Laern how to play "Common People" by Pulp on guitar!

What a fun song to play!

Common People by the rock band Pulp is an excellent tune for beginner guitar players. It sounds fantastic on the acoustic guitar, and you'll only need three easy open chords to play it.

If you're following my Beginner Guitar Course, you'll be able to play this song right in Grade 1. It's a great tune to practice faster chord change tricks with the A, D, and E Chords, and a more high-energy strumming pattern as well!

🚨 Capo Position - Songbook Mistake Alert! :( The JustinGuitar Beginner Songbook 1 says Capo 2, but that's wrong. The capo needs to be on the 3rd fret. There were bound to be a few errors sneak in, but I'm a bit bummed I missed this one. Sorry.

Now, let's take a deeper look at playing Common People by Pulp on the guitar!

Common People - Guitar Chords

Place your guitar capo on the 3rd fret. Then, you'll need the chords A, D, and E. For the verses, you'll repeat the sequence of four bars of A and four bars of E twice. The choruses have four bars of D, with four bars of A, then four bars of E. Finish it up with A for two more bars.

If you'd like to have the chords, tabs, and lyrics to follow along with my song tutorials, check out JustinGuitar Tabs.

Common People - The Rhythm

You can play and sing Common People along with an easy strumming pattern! It sounds ace. :) You can add the 8th Note Strumming Pattern to sound fuller. Here's the basic idea:

You'll play a down strum instead of an up strum for every and of the beat. Remember about counting ands? We usually add up strums on those ands, but now you'll play only down strums!

That strumming technique will give loads more energy to your playing! You'll feel the song picking up - but it might require a bit more practice than the strummings you might have been doing.

That will come pretty easy with a little practice - but remember not to hurry it! When learning a new song on the guitar, the first thing you need to do is change between chords without pausing. Wait until you can do that, playing once at a bar, to start fancying your rhythm up.

Most complete beginner guitar players wouldn't be comfortable playing an 8th Note Strumming right away. If you can't play a song like the original recording just yet, remember that you can always revisit it when your skills improve. This tune is a great example of songs that are great practice builders. ;)

💡 Check out my 3 Types of Songs You Should Be Practicing to Improve Your Guitar Skills if you'd like to learn more about that! :)

Now - back to strumming. Remember that the best thing you can do is to keep your hands moving consistently.

Want chords, tabs, and lyrics to play Common People? Check out JustinGuitar Tabs!