Billie Jean Chords & Guitar Lesson by Michael Jackson
Such a cool song to play on guitar and you can actually play it at the beginner level using what we call 3 note chord triads.
What do I mean by that?
For example, let’s take the Em chord which is used throughout this song. If you play a normal Em chord you would play all 6 strings as pictured below on the left. But you can see I have another Em chords that requires us to play the bottom 3 strings open.
That’s how we will be approaching the chords in this song to keep it simple!
BILLE JEAN CHORDS FOR GUITAR: CAPO 2ND FRET
BILLIE JEAN STRUMMING PATTERN:
Probably the most difficult thing about Billie Jean is the rhythm at which the chords are played. Each chord splits a measure (meaning you will have to play 2 chords over 4 counts). The first chord will be played on 1 and the second chord will be played on the and (+) after 2. See the example below.
We do not distribute printable chord and lyrics charts. These charts are here only to support online learning. We highly recommend buying music from Hal Leonard or a reputable online sheet music store.
Verse Strumming Pattern:
Em F#m G F#m
1 + 2 + 3 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +
D D D D
Chorus Strumming Pattern:
1 + 2+ 3+ 4 +
D
The chorus sounds really nice as fully strummed chords, but using the triads pictured above works just as well if you’re not good with a B7 chord yet.
This file is the author’s own work and represents his interpretation of this song. It’s intended solely for private study, scholarship or research.