How to play End of Beginning by Djo
End of Beginning by Djo (aka Joe Keery of Stranger Things fame ) is a billion+ streaming hit released in 2022. Since going viral on Tik Tok in 2024 the medium-tempo ‘80s vibe of End of Beginning has made it one of the most popular tunes currently on Spotify and is perfect for electric or steel-string acoustic guitarists.
Chords: D D5 B5 A5 G G5 A
Pick or Fingers? Pick will work best, especially on electric. End of Beginning needs steady down-strokes on the quaver rhythm to create the ‘80s style Rock rhythm that underpins the whole song.
Acoustic or Electric? To best emulate the style of the original use your electric guitar, but End of Beginning will also sound good on a good quality steel-string acoustic. Having a mix of open-position forms with a couple power-chords makes it suitable for acoustic steel.
What are the crossed strums for? A rhythm-slash with a cross-head is a ‘percussive strum’ - a muted effect made by relaxing the chord fingers just enough to make sure you only hear the blunt percussive sound of the pick striking the muted strings; this a common rhythm effect often used to disguise a chord change.
How does the timing work? The whole of End of Beginning is based on a very steady quaver rhythm and played with flat, short-stroke down-strums. The percussive strums in the intro bar are emulating the drum machine pattern that introduces the track. Count this as “1 2 and 3 and 4” and so on.
Relevant pages in Modern Guitar Chord Styles 2 : to learn more about the power-chords and their related bar chord forms, and and about the rhythm techniques used in End of Beginning go to pages 4 - 5, 7, 8 - 9 and 14
Need a bit of help?
Modern Guitar Chord Styles 2 is a must-have guide to Electric guitar chords and rhythm styles. It teaches you how to read the rhythm slash notation used in our charts (as used in professional theatre & studio charts) and is specially designed to build your strength and stamina with bar-chords, and extend your moveable chords vocabulary. An excellent tutor for the developing electric guitarist.
