How to plat Crazy by Gnarls Barkley on the guitar

This article will give a quick lesson on how to play the Gnarls Barkley song 'Crazy' on an acoustic guitar. The chords that are used throughout the song will be explained in detail, so the reader will be able to have a grasp on how the song is performed.

The story of 'Crazy'

Gnarls Barkley's song 'Crazy' became a hit when it reached number one in the UK charts in March 2006, it was the first single to reach number one just through downloads alone. Gnarls Barkley now performs under the name Cee Lo Green, and his latest album received great critical acclaim. 'Crazy' was a worldwide hit, and is not a hard song to play on the guitar. It is an effective song to learn and is perfect for any novice who has just started learning how to play the guitar.

How to play

To play 'Crazy', you first need to put a capo on the third fret of the guitar - this will change the pitch of the notes and make them higher. The capo will have a massive effect on the final outcome of the chords, so it is very important in this song. It is a simple song to play and only uses the chords A minor, C, F, Esus4, E and E minor. These are all relatively simple chords, and the chord transitions are also rather simple throughout the song. The verse follows the pattern, Am, C, F, and then a quick Esus4 and then into E. This is repeated until the chorus where it similarly starts Am, C, F, but then goes into an Em instead of an Esus4; it again finishes off with an E chord. That pattern covers the whole song and is repeated until the song finishes. 'Crazy' is a very easy song to play for novice guitarists and shows how a capo can really change the tone of a song and even make these simple chords sound like something complicated and different.

Finishing touches

After learning the chord patterns, it is the strumming technique that the guitarist must now learn. It is a simple strumming pattern which can only be really explained by listening to the song and playing along - this is the same with most songs. If the reader does not already know the lyrics to 'Crazy', then he/she only has to learn them and they are ready to perform the song.