Who says you can’t be free? :)

We’ll learn how to play Who Says by John Mayer on the acoustic guitar in this lesson. This Mayer’s song uses a sort of percussive thumb hit, very present on his songs. However, the chords to play Who Says on the guitar are easier than the usual on John Mayer’s songs!

🚨 Have you learned to play Stop This Train? Who Says has that same kind of vibe, but it is easier to play! Both songs are great for Intermediate Guitar Players!

How to play "Who Says" by John Mayer

The big deal on playing Who Says by John Mayer and sounding right is to get the percussive-hit strumming under your fingers - and make it sound good! You’ll notice that we’ll be using mostly our thumb and first finger - it seems that is exactly the way John Mayer plays it live too. You can try using other fingers, but I’d recommend you first explore the way we’re learning here!

Who Says - Guitar Chords

You’ll need to be hip with your barre chords to be able to play Who Says on the acoustic guitar. The grips aren’t that complicated, but there’s some movement going on! We’ll also play some Suspended Chords - they bring such an airy, awesome feeling to this song.

We’ll walk through all the chords and fingerings in the video lesson. If you’d like to have the chords/lyrics + tabs to follow along with my tutorials, check out JustinGuitarTABS!

I recommend you get to grips with a section of the song before moving any further. We’ll explore the rhythm for Who Says in detail during the video lesson, but you’ll need to be able to play the chords and do some pull-offs here and there!

Who Says - Percussive Finger Picking

It’s probably worth noting that it's very rare for John Mayer to play the same song the same way all the time. So I’d encourage you to learn the percussive fingerpicking as close to the original as you can, but don't be afraid to make your pattern!

To sound good when playings songs like Who Says, you have to get the feeling of its rhythm. It’s much more about getting its feeling in your pocket, feeling the groove correctly, and making your percussive hit feel good. Sometimes, you won’t even have to worry too much about your target notes!

📣 Also - be aware of how loud you’re playing! Many guitar players will just play too loud all the time. You don’t have to play this song as a rock snare drum! It’s a bit more subtle than that. ;)

So, again - the nitty-gritty to play Who Says is all about the rhythm hand. Check out the video tutorial to learn it in detail, and don’t forget to learn each piece in the right order!

Up for learning more? Choose from over 600 free song tutorials here. Have fun. :)