Zombie chords

How to play Zombie

Play Zombie by The Cranberries with Em, C, G and D, in standard tuning with no capo. The main exercise is a four-bar loop in E minor. Use a quiet single downstroke in the verse exercise and eight even downstrokes in the chorus exercise. The contrast comes from how you play the loop, rather than learning a new set of grips for each section.

Choose the simplified four-chord version

Andy Guitar’s four-chord lesson includes Zombie with Em–C–G–D, holding each chord for one bar. That is the version of the main progression printed here. Every box lasts four quarter-note beats; count through the final D and arrive at Em on the next beat one.

Other teaching arrangements keep more open strings. JustinGuitar’s Zombie lesson uses Cmaj7, G6 and an F#-bass voicing in its main loop. Those are different harmonies from plain C, G and D. Choose one arrangement before comparing finger positions: the simplified D here has D in the bass and is not a diagram of that F#-bass grip.

Build Em to C without a false anchor

The Em diagram is 0-2-2-0-0-0. Its B string is open, so the index finger cannot remain at B-string fret 1 during Em. In the printed Em fingering, the middle finger frets the fifth string and the ring finger frets the fourth. For C, put the index on B-string fret 1, move the middle finger to D-string fret 2 and move the ring finger to A-string fret 3. Neither of those two Em fingers stays in its printed position.

Check the C one string at a time, starting on string 5. Listen for the open third string between the fretted D and B strings. If it is silent, curve the nearby fingers and bring their tips closer to the fret without squeezing harder. Change back to Em, release the B string, then check that the open B rings again.

Make the chorus louder without locking the wrist

The verse grid has one downstroke on beat one and seven empty eighth-note positions. Let the chord sustain while counting all four beats. The chorus grid has eight downstrokes: one on every number and every “and”. At 72 BPM the arm returns between attacks, so it must move more frequently than in the sparse verse exercise.

Keep the wrist loose and the pick stroke shallow. More volume can come from a slightly wider, confident sweep; it does not require a locked wrist or a heavy forearm hit. Try one quiet loop followed by one fuller loop at the same tempo. If the fuller version rushes, reduce its volume until the pulse stays even.

Practise the solo backing as a separate loop

The solo-backing exercise is Em–Em–C–C, following the separate progression identified by JustinGuitar. Adjacent Em boxes mean two complete bars on Em; the same applies to C. Its four quarter-note downstrokes per bar sit between the sparse verse and busy chorus patterns, making it easier to hear where the harmony actually changes.

This page supplies accompaniment exercises rather than a note-for-note lead part or a complete performance route. Start each loop at 72 BPM, count its bars aloud and finish on the next Em without adding a spare beat. Learning the grips is only the first step: keeping the chord changes, pulse and deliberate volume contrast together is the useful practice goal.