Play along

Ode to Joy: guitar chords and tab for beginners

Symphony No. 9, 1824

Ode to Joy

by Ludwig van Beethoven

Tempo
112beats per minute
Count
4beats in each bar
Key
C majorthe home note
Level
1 of 3easiest
Bar 1:1 of 16Tap play to turn sound on
Key C major
0
Higher or lower, to match a voice.
Tempo112beats per minute right now

Level 1. Strum one chord per beat. Start here.

Chord names above, strum arrows below. Down arrow = strum down toward the floor, up arrow = back up.

01020304050607080910111213141516CGCGCGCGCGCGCGCGCGC↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑↓↓↑↑↓↑
Where your fingers go● press here · the number is which finger
EADGBeopen12345678910111232010

Hold this chord

C×321EADGBe

Coming up: G

Numbers are fingers: 1 index, 2 middle, 3 ring, 4 pinky.

Space bar plays and pauses. Left and right arrows jump a bar.

The chords

The chords in Ode to Joy

2 chords, all open shapes: C, G. 4 beats in each bar, 112 beats per minute, in C major.

About the song

Beethoven finished this tune in 1824 and could not hear it performed. It moves mostly by step, one note to its neighbour, so it sits under two fingers on the two thin strings. It is the classic first song for a reason.

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