How to Play “Wish You Were Here” by Pink Floyd | Beginner Guitar Lesson

In the above video is a quick lesson on how to play one of the most famous guitar intros of all time: the unforgettable opening to the Pink Floyd classic “Wish You Were Here.” This passage cleverly combines three open chords with a handful of simple yet catchy single-note lines that tie the chords together beautifully, creating an instantly memorable melody. To add further to its ear-catching vibe, this iconic introduction was performed on a 12-string guitar that was recorded to sound like it was being played through an old AM radio.

As promised in the video lesson, here are the chord windows for the trio of open chords being used: Em7, G, and A7sus4.

As you can see, all three chords involve the G and D notes at the third fret of the high E and B strings, respectively. And as the lesson reveals, if you’re smart (and I know you are!), then you can play the entire intro with those notes held down. This is because the simple G major pentatonic (G, A, B, D, and E) scale runs between can then easily be played with your index and middle digits, leaving your ring finger and pinky free to fret the two high strings without having to ever move them.

As you can see in the above chord diagrams, there are two fingering options for each of these three chords. The first option has you fretting the notes on the B and high E strings with your ring finger and pinky, respectively. This is the way most guitarists I know fret these chords. That said, as revealed when I play this classic intro at the very start of the video, I often fret these two notes by simply barring the high E and B strings with my pinky. As always, I suggest that you try both of these fingering options and then go with the one that suits you best!

Have fun with the “Wish You Were Here” intro. It’s living, breathing proof that a guitar part doesn’t have to be complex or difficult to have a massive impact.

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