Champagne Supernova Guitar Lesson

If you want a perfect mix of laid-back open chords and high energy powerchords and solos, this song is absolutely is an absolute must-learn!

The verse

To play that verse, we’re going to need four chords: Asus2, Asus2/G, Asus2/F# and Asus2/E

As you can see, it’s all based around the first one, Asus2! I know these crazy chord names can be scary, but in reality, they’re probably not as hard as you might think.

So here’s what they look like:

If you don’t know what Asus2 is, it’s basically an Aminor chord where the third has been swapped with a second instead! Hence the name “sus 2” for “suspended 2nd”.

Then, the idea is to have a moving bass note, so the chord is always Asus2, but the bass of that chord shifts down every four beats.

The structure of this section looks like this:

Let’s talk about the strumming pattern for that verse. The pattern is based on 16th notes subdivisions, which means your strumming hand will be moving down every time you count a beat or an “and”. That allows us to play richer and more interesting patterns, but also to be more creative with them!

Something that you can start doing when you’ve got this pattern down, is to try and be creative with it. Songs are rarely played with a loop of the same pattern over and over again, there’s often some bits that change throughout. So the idea is to see this pattern as the “core” of what you can strum.

Feel free to remove strums, add some, have fun with it!

So here’s our pattern:

As always, start by practicing the pattern with muted strums if you need, and add the chords onto it when you feel solid with it!

Let’s add some details to our pattern!

To start adding more dynamics and subtleties to your strumming pattern, you can add a little accent on beat number 1 of each bar, targeting the bass note of the chord you’re on. It’s a nice way to emphasise that shift!

Then, you can also add an accent on beats 2 and 4, playing a bit harder on these two beats, but also targeting higher strings to cut through more.

At the end of the verse, we’re going to change the last chord of the chord progression to an E Major.

That means the last chord progression you’d be playing at the end of the verse would look like this:

We also want to change the pattern on that E Major, the goal here is to bring the energy up, so we’re going to strum all the downstrokes on the 8th notes.

So on that E Major, the pattern will look like this:

As always, think about dynamics! Try to dig in harder and harder onto the strings when you get to the E Major.

The chorus:

Time to dive in the absolute epic chorus of Champagne Supernova! Let’s start with the structure, it’s a long one, but you probably know most of the chords we need already.

I know D/F# Major can be a bit of a challenge as we want to mute the A string with the thumb. Take your time with this one!

When tackling a new shape like this, remember to be relaxed and avoid pressing too hard on the strings.

The structure of the chorus looks like this:

Strumming wise, we can stay on the pattern we’ve seen on the verse, which is probably a good way for you to dive straight into the chorus without overthinking it. Eventually, you’ll want to change that pattern, and again, to be creative with it.

I know that when I say that to my students, they tend to panic a bit, so to give you a head start, I’ll show another pattern that you can try to play that chorus with:

Very similar to the pattern we’ve seen on the verse, but a bit “lighter” as I’m choosing here not to play the “and” of beats 1 and 3. The idea is to always keep the right hand moving down on each eight note, and to strum what you feel like strumming depending on the energy you want to transmit.

At the end of the chorus, just like for the end of the verse, we want to bring some energy in! So, if you look at the structure of the chorus just above, you’ll want to change the pattern from the third line on.

The pattern would look like this again:

Middle eight:

Here, we’re going to need some powerchords, we’ll need A5, G5, F#5 and F5

Here's how to play these chords:

The structure of this section looks like this:

On this section we want to play the same pattern we've played at the end of the chorus! Keep your hand strumming down on all the eight notes, easy!

The lead:

The lead intro and the solo are both played with the A Major pentatonic scale, we’re going to need shape 1 on two different octaves, which would look like this:

On the intro, the idea is to noodle around the two main licks that I’m showing on the video, and to experiment with the A Major pentatonic scale!

Then, drop down an octave lower, where you’ll find shape 1 of A Major pentatonic scale positioned lower on the neck. Here, we can play exactly the same phrases as before, but now an octave lower!

A little detail I really like is to play the harmonic note on fret 12 of the B string (but you could also find that note on fret 16 on the G string!) You can see this little extra note in green on the diagram above, and I'm sure you'll be able to hear it being played on the intro of the song!

To play a harmonic, place your finger right above the metal fret, but don’t press at all with your fretting hand. Pluck the string and you’ll hear it! You might need to adjust your fingering a bit until you get a clear note.

On the main lead solo, you can stay on the same two shapes of the A Major pentatonic scale.

Be creative with them, and feel free to use some of the ideas you've had on the intro.

The most important thing is to differentiate the intro and solo by changing how hard you're digging into the strings, but also by changing your sound if you can. Time to use your effect pedals!

In Conclusion

This song has everything! Each section offers something to learn or reinforce, from open chords and long strumming patterns to powerchords and even a fair bit of lead guitar.

It's important to tackle each part slowly and take your time with it.