Photograph Guitar Lesson

It's hard not to think of relaxing acoustic guitar playing when you hear the name Ed Sheeran. His hit song, 'Photograph', is no exception to this, and is a great track to play along with!

This lesson will breakdown all the bits of information needed to learn every section of the track, as well as alternate way of playing it! With that said, there will not be any tabs in this lesson, so please be sure to watch Thomas' amazing video lesson, where he'll demonstrate all the information you need in detail!

Intro riff

The tracks kicks off with a lovely little acoustic riff in the key of E major. It's a bit trickier than it first sounds, as there are a few small position shifts and a slide. The scale box in the image below will show you exactly where these notes come from, and how to visualise it around the open E major shape.

For those who are newer to the world of lead playing, please make sure to use the same fingers in your fretting hand each time you play through. This will give you and your muscle memory the best chance to learn the track in the most efficient way. Do your best to use the same fingering as Thomas in the video!

Verse

We're going to start by looking at the version that Ed is playing in the recorded track. There are a handful of barre chords in this version, but there is a version below that uses a capo instead. Be sure to read through the lesson though, as it will have all the details you need on strumming patterns, dynamics and more!

With that said, let's have a look at the four different chords needed for not only this section, but the entire track going forward! As Thomas mentions, none of the chords are complete triads - we're playing chords that use just two intervals. The first chord, E major, is played on the 7th and 6th fret of the A and D string respectively, giving us the notes of E and G#. E and G# are the root and major third of the E major scale, giving us an E major chord without the 5th degree.

The following chords are C#5, B5 and A5. The '5' simply indicates that we're playing each of the chords as powerchords. A powerchord is created by playing just the 1st and 5th degree. As powerchords are lacking the 3rd degree - which dictates whether a chord is a major or minor - making it a naturally harmonically ambiguous chord. However, we're setting the context that we're in E major with the first chord, so we can 'hear' that the C#5 sounds minor, and the B5 and A5 sound major.

Let's take a look at the strumming pattern now that you've got the chords feeling comfortable under your fingers. The pattern used in the verse is continued throughout the other sections of the track. So, once you've got the hang of it, you'll be set for the rest of the song!

Even though we're just strumming three times a bar, we need to break each bar into eighth notes to be confident on where to place each strum. The beats we want to strum are the 1, the 'and' of the 2, and the 4 to get the right groove. One thing to note is that we don't want to strum through all six strings. Try to just strum the strings that you're fretting to really capture the timid feel of the track. See the below more for a more visual representation of this.

To properly capture the essence of the track, we need to make sure to ever so slightly palm-mute the strings. If this is a new technique to you, all you need to do is gently rest the lower side of your palm on the strings. We want to stay as close to the bridge as possible for this track, as the further up towards the fretboard you place your palm, the more muted the pitch and sound become.

You might have noticed that all of the strums are 'down-strums' - which is slightly unconventional! There are a few reasons to approach it this way. The first is that it creates a stronger accent, as down-strums are typically dynamically stronger than up-strums. This also ensures that we're hearing the root note of each chord first, adding again to the strength of the accent.

Another reason is that it simply feels more comfortable to down-strum when we're palm-muting. Up-strums can feel quite awkward while palm-muting, especially when trying to accent the right notes. The last reason is that the track is at a slow enough tempo for us to comfortably play each eighth note as a down-strum.

Pre-chorus

As mentioned before, the pre-chorus uses the same strumming pattern, and the same set of chords - just in a different order. The only other difference is that we're going to change the harmonic rhythm by playing one chord per bar, instead of one chord every two bars.

Just because I love to talk about theory, let's spend a very very quick moment on what harmonic rhythm is. Simply put, harmonic rhythm is the rate in which the chords/harmony changes. Changing the harmonic rhythm can have a huge impact on how fast, or a slow a track feels. So, even though we're playing the same set of chords over the same bpm, the pre-chorus feels like it's picking up in pace and energy. I encourage you to try this in your own playing!

Chorus

Once again, the chorus uses the same set of chords, strumming pattern, and the same harmonic rhythm as the pre-chorus. All we need to change from the pre-chorus is the order of the chords. It just goes to show that simplicity is often key for writing enjoyable music!

Dynamic strumming

Now that you've learned all the different sections, let's take a look at how we can use some dynamic changes to keep the track a bit more interesting to listen to and play!

The best way to add some dynamic for this track is to strum every eighth note in the bar. To make sure we don't lose the feel of the track, we need to continue to accent the same beats as our previous strumming pattern.

So, how can we differentiate between the accented and non-accented notes if we're playing every beat? Make sure to strum through all the strings of the chord on the accented beats. To emphasise this further, try and release your palm-mute as you do this.

As for the non-accented notes, try to just target the lowest note of each chord while palm-muting. This will end up being just a 'pluck' rather than a strum, and will help the accents shine through! Remember to only use down-strokes and strums for this pattern.

Structure

As Thomas mentions in the video, 'Photograph' follows a very typical pop structure. Whether you're playing this on your own, or along to the track, be sure to use dynamics to your advantage to make each section feel different!

Capo version

Though I highly recommend practicing the version above that uses barre chords, here's another way of playing it that is slightly kinder for the fingers! If you've skipped the lesson to get to this section, please know that all the details in how to play the song are listed above.

With that said, let's take a look at how to play 'Photograph' with open chords, using a capo on the fourth fret. As the track has been outlined above, I've just attached the chords in their open position, as well as the progressions for each section below. Be sure to reference the song structure above, as well as the video lesson!

Capo riff

The one change that we need to take a closer look at is the main riff, as the capo forces us to play it in a different way! I've attached the scale box we're going to use below, and you might notice that it's a… C major scale?! This is because we're counting the frets from the capo, making the C major scale shape to sound as an E major scale - the key of the track.

With that said, I've highlighted the notes in the scale box below that you'll need to play the riff. Make sure to refer to the video to understand when each note is played, and what the rhythm is!