Ed Sheeran bet he can Play Any POP Song With Just 4 Chords - RTL LATE NIGHT

[@krogdog]

The first 10 years of Rock & Roll was basically just the 12-bar blues format reworked over and over. But it all sounded great, and still does!

[@Baribrotzer]

That and a close cousin to the Four Chord song Ed plays here, just in a different order: I - vi - IV - V. Bruuuuuce still uses that one a lot.

[@TheophilusBoone]

Non-musicians think this is a big deal. But anyone playing the guitar a few years will know this and can do it. About 99% of all songs, especially those on the radio, are nothing but 3, 4 chords. Many are just 2. And a few are just one. Good musicians and songwriters, as they develop, would love to add more complex harmonic structure to their songs, but the record companies/producers etc. will not promote them. So mostly you don't hear their more original songs. Check it out. Your ears, your mind is programmed, from birth, to want these same changes slightly rearranged. It's all you've ever heard unless you go back to the jazz/big band era. It's as simple as A,B,C. Or more accurately A,D,E (1,4,5 chords in the key of A). All these megastars are giving you the same patterns over and over and over-ad infinitum. Check out standard jazz songs and their chords and you will see how rich and melodic songs can be.

[@Lisa-re9bz]

the guitar playing isn't the impressive part, I just woudn't know how the singing part of the song goes :D, you tell me anys song and my brain says... i think I might have heard that somwhere.... maybe

[@KyTaundry]

Yes exactly, been playing for bout 7yrs now properly, before that as a child I played but wasn't very interested until my teens. Music is just a formula to me at this point, I encourage those who are shocked by this video to pick a guitar up and get lost in the music like Ed does here! Once you learn these basics you can do exactly that.

[@nathanblades3395]

Yeah I used to teach guitar as a buisness in high school didn't pan out because I taught every one the basic open cords and power cords in 2 weeks and I would lose a customer 😅

[@Chris-D9]

It's either non-musicians think it's a big deal or some musicians are pompous dbags.

[@nadenejohnson1266]

Glad you can play i

[@Jivanmuktaintraining]

Em7 Cadd9 G D. Plant the ring finger on the 3rd fret on the second string and move around the index and pinky. The note in common is a ringing-out D which anchors the song.

[@IntraDimensionalCrafter]

Thank you so much!!! This is what I came to the comments for 🙂 (I just started guitar 2 weeks ago and ukulele today)

[@BlaineKleinMusic]

Ed takes the crowd through an improv version of Uptown Funk. He starts the verse. The crowd is somewhat unsure if he will keep going. Ed leans in and amps up the energy when he hits the pre chorus. The crowd is now sold and literally think they are at a Bruno Mars concert. The amazingly classic build to the chorus continues. The chorus drop is seconds away. Boom. Ed pulls the plug. Savage.

[@TwooMax]

Why did I read it with the voice of the narrator in BG3? 😂😂

[@bencheevers6693]

This is why I like him, and his music is good just not generally my genre but he's very personable and talented

[@renealbrechtsen9743]

Ed Sheeran is the Dave Grohl of pop. :)

[@zeroryoko1974]

Axis of awesome lol

[@sirdadream3268]

Any musician will know that this isn’t hard. No Matter what key a song is in your no matter what your brain will find a way to put it together and change the melody of what your singing to fit what your playing

[@WesR7009]

1 4 5 6m

[@ToxPhy]

Even to a non-musician I think I can explain. Most pop songs are written in a 4/4 time signature (and even those that aren’t are often 2/4 or 3/4) so they’re likely to only use 4 chords. Pop music is designed to be pleasant to listen to so songwriters will usually use chords that sound pleasant to the ear. 4/4 time, pleasant sounding, there you go, 4 chords. The formula is still used because it works.

[@Bcofandy]

It's like in jazz, there are no mistakes, everything is jazz

[@TheSloaneandValentineSho-vu3im]

Boooo just enjoy a little braggadocio and shut it

[@mccritical]

For anything written in C major, you learn Am7, Dm7, and Em7, then drop (or mute) the root when you need to play them as a C major, F major or G major chord. Use the Bdim7 as your final chord. I know everyone assumes Axis of Awesome is in play here, but minor 7ths contain a minor chord for the root and a major chord for its flatted third, so all chords in a major scale can be represented here. Not how he does it, but that's how I'd do it.

[@jeremy49]

I bet he was happy he has previously recorded this for his trial 😂

[@sml_photography]

I was thinking the same thing!!

[@RedJLP]

Even if he didn’t, he could have just gone “What about the Axis of Awesome?”

[@austinking8004]

Axis of Awesome done this shit for 13 years (at least) before this interview

[@MrHatchbody]

Truth

[@neilbroadbent5356]

Yep he used their video as an example in plagerism law suit and won

[@qj1247]

Exactly

[@calumarmstrong9416]

Thats how i got here

[@jeremybreinig4782]

Axis of awesome did this a few years back

[@MidianVGC]

"I-V-vi-IV progression" if you wanna learn more about it and its origin

[@submissions72]

Brilliant musician

[@blakerogers9600]

Actually the whole point he's making is how easy it is in the pop industry that they all pretty much rip on the same 4 chords over and over again. Many beginner musicians already know this. If you want brilliant musicians just look at Stevie Wonder, any Jazz artist or Ne Obliviscaris or Between the Buried and Me. Those are actual good artists.

[@arleen289]

​@@blakerogers9600Ed Sheeran is a real artista pls

[@j4miee]

He played Abba whilst trying to play Michael Jackson whilst thinking he was playing Madonna 🤣

[@chikoloko135]

Lay all your love on me lmao

[@melodyvalentine8779]

He was singing The Vengaboys Boom Boom Boom when not ABBA. "When you're alone and you need a friend, someone to make you forget your problems, just come along baby take my hand, I'll be your lover tonight" 😅 he hummed that whole part and still thought it was a different song

[@hanzib31]

​@@melodyvalentine8779 it was abba! "I wasn't jealous before we met, now every woman I see is a potential threat". Lay all your love on me!

[@daMoonSon]

Looks like you are both right it sounds like Abba and Vengaboys. How?

[@yen-hsenliem5497]

​​@@daMoonSonbecause Vengaboys probably "were inspired by" or flat out ripped off ABBA. It just reinforces Ed's point, the point that was basically proven by the Axis of Awesome years prior to Ed's plagiarism trial, that most pop songs use those same 4 chords. This is not groundbreaking news. In fact, it is my understanding that Ed even used AOA's performance of their 4 Chords song as evidence in his trial. Search "4 chords Axis of Awesome"

[@panda4247]

1:20 that was Lay Your Love On Me by ABBA, if I am not mistaken

[@mbuckholz]

Chords he's talking about are G D EM C. Although I did see an ADDC9 in there

[@zackv3957]

Yeah but most people who don't play are not going to recognize the difference between Cadd9 and a regular C.

[@Mo-xx9gg]

But he says that "his" four chords are G, Am, C and F

[@milolaigle]

He cheated

[@BrandensOutdoorChannel]

Em7 Cadd9

[@naveennishad]

This brain is doing so many things , connecting melodies like butter

[@enambhuiyan2733]

Ed sheeran is a great singer.

[@AaronBowley]

this is pretty much the first thing i teacher my beginner piano and guitar students. in fact i taught this to a 6 year old earlier today 😂

[@mikalfatale]

It is literally been this way since the 50s the most popular songs are either GECD or CAFG or some variation of those chord progressions.

[@calebcooper]

ode to Axis of Awesome.

[@laurencevanhelsuwe3052]

Frank Zappa is, of course, a genius...

[@crazycooper1024]

Well, yeah, those are the basic chords to a lot of songs...but there is probably more/different chords that might be used throughout later in the song.

[@ericjadanistan5692]

Who is the lady host, she is stunning

[@JacolienVond]

Yolanthe Cabau van Kasbergen😉

[@greekstyle5788]

Damn his vocals on uptown funk are incredible

[@brianharder7714]

Damn. The man has an ear. What a machine!

[@ditbeniknietjij]

haha he dips the neck behind the table during the last song because he is using more cords and he looks very gild aware :P

[@axelerator24]

Who the f**k is she? Never seen such a beauty!

[@Ninja_Sloth]

Yolanthe Cabau

[@irh1738]

ED = LEGEND

[@sapphirelatina]

I remember paul mccartney exposing this with the piano too.

[@melodyvalentine8779]

He was singing The Vengaboys Boom Boom Boom Boom when he was asked to do Beat It and when he realised he was wrong he thought it was Papa Don't Preach 😂

[@ancientmewtb]

Yeahh I heard that too 😂

[@fabriciolefundes3218]

0:59 - ok, but this one (G/F#) is not part of the initial 4 chords 😆

[@Hezkezl]

That song is very famously part of the Axis of Awesome - Four Chord song, so yeah it should be part of that.

[@raulortega9744]

The lady that suggested walking away she is so pretty. What is her name. ❤

[@GManKeepsltReal]

Her name is “Anita Bejay”

[@jonathanlatimer2060]

"Never Going to Let You Go" by Sergio Mendes. GO. :P

[@BozhidarPopov-f2c]

That is I-vi-iii-VII chord progression - the most famous pop progression. He played E-Cm--Gm-D

[@MicClr]

Do you not mean I V vi IV? I'm a piano player so I couldn't tell what chords he was playing on guitar

[@Deon-t9o]

LOL people don't understand how simple music really is to musicians lol

[@alessandro32]

the music is simple and predictable, the lyrics are banal. instead of being horrified at the reveal, those in the video seem to marvel at it. good lord...

[@pinknblues1]

hats off hes spot on here

[@jamesdean0885]

They seem fun, that blad fella love to hit the nxe button more than me, poor Ed. 😂

[@authorpatrickalain]

What are the four chords ?

[@p46stefan]

Em7, G , Cadd9, D

[@WoolyChewbakker]

Has he found the missing fourth cord for Status Quo 😊

[@highdesertbiker]

hey buddy THATS 5 CHORDS BROOOOOOOOOOO

[@tahmidbafi7634]

@A person can u tell me the name of those chords

[@domenikvalci7743]

Tahmid Bafi Em-C-G-D

[@DashCat9]

They give up the fact that this was (at least partially) scripted here. Dude just coincidentally pulls out the ONE Beatles song that features this chord progression. It's not every pop song, it's just a *super* common series of chords.

[@lyrebird9749]

Yes, I bet he couldn't play 'Strawberry Fields', or 'I am the walrus', or 'Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite' or even 'Here, there and everywhere' with that simple chord progression! Or dozens of other Beatles songs. Not without ruining them that is.

[@matthewjohnson3656]

@@lyrebird9749those other Beatles songs aren’t really pop songs.

[@H-DOG1-456]

Beet it beet it beet and I wanna beet it beet it

[@stupidamgeit]

I’ll see you in hell Pachelbel…

[@uoohknk6881]

This only works with new songs because older songs were way more complex and often jazz influenced with plus the older songs had bridges

[@Beowulf_93]

Rock is Pop as well. 😂

[@koine2002]

Rhythm and Blues from the 50’s was the I vi IV V turnaround. The same 4 chords (C Am F G in the key of C). Even Jazz is just that progression but with a bunch of 7th, add9, diminished, augmented, and other made-up-on-the-spot modifications of modifications of modifications of those chords.

[@demejiuk5660]

Jazz is comlex but can be simplified and ultimately distilled down to as few chords as you like.

[@koine2002]

@@demejiuk5660 exactly. Jazz is about breaking rules and pushing musical boundaries-including its own.

[@uoohknk6881]

Nope. "Every Breath you Take" has a bridge that is nothing like the current top 40. Ed Sheeran is a serial copy cat. His intro for "Shape of You" is the same as Tracy Chapman's "Mountain o Things" so he credit some excuse to save his arse@@demejiuk5660

[@richarddeluna2268]

He's so talented

[@vinceserna3270]

G Cadd9 EM7(Em7) D(D/G) strumming is the keeeeyyy

[@Kazuya720]

Damn... talent is there or not. Sure he does his homework, but he is awesome!

[@k30lauST]

Setting up for his lawsuit

[@n1gg4sf0r]

i can do this too. btw is the subtitles in dutch?

[@SwedenNeedsHelp]

That was not Madonna (Papa don’t preach), that was Lay all your love on me with ABBA.

[@BigcountryReactions]

Him and drake white are the rain men of music

[@djjk4486]

I'm afraid it's jungle we need

[@jahmaicanjay9622]

Ed Sheeran is the greatest

[@marktruong7937]

Everyone was like keep going T.T

[@Daily_Dose-Cinema]

What’s the cords

[@justinkyle5091]

Pssshhh…try Kiss from a rose…

[@christineblack4654]

any song can be sung in deferent keys even if they truly are in another key. lol. he sings them to his voice tone and key doesnt mean it was writen that way at all.

[@joefrench1353]

Lots of songs use different chord progressions to that

[@darrintone7371]

nirvana in bloom or lithium. good luck

[@dopeod1]

That's not pop, lol

[@cbr900son]

Uptown funk is Mark Ronson FEATURING Bruno

[@anubol6808]

Peterpan - mimpi yg sempurna

[@Baribrotzer]

This is sometimes known as the Axis Progression or the Four Chord Song; I call it the Taylor Swift Progression because she uses it so much. Although what you heard here was partly rigged: Why do you think the interviewer came up with "Let It Be", when it is the ONLY Beatles song with that particular I - V - iv - VI progression?

[@mccritical]

Except that's not what he's doing. Not every song uses the Axis Progression, and based on what some of the others are saying here, he's using complex chords to perform double duty. The simplest method would be to learn the minor 7th chords of a key and substitute them for the root minor and the flatted third major in the key. It depends more on what the audience is hearing, rather than what Sheeran is actually playing, and since Ed is singing along with it, he's directing the audience towards the "triad" he wants them to hear. A major or minor key only has 7 triad chords, and using minor 7ths leaves you with three chords plus a minor7flat5 chord to round things out. David Bennett Piano has a video on the Royal Road Progression IV-V-iii-vi, where he plays two Rick Astley songs, "Forever Together" which actually uses the Royal Road, and the infamous "Never Gonna Give You Up" which sounds like a Royal Road progression, but it's actually ii7-V-iii-vi (people hear it as the Royal Road progression because the ii7 also contains the notes that make up the IV triad).

[@Baribrotzer]

@@mccritical And he's also not necessarily using them in the Axis order. Any I - IV - V song uses three of those four chords, the Blues Progression uses the same three, and the Fifties Progression I - vi - IV - V uses all of them - but none of those are in the Axis order. I had never heard of the Royal Road Progression before, but from the Wikipedia article it seems to be the Japanese equivalent of the Axis Progression.

[@bassalchemist]

Yeah,Axis of Awesome was about 10 years ahead of Ed on this one. Most metalheads have known this 20-25 years earlier than that. Most of us got bored with it before high school. Hey, no offense to Ed or pop fans though,I actually like him. Nothing personal.

[@curiositydidntkillme]

You’re assuming Ed is assuming musical peeps haven’t known this forever instead of realising he’s trying to share with the common non muso person

[@bassalchemist]

@@curiositydidntkillme what assumption? Where? What are you talkin about? You saw the hosts reaction to his statement and the audience's reaction to the evidence,when he is able to prove it. This response is not unusual at all most people are shocked when they find out how easy it really is,and how they've been hearing the same progressions over and over. They keep cutting the budget for art and music programs in schools (if they even have one at all) so most people have no idea what in the world it is that they are listening to. I think everybody should watch this clip.

[@alexandrplashchinsky2392]

Clever trick of musicians. Many of these songs actually cant be played with just those chords. However, most songs can be played with just those chords IF the vocal melody of the song is transposed to the key of the chords. This is what Ed is doing, so technically the songs (as they exist in reality) cant actually be played with just those chords.

[@FREiZTV]

Who’s that woman? 😅

[@FREiZTV]

Well, dang 😔😂

[@Drumrock361]

He's right about Beat It. It's almost just 4 chords.

[@christineblack4654]

actualy havent you heard plenty of old punk rock and newer use only 3 chords so. this is one chord more.

[@andrewlilad9978]

Im Andrew Li and i thik Ed sheeran.... he's pretty rizzy... dont tell my girlfriend

[@thatbarisax2943]

What chords?

[@CrystalDRowley]

The four basic cords

[@marciaandreia8758]

👋👋👋👋👋

[@martijn3151]

Let him try Radiohead.

[@ewenyap3018]

he said pop songs :)..

[@bri7757]

What chords are they

[@Xuzzas]

Em7 Cadd9 G D

[@Mo-xx9gg]

​@@Xuzzas Nope!

[@parmaman8551]

I'm not expert, but I think it's slightly flawed. Would you be able to identify some of the songs if Ed wasn't singing the lyrics?

[@nickvegas2459]

He'd rather sing than talk

[@gorrokasali305]

What are the chords?

[@vamosintherift287]

GECD or something along those lines

[@josh18230]

E minor, C, G, D. You hold down the third fret of the b&e to make it easier to switch between the chords wonderwall style

[@FleivaSleiva]

How did he get an Abba song into his head when asked to do beat it, and how does he not know beat it at least a little bit >:

[@evanh1066]

T.A.L.E.N.T 😳👌🏾

[@bss-electric5866]

whats the 4 chords tho

[@DucksSchool]

@@KayvonAfshari When he demonstrated he didn't touch the first fret, how is he supposed to play C then?

[@lucassoto5918]

@@DucksSchool Em7 Cadd9 G and D

[@lucassoto5918]

@@Luna_Belle_Voix read these "bottom to top", meaning the thinnest string (high e) first and the thickest string (low E) last: Em7: 0-3-0-2-2-0 Cadd9: 3-3-0-2-3-x G: 3-3-0-0-2-3 D: 2-3-2-0-x-x

[@brennenherr4016]

@@lucassoto5918 just curious cause I'm also a beginner what's the difference between an x and a zero on a tabs chart

[@BigMotionTVV]

@@brennenherr4016 0 is open string and and x I assume means don’t play that string

[@Stash777]

Every song with these four chords em C G D ok play let it be er ok that’s going to need d/f#

[@TheNewb187]

notice how he can openly say GOD DAMN but not saying anything else curse wise...

[@DrJUSTICE813]

He said Frank Zappa goes Fucking weird with it, I'd say Fuck is the king of curse words. Open your ears.

[@onegcds]

Play let's get in on!

[@iancameron7292]

The male host seemed to be unfamiliar with any current pop songs. Nervously suggests Beat it! Gives his age away.

[@eightw5783]

Seen this many times but always pre scripted, he gets confused by Beat It (sings Don't go Wasting Your Emotion) and a few others Ok it may not be a big deal but to know that many songs and throw in the names of the guys who don't follow the rules. A man serious about music.

[@surfcaster]

I’m an intermediate guitar player and I can do this as well. Most if not all popular songs have the easiest chords. A lot are super boring to play because it get repetitive

[@JackRooney-s5q]

let her go - not fair - ed sheeran wrote that song didn't he?

[@noahspeirs945]

Wish he would of went a little further in to let it be

[@mikelafleur441]

You can if you play many songs incorrectly. He like the fake books

[@praphuloraon1317]

Omg

[@Beowulf_93]

Of course he can. All his songs use the same method.

[@namelesssomebody2557]

Axis of Awesome did this 1st

[@outhere2253]

Which is kinda part of his point... he's not saying "look how fuckin good I am, I can play any song in 4 chords" he's explaining how he was able to win a lawsuit over chord progressions.

[@kevinbehan9284]

They missed the point lmao

[@stepuptothemike9603]

This video best explains why I don't care for Ed Sheeran's music - he can play any song on the pop charts. A wonderful talent, but only as unique as a cookie amongst a batch of millions of dozens of cookies.

[@sirdrprofessor2890]

U can play EVERY top song with these four chords. Play Beat It. Whoops seem to have misspoke.

[@AWizardRed]

Sir Dr Professor he said every current top charts pop song, which is true.

[@Pean.]

Axis of Awesome did it first.

[@outhere2253]

Something tells me people were using those 4 chords before Axis of Awesome. It's almost like Music has been around as long as we can remember.

[@irh1738]

These guys are so crap with their recommendations Ed is literally asking for current pop songs. The guy says Beatles which was ok then Beat it? She says Craig David Walking Away and then bloody Spice Girls. When Ed asked again he gives some wack Beyonce song. Even Bruno Mars. Crap presenters.

[@LiamAlixsons-o1b]

Taylor Eric Johnson Susan Jones Paul

[@mi3937]

Rivalutiamo Ligabue allora... comunque non è vero

[@trollfack2966]

The axis already did this

[@vgupta2484]

This is a real musician and singer unlike Taylor who just feels so fake