"What's Up" Guitar Tutorial - Easy 3 Chord Song! | (aka "What's Going On") by 4 Non Blondes

Learn how to play "What's Up" by 4 Non Blondes (commonly known as "What's Going On" Guitar Tutorial). This easy 3-chord song is perfect for beginners since it's the same 3-chord progression over and over, with a simple strumming pattern.
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First, I'm going to show you how to play this song with a capo at the 2nd fret (which makes it SUUUUPER easy). For those of you who don't have a capo or are a bit more advanced, in the 2nd half of this lesson I show you how to play it without a capo (which requires a barre chord).
The tutorial opens with the chord shapes: G, Am and C. All of these are among the first few chords people learn on guitar, so I don't spend too much time going over them (if you need extra help I go over them in my eBook and my course). We practice playing them in order, to get some chord-switching practice, and then we learn a strumming pattern.
The strumming pattern is deceptively simple. It looks really long and complex, but it's actually 2 simpler strumming patterns "glued" together. We discuss the best way to break it down, and if you approach it like that you'll get it down in no time!
After that, we learn how to play the song without a capo, which requires 3 entirely different chord shapes: A, Bm and D. 2 of these chords are easy, but the Bm chord is definitely a challenge. I show you a quick way to conceptualize it, but if you have trouble I recommend going through my barre chord miniseries (free on my site - goodguitarist.c...)
Finally, we practice playing the song together and that's it! This is a really straight-forward "3-chord wonder" and with a bit of practice should be no problem!
Enjoy!
-James
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[@Lloyd5148]

Best on TH-cam...soft spoken, patient, kind, thorough, lyrics with chords...perfect.

[@mandingopopeye1286]

True

[@jorgelopez8493]

That's really great. You make it look easy , but isn't so let's keep trying. Thank you for the lesson. God bless you.

[@cooperpunkjc]

Superb 👏👏👏 I need to know how to play that riff!! Do you have it?

[@nilaramdas7700]

Thank you for this lesson.. I appreciate the idea ... And I like it so much.. its easy to understand and follow

[@anticristo007able]

Thank you. You're really good at teaching. I just learned it in the 13:47 minutes.

[@caly2108]

I love the way you teach!❤

[@Good_Guitarist]

Aw, thank you! - James

[@caly2108]

Good Guitarist ❤

[@aspenx1304]

I love this song !!!

[@ezamohdesa6283]

Good lesson to study

[@sonnypenales7]

Great easy tutorial Thank you

[@eddysanta1213]

Beautiful.good lessons ..thanks.

[@josepineda929]

Love your tutorials

[@Good_Guitarist]

Hello again Jose, thanks for the continued support! - James

[@erinluhvs7449]

Thank you for sharing. I am a total novice, seen others strum it
D DUD DUDUDU UDU

[@lemuelyatali1633]

Very nice!!!

[@CONRADICAL970]

Thanks for everything you do. Ive recently come across your page, and I have finally found the best song teacher on TH-cam.
Is there any way you can put up a video of Harvest Moon by Neil Young ?
Thank you Again and Again and Again.... Your videos kick A**

[@Good_Guitarist]

Hey Conrad, thanks for the request - I love Neil Young. Thanks for calling me the best on TH-cam, it means a lot! - James

[@calmarcum2724]

Thanks man.

[@eddysanta1213]

I like it !? Nice teaching !!!! Thanks ? (. GRACIAS )

[@ineselml1689]

Merci beaucoup pour vos excellentes videos!!
Can you do "Thank you" by Dido

[@shamithmylar8799]

please anyone send me the download link of the Music that's playing in the background

[@richardsrensen4219]

hi thanks for a good lesson is there not a pdf for this song?

[@ilovegitaar]

thx

[@Lloyd5148]

Request, please..." Hello Darlin"...Conway Twitty.

[@blue_sugar_falls]

How do you keep strumming while changing chords?

[@Good_Guitarist]

The key is to keep it simple. Start with just 2 chords (even a 3-chord song can be too much at first!) and use a really simple pattern. I have a tutorial that goes over my entire process for absolute beginners: th-cam.com/video/l91FHR4JOdc/w-d-xo.html

[@melodyvalentine8779]

Because you're using the other hand lol jk. It wasn't so much that that tripped me up in the beginning, it was singing while strumming a pattern. I could only sing if I was playing all down strums but then I learned to sing while playing dduudu, I still struggle with more complicated patterns but you just have to keep playing the pattern without singing and bit by bit you'll find yourself singing a word or a line here and there without ballsing the rhythm up. You usually change chords on the last up stroke so have time to change to the next chord without a gap, only time I don't do that is if I'm playing all down strums with an accent on the third strum and use the fourth as a gap on purpose if that makes sense 😅 you'd have to see what u meant in person or you can do it ddddu so you still end up ready to go back down when you change chords

[@joy1393]

Can you please do the song I’ll try by Kj Apa please

[@lewienockall809]

Please can you do say something by Justin timberlake

[@gemarkarbak3828]

Hey man your tutorial are really amaging
Can u do let me by zayn

[@nicolepicknell6351]

You can hear the singers voice threw the solo

[@davecooke7868]

There is no capo on original song

[@vGhost422]

Every time I hear this I think of that He-Man meme

[@Good_Guitarist]

Haha

[@gillesravet8248]

Why using a capo ? Just play the chords A Bm and D

[@AV-ss1jw]

he shows that later in the video

[@vodkaone1053]

I think he just wanted to make it a bit simpler for beginners, and to show what can be done with a capo.