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Progression

Songs You Can Play with Em, C, G, D

Popular guitar songs built on the Em–C–G–D progression, a common shape that's great for jamming and practice.

The Em–C–G–D progression uses just 4 chords (Em, C, G, and D) and powers 1,084 of the most-played songs on ChordLines. It's one of the most common progressions in pop, rock and worship, so learning it unlocks a huge amount of music at once. The songs below all use these chords; try Scars and Dr. Jimmy to hear it in action.

  1. 721 Scars James Bay G 804
  2. 722 Dr. Jimmy The Who A 804
  3. 723 Ghost Ship Tripod Em 804
  4. 724 Knock on wood Aaron Lines G 804
  5. 725 Hush Gotthard Em 804
  6. 726 Waiting on the wonderful Aaron Lines C 804
  7. 727 Picassos' Last Words Paul McCartney G 804
  8. 728 Can You Feel It Too Pause For The Cause Em 803
  9. 729 Todo Lo Puedo En Cristo Felipe Garibo G 803
  10. 730 Dear Landlord Janis Joplin C 803
  11. 731 Passenger Seat Stephen Speaks G 803
  12. 732 Shepherd Woods G 802
  13. 733 Xotear Adalberto e Adriano G 802
  14. 734 Bad David Guetta Em 802
  15. 735 Chandrayan Pidu Daddy G 802
  16. 736 Sunn Raha Hai Aashiqui 2 Am 802
  17. 737 Love Like You Steven Universo C 802
  18. 738 Precious Lord Take My Hand Misc Traditional D 802
  19. 739 Sayang Lahir Batin Wali Em 802
  20. 740 Cannonball Damien Rice Em 802
  21. 741 Bitch Dont Kill My Vibe Kendrick Lamar Em 802
  22. 742 Passatempo Xuxa D 801
  23. 743 Doolin-Dalton Eagles Em 801
  24. 744 Como Una Ola En El Mar Alexandre Pires G 801
  25. 745 Tell Me Why Introvoys G 800
  26. 746 Dear Life Anthony Hamilton Em 800
  27. 747 Jodelee K3 G 800
  28. 748 Fisher Road The Avett Brothers D 800
  29. 749 If I Loved You Delta Rae G 800
  30. 750 Longer Boats Cat Stevens G 800
  31. 751 Father and Son Cat Stevens G 799
  32. 752 Hejrat Googoosh Gm 799
  33. 753 A Whole New World Aladdin D 799
  34. 754 The Sound Of Your Goodbye (Sticks and Stones) Aaron Tippin G 798
  35. 755 One In You Love Liveloud Em 798
  36. 756 Exagerado Cazuza D 798
  37. 757 Some Might Say Oasis D 798
  38. 758 Atat Rivermaya D 797
  39. 759 Cry Just Like A Baby Kasey Chambers A# 797
  40. 760 Whitewash County Elton John G 797
  41. 761 My girl Temptations C 796
  42. 762 Good Times Hoodoo Gurus G 796
  43. 763 Days Of Elijah (acoustic) Hillsongs G 796
  44. 764 Musika Florante D 796
  45. 765 Down The Road Richard Clapton G 796
  46. 766 Angel Like You Una Healy Bb 796
  47. 767 Rewind Pop Evil Em 796
  48. 768 Sem limites pra se Dar Katinguelê Am 796
  49. 769 Holy Is Your Name Petra G 795
  50. 770 Build My Life Bethel Live G 795
  51. 771 I Was There To Hear Your Borning Cry John Ylvisaker G 795
  52. 772 Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad Meat Loaf A 795
  53. 773 Fresh Air Lazy Susan G 795
  54. 774 Decididamente Adoração e Vida G 794
  55. 775 Vivir Contigo Carlos Vives Db 794
  56. 776 One Of Us ABBA G 794
  57. 777 Up where we belong Joe Cocker & Jennifer Warnes D 794
  58. 778 Inevitable Shakira G 794
  59. 779 Oi Adalberto e Adriano C 793
  60. 780 All Good Gifts Godspell D 793

Frequently asked questions

What songs use the Em–C–G–D progression?

Popular examples include Scars, Dr. Jimmy, and Ghost Ship, along with everything else in the list above.

Is the Em–C–G–D progression easy to play?

Yes, it's built entirely from beginner-friendly open chords, which makes it a great first progression to master.

Can I play these songs in a different key?

Yes. Open any song and use the transpose buttons to shift it up or down. The chords and diagrams update automatically, so you can match your voice or a capo.

Explore more collections

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Easy 708 Intermediate 3594 Advanced 3161

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By chord

G 4528 D 3780 C 3760 A 3014 F 2538 Am 2382 Em 2309 E 2282 Bm 1637 Dm 1356 B 1335 F#m 1115

By key

G 1210 C 959 D 917 A 737 E 631 Am 509 Em 412 F 357

By progression

G–C–D 1779 C–F–G 1612 D–A–G 1476 C–G–Am–F 1111 C–Am–F–G 1111 G–D–Em–C 1084 G–Em–C–D 1084

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