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Songs/弹唱

Childhood (童年)

Upper IntermediateLo Ta-yuCapo 2

Strumming: 4/4 bright: D · D U · U · D U (add muted chops once it’s comfortable for more flavor)

Play along: The all-purpose strum

Focus: Connecting the two most common patterns, 1–6–4–5 and 4–5–1 + fast changes between all open chords and strumming stamina

Transpose · Capo

G
Original G
Pick a target key
Match your voice

The original key is inferred from the first chord in the chart. Transposing changes the chords you have to play; to keep easy shapes, switch to “Capo” instead.

💡 Too high to sing? Move down. Too low? Move up. Guys often go a few keys below the original, women a bit above — that's just a starting point. You've got it right when you can sing the highest line of the chorus comfortably.

Chords in this song

✦ = harder to play (mostly barre); try a capo
213
23
✕321
✕✕132

Chord progression

Each section · first two lines
GEmCDGEmCD
Each section · last two lines
CDGEmCDGG

Play-along

Chords change automatically to the beat (following the current key G). Get it smooth slowly, then speed up.

Tap “Start” to play along with the beat
GEmCDGEmCDCDGEmCDGG
Speed80 BPM
Time

One bar of count-in first, then the chord changes automatically each bar. Get it smooth slowly, then speed up bit by bit.

Practice ladder · from playing it to playing it well

Not sure how to practice? Follow these four steps — each has a clear goal and a concrete method.

  1. 1

    Get the chords ringing

    Goal: every chord clear, no buzzing

    Get this song's 4 chords ringing one by one and switchable (G · Em · C · D). Press each alone first, then switch in pairs; for any that won't ring, scroll to “Don't know these chords?” below, or use the chord-change timer for a one-minute challenge.

  2. 2

    Play it through in time

    Goal: no stalls with the metronome, start to finish

    Using the “4/4 bright: D · D U · U · D U (add muted chops once it’s comfortable for more flavor)” strum, open the metronome and connect the whole song from a slow tempo, no pausing on the changes; while you're at it, spot which chord progression it follows.

  3. 3

    Play it with feel

    Goal: dynamics and a sense of breath

    Connecting the two most common patterns, 1–6–4–5 and 4–5–1 + fast changes between all open chords and strumming stamina。

  4. 4

    Own it & make it yours

    Goal: explain why it works and change up your own version

    Try analyzing its chord progression, then use the Transpose / Capo control above to change keys, and try reworking the rhythm, adding color chords or improvising — turn “I can play this one” into “I can play many.”

The progression behind this song

Recognize this go-to progression and you can play loads of songs by analogy:

I–vi–IV–V · The '50s / Doo-Wop progression

Practice this in the courses

A course uses this very song as a practice piece — follow it step by step, faster than fumbling on your own:

Play and Sing a Whole Song

Don't know these chords? Learn them in the courses

Chords only (no lyrics or melody tab); the melody and lyrics are copyright of the original authors — please practice along with the original recording. A single-form folk song: the same progression repeats through every section. Capo 2 matches the original recording (roughly key of A); singing straight in G without a capo is perfectly fine too.

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