How to play Desire by U2


We have a quick and fun one today with U2's hit "Desire". It contains just a couple of simple guitar parts so you should have it done in minutes!

Released as the lead single off their 1988 album Rattle and Hum, "Desire" quickly shot to the top of the charts around the world and eventually won the Grammy for best rock performance.

The main chord progression of "Desire" consists of a just a few simple open position chords. You should really try to concentrate on mastering the right hand rhythm first though. That is by far the trickiest part of the song. Pay close attention to the strumming I am using. On the D major chord I use a downstroke and on the A major chord I use an upstroke. That helps to keep the rhythmic momentum moving, which is essential for this song.

There is a short pre-chorus that contains a couple of open positions chords played in an arpeggio picked style before launching back into the main chord progression. That main chord progression serves as the verse and chorus of the song.

There is also a very short repetitive guitar solo break that The Edge plays. This little guitar lick is a bit influenced by Stevie Ray Vaughan with a double-stop that slides into a unison followed by a descending scale lick. This whole lick is repeated and then we are back to the pre-chrous.

So as I stated earlier, focus on the rhythm for "Desire" first, after that you shouldn't have much trouble at all applying it to those simple open position chords. Good Luck 🙂

Carl...

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How to play Desire by U2

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