Riptide chords

How to play Riptide

Play Riptide using Am, G and C shapes with capo 1 in standard tuning. The bridge exercise adds Gsus4 and Fmaj7. Begin with the chord changes, then use the eight-slot strumming grid at 72 BPM. These are slow guitar exercises with a full four-beat bar for every box; the repeated boxes and section list are not a transcription of the recording’s exact timing.

Set up the guitar version at capo 1

Place the capo close behind fret 1 and check each string. Am sounds as Bbm, G as Ab and C as Db. The bridge shapes Gsus4 and Fmaj7 become Absus4 and Gbmaj7. The diagrams are relative to the capo: fret 1 in a diagram means the next physical fret toward the body, rather than the fret already occupied by the capo.

Modern Guitar Tuition’s quick guide distinguishes the capo-1 original-pitch setup from a no-capo cover. Keep the instrument and version clear when comparing charts. A ukulele fingering is not a six-string guitar diagram, even when both pages print Am. Removing this guitar capo while retaining the shapes lowers every note by a semitone; it does not leave the accompaniment at the same pitch.

Count the practice grid without stopping the hand

Count one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and. D . D U . U D U places downstrokes on 1, 2 and 4, with upstrokes after 2, 3 and 4. On the empty positions, let the hand continue travelling without touching the strings. Keeping that motion makes the upstroke after beat 3 easier to place.

The main exercise uses one bar each of Am and G, followed by two bars of C. These holds deliberately give the hand time to learn the pattern. First mute the strings and practise one complete bar repeatedly. Then add Am only, then the changes. If the left hand misses a landing, continue counting rather than inserting a pause that hides where the beat went.

Add the suspended chord in the bridge

The bridge exercise is Am–Am–Gsus4–G, then C–C–Fmaj7–Fmaj7. This chord order comes from JustinGuitar’s guitar lesson; each entry receives a full bar in our slower exercise. Gsus4 contains C where G contains B. Hear that change as you return to G rather than treating the two symbols as interchangeable labels.

For Fmaj7, use x-x-3-2-1-0 and start the sweep on string 4. The open high E is its major seventh. Plain F does not contain that note, while Fm changes a different note altogether. A narrow four-string sweep keeps the two unwanted bass strings out. Practise C to Fmaj7 without rhythm first, checking the first string remains open instead of being accidentally muted by the index finger.

Use the quiet return to control the dynamics

The quiet-return exercise gives one downstroke on beat 1 of each box. Let the other beats pass while the chord rings. Follow it with the main strumming exercise and compare the volume: more strokes need not mean hitting every string harder. Keep the lighter upstrokes on the thinner strings so the accompaniment leaves room for a voice.

C and Am share B-string fret 1 and D-string fret 2, making them a useful isolated pair. G and Am do not share a fretted B-string note in the printed grips, so do not pin a finger there while changing. Finish on C with a single downstroke. For the complete performance and its shorter changes, follow one selected recording or published chart instead of multiplying these practice boxes into a supposed full song.