Pop Music Part 2 - An Overview

This week we'll continue our theme of pop music. We're going to cover a handful of songs from the 1990s to the present. These decades include a smattering of Britpop, grunge, pop-punk, R&B, hip-hop and rap. Let's try a couple of recognisable songs from each decade. Older guitarists may remember these from listening to the radio commuting to/from work. Younger guitarists may have fond childhood/teenage memories of the songs below.

New Chords

Let's look at major and minor seventh chords in more detail. These are relatively common chords outside the standard major and minor chords found in songs. Look at the chord diagram of an E7 chord. Now make this same chord shape with your middle and ring fingers. Like before you need to place your index finger flat against the fretboard to play the right chord. Move up and down, playing various major seventh chords to get used to the feeling and sound of the chord.
A picture of an E7 chord
Now we'll move onto a minor seventh chord. Place your fingers in the shape of an Em chord. Now form this shape with your ring and pinky fingers. Remove the pinky finger and strum. This is an Em7. Now that you have a minor seventh shape formed, use your index finger to form the bar against the preferred fret. There should be a gap of one fret between the index and ring finger. See the list below for more details. Example: Bm7 means you hold down seventh fret with your index finger and your ring finger on the ninth fret.
A picture of an Em7 chord

New Songs

1990s

Oasis - Cigarettes And Alcohol
Blur - Coffee & TV

2000s

Britney Spears - Oops I Did It Again
Blink-182 - Adam's Song

2010s

Mark Ronson - Uptown Funk
Adele - Hello

2020s

The Weeknd - Blinding Lights
The Kid Laroi ft Justin Bieber - Stay