Learn how to play "Better Man"by Pearl Jam on guitar!

Isn't it great when Pearl Jam decide to write a pop hit?

Let’s check out how to play Better Man by Pearl Jam on electric guitar. :) What a tune this is! I think I played it every single day back in 1995.

Better Man is from the album Vitalogy and was written by the fabulous Eddie Vedder. It’s a beautiful ballad about a woman stuck in an awful relationship.

During an interview, Vedder said he wrote the entire tune when he was in high school and that the chord progression was inspired by a song called Save It for Later by the British band The Beat.

This one is a sus-chord fest! ;) Let’s start with the intro.

Better Man by Pearl Jam: Intro Section on Guitar

You need just four single notes for the very first section: C, B, A, and G#. There are a ton of effects on the original, and you’ll need to create a similar vibe if you want to make it sound good on guitar.

In the verse, we alternate between two chords: D/F# and E/G#. There’s a specific picking pattern with embellishments and bass notes. Check out the video for all the details. :)

🚨 Practice On One Chord: Stick on the D/F# and get the picking pattern spot on before switching chords. The first two bars of this riff are repeated and built on throughout Better Man, so make sure you get it right. :)

The pattern gets a little more complex over the E/G#, but the finger movements are similar. We play two reps of D/F# to E/G# for the intro.

Better Man by Pearl Jam: Verse

This picking pattern repeats in the first verse, but we need some more chords! The progression is two reps of D/F#, D/F#, E/G#, E/G#, then F/A, G/B, F/A, G/B.

The pattern changes throughout the song, so in the video we look at a version that works for all the verses. You can then listen to Better Man and pick up the nuances yourself. :)

After verse 2, we strum these chords with a crunchier sound - Old Faithful works great!

Better Man by Pearl Jam: Chorus Chords & Guitar Embellishments

On the original, you can hear both electric and acoustic guitars strumming the chords. We’ll start by strumming with the thumb and index finger like Eddie Vedder did.

The basic progression is D, A, G, D, all as open chords, but there are loads of chord variations and pushes. I tend to go for the A mini-barre and Rock G.

💡 Strumming Tips: The key thing here is to keep your hand moving. Do that, and you’ll be okay. Notice that the sus chords always come on “ands”, so you’ll strum them with upstrokes.

This progression repeats four times, but there are a couple of variations in the final rep.

First, instead of playing an open A, we go to an A chord further up the guitar neck. This grip is like a mini barre chord - it's the top four notes of an E-shape A Major chord. We also add little finger to fret 7 on string 3 to get an Asus4. One more thing - I prefer switching to Folk G (3X0003) in the final four bars because it fits better with the harmony. :)

The Finer Details

Pearl Jam have three excellent guitarists and the playing weaves together beautifully in Better Man. In the video, we look at several melody lines that blend those parts.

Since there are several guitar parts in the original, you need to listen to the track and figure out an arrangement if playing with other guitarists. :)

As for the picking, the intro, verse 1, chorus 1, and half of verse 2 are played fingerstyle and with a clean sound. After that, you’ll need to grab your pick, add some crunch, and give it some welly! When you do, ensure you mute string 5 with the bottom of finger 1.

There’s just one more section to cover, and it’s nice and easy.

Better Man by Pearl Jam: Bridge

For the little bridge part, you'll need four bars of G. Play three bars of G with a stop on beat 4, then add some Gsus4 embellishments to the final bar. Sounds great. :)

Have tons of fun with this Pearl Jam classic!

🎵 Want chords, tabs, and lyrics to follow along with my song tutorials? Check out JustinGuitar Tabs!