Fretening behaviour: The greatest A, B, C, D, E, F and G chords in rock history
Rock music doesn’t need to be complicated. Unlike other genres such as jazz and more progressive music, rock likes to keep the chords it uses and the rhythm that connects them relatively simple. Distortion, vigour and power are all that’s required to hammer home a great rock song, and the chords that make them up are often singular and always iconic. Bands such as Guns N’ Roses, AC/DC and Queen always prided themselves on their ability to deliver simple chord progressions in a way that sounded otherworldly.
When you start learning to play some of the greatest rock songs ever written, you’ll notice a lot of overlap surrounding the chords used throughout tracks. Simple chords, but played well, can create an incredibly powerful sound, and they provide the listener with instrumentation that is unlike anything else they’ve ever heard.
Given there is so much repetition when it comes to the chords that are used in rock music, it begs the question: which band does it best? These chords make the foundation of all the songs that we know and love, but there is no denying that some pack much more of a punch than others. Some chords, no matter how singular, greet you like the arms of a loved one as they ring through speakers and remind you how lucky you are to be alive at the same time as rock music.
This is a topic up for debate, and the depth of that debate only highlights just how much great rock music there truly is out there. However, here at Far Out, we have put together our list of the greatest A, B, C, D, E, F and G chords of all time.
The greatest singular chords in rock history
A: The Kinks – ‘You Really Got Me’
When you consider ‘You Really Got Me’ alongside some of the other rock songs that exist, it might sound slightly subdued; however, The Kinks really set the mould with this song, specifically with that A chord. The singular power of the chord showed how prominent a singular chord can be with the right tone and playing style, which set the foundation for the majority of rock songs that followed it.
“This was a radical-sounding record,” recalled the E Street Band’s Stevie Van Zandt, “When this came on the Top 30 radio, it was completely new to us. It went very high, as did ‘All Day And All Of The Night’. It was radical, and you have to give [producer] Shel Talmy credit for that.”
B: Queen – ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’
OK, it’s technically a Bb, not a B, but for a song this iconic, I was willing to bend the rules a little bit. If there is one song where you can guarantee everyone within earshot will be singing along, you can always bank on ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. The moment those opening lines of “Mama, just killed a man” kick in, everyone is standing to attention, and it all leans on that opening Bb.
The B is an easy chord to play around with in rock. By playing the power chord and lifting your first finger on and off, you have the foundation for some great, gritty blues music. The way that Queen managed to use it here to give off more of a ballad effect is truly inspiring, and we never tire of listening to it.
C: The Beatles – ‘Let It Be’
There’s a funny scene in Danny Boyle’s Yesterday where the main character (and only person who can remember The Beatles) begins playing ‘Let It Be’ for his parents as if he wrote it. They begin talking over the initial C chord, and his frustration as the musician resonates with us, the audience, as that beginning C chord sets up so much promise and acts as the buffer for one of the most beautiful songs ever made.
McCartney admitted that the song came to him in a dream when his mother came to him and tried to reassure him not to worry about life’s stressors. “She was reassuring me, saying, ‘It’s going to be OK, just let it be’,” he said, “I felt so great. She gave me the positive words. I woke up and thought, ‘What was that? She said ‘Let It Be.’ That’s good’. So I wrote the song ‘Let It Be’ out of positivity.”
D: Guns N’ Roses – ‘Sweet Child O Mine’
Given how iconic it’s become, it’s hard to believe that Slash initially hated the Guns N’ Roses song ‘Sweet Child O Mine’ and wrote the intro riff to try and sabotage it. “I hated it for years,” he said previously. “But it would cause such a reaction, so I’ve finally gotten to appreciate it.”
The riff he wrote to try to put people off the song ended up being one of his most iconic guitar lines. While it sounds great on its own, it’s that hard-hitting D chord that comes in on the second play-through that really gives the introduction depth. Tuned half a step down, the chord sequence gives the song a ballad sound, but one drenched in unrelenting rock.
E: AC/DC – ‘Back In Black’
What is the correct way to mourn a rock star? We could be sad, go through a period of reflection and silence, but they weren’t like that in life, so why remember them like that in death? In every interview with Angus Young, he seems to have a story about Bon Scott and the adventurous way he lived his life.
“His mother put him on a plane once; he went to see his folks in Australia,” recalled Young, “She put him on a plane in London. Guy, who was doing our tour managing, went to collect him, you know, he was gonna meet him at the airport, and he got the airport and called us up, and he said, ‘No Bon’.”
Young remembers Bon Scott for the man he was, so there was no time for mourning because that’s not what he would have wanted. Instead, in memory of their friend, the band wrote one of the greatest rock songs ever made. The introduction consists of nothing more than eight light taps on the high hat before a singular, sharp hit of what is undoubtedly the greatest E chord ever recorded. That first note of ‘Back in Black’ remains unmistakable in its simplicity.
F: The Animals – ‘House of the Rising Sun’
You don’t need to be a genius to recognise ‘House of the Rising Sun’ as one of the most iconic rock songs ever written. Before you even listen to it, purely based on the number of legends that have covered the track, you can identify it as something special. It’s this variation and the music industry’s apparent challenge to do the best cover of the song, which makes the F contained at the end of the first bar so iconic.
Most songs on this list begin with their respective chords, but here, the F comes in as the fourth. Am, C, D, F, played right at the end of the first line “There is a house in New Orleans,” and at the end of many other lines throughout the song in the same way. The F is played either in periods of wordlessness or on the final word of the line, and it’s during these moments that those covering the song put their own spin on it, either with vocal displays or various inflexions that add a twist.
The chord remains iconic because it remains the point of versatility on which people have continued the legacy of this beautiful track. That F is not just a placeholder; it acts as a moment of opportunity where musicians can play around and add their individuality. It’s a true testament to the act of creativity and the versatility of rock.
G: Black Sabbath – ‘Black Sabbath’
Black Sabbath announced their final show this year, so it only feels right to pay homage to the song that started everything, both in terms of Black Sabbath and heavy metal as a genre. Their song, which spoke of demons, torment, and all the themes that would set the foundation of metal, wouldn’t mean anything without that initial, earth-shattering G chord.
It’s played as a simple power chord, with the first finger on the E string third fret and the third finger playing the A string fifth fret. It’s just two notes, but they come together to create an atmosphere that feels full of life. Every time it rings out throughout the song, its impact is so great that it feels like it’s the first time we are hearing it. Truly a song for the ages.
