How to play Wonderwall by Oasis
Wonderwall is the 1995 smash hit from Oasis’ second album, the internationally acclaimed What’s The Story (Morning Glory). Wonderwall’s distinctive acoustic guitar intro has become instantly recognizable to music fans everywhere. Although it was the fourth single taken from the album, it became the band’s biggest hit and is now, in the 2020’s, their signature song.
Chords : Em7 G D4/A C2 Asus7/G and Asus7
Is the chord progression in the chorus correct? Owing to the intense ‘brickwalling’ production effects used in the recording, it is difficult to hear exactly what chord the rhythm guitar is playing in some sections. The chorus is C2 - Em7 - G - Asus7 over an E bass. The fourth chord is difficult to hear as the cello and bass are playing a low E but the melody at that point fits the Asus7. Most online sources suggest this chord as Em(7) but the progression does move to a fourth chord in the sequence. Asus7/E and Em7 are very similar chords, and both will work but the Asus7 keeps the progression moving and leads naturally back to the C2. The final chord is Em7.
Pick or fingers? on steel-string guitars, a medium-hard pick will create get the strumming style of the original recording. For nylon-string guitar a medium-gauge nylon pick will sound closest to the recording style but the nylon strings will not give you the distinctive jangle of the original. If you use your finger-nails, you will create a brighrt, neo-Spanish guitar style (and if you are singing in Spanish this could sound pretty cool!).
Capo : Yes, at the 2nd fret to match the pitch of the recorded version. The chart is written in E Minor but the Oasis original is in the key of F# Minor.
How does the strumming pattern go? The rhythm pattern for Wonderwall is a combination of quavers (half-beat strums) and semiquavers (quarter-beat strums). Although it may appear complex it is a pretty regular acoustic Rock rhythm. If you follow the down and up strum symbols the rhythm should make sense. Most important is to observe is that the tied strums remove a down-strum; the semiquaver after the tied strum really must be an up-strum (otherwise you end up upside-down!).
Relevant pages in Modern Guitar Chord Styles 1 : To learn about rhythm slash notation and ‘alternate strumming’ look at pages 4, 10 and 20-21. Then turn to page 31 to learn about semiquaver counting and strumming. Stick with the advised down and up strum patterns and you should be okay (‘free-styling’ doesn’t work on semiquaver patterns).