the record to get the feel; the original is slower than most people play it at first.

Get the chords timed to the video

Paste the YouTube link into ChordGrab and it shows these chords above the lyrics as the song plays, so you can see each change coming. Works on the studio version, live versions and covers, which often use a capo.

Try it on a song you actually want to play

ChordGrab is free to start. Paste a YouTube link in the app and the chords come back in about a minute, with diagrams, transcribed lyrics and a play-along.