by Jeff Scheetz, TrueFire’s Director of Education

“You only need to know 3 chords.” We have heard that before. It is indeed true that there are about a million and one songs that can be played with 3 chords. The basic blues form that makes up the bulk of the blues catalog consists of 3 chords.

Well, the group called “Axis of Awesome” has stepped it up a notch… and given us 4 chords. These guys are a self-described Australian “Comedy Band.” They do a lot of funny stuff, but their skit where they take 4 chords and sing 70-some pop songs to those 4 chords shot them to the forefront of Youtubeville.

They show how 4 basic chords (what we call a I, V, vi, IV progression) can be played over and over while various pop melodies are dropped on top. They take a few liberties and “tweak” some of the melodies to fit into this format, but the result is actually kind of fun to listen to, and it turns out… really fun to play along with! Just good goofy fun!

So – in this video, I show you two simple ways to play these 4 chords and jam along with their whole video. If you are a real beginner you can still do this! But even if you have been playing for a while and can already play these chords – I would suggest you give it a go and jam along anyway, you might just find a smile on your face. 🙂

Just watch the video lesson above and then play along with the Axis of Awesome video below. Prepare to let out your “Inner Awesome!”

Axis of Awesome 4 Chords Video

For more from Jeff Scheetz, check out his TrueFire guitar courses, official website, and his Smart Practice Academy.