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14,015 TRANSITIONS ANALYZED#1 at 23%: Which Transition?The 100 most repeated chord transitions extracted from thousands of songs. Even the first 10 will transform your guitar practice routine.

Shawn Mendes - Something Big Chords

DATA-DRIVENWhich Chord Comes Next?Learn the most likely chord transitions on guitar and start playing songs with confidence.
ChordsEm, D, Bm, C, Am, G
Strumming↓-↓↑-↑↓↑

Before you play, tune your guitar and use the tools below to set up your view and flow.

EmohwhoaDohwhoaBmohohohoh,ohwhoaCohwhoaEmohohohoh
EmPlaythelottoyoumightwinit
It’slikeD25tolifesoyoubustoutofAmprison
Something’sintheCair,something’sintheair
It’slikethatEmfeelingwhenyou’rejustabouttokillit
TakeyourDlastshotyouknowyou’regonnahitAmit
Something’sintheair,something’sCintheair,woahAmoh
EmSomethingbigIfeelithappening,Doutofmycontrol
BmPushingpullingandit’sgrabbingme,Cfeelitinmybones
LikeEmoh,whoaDohwhoaBmohohohohwhoaoh
CSomethingbigIfeelithappeningEmoh
WhoaDohwhoaBmohohohohwhoaoh,Csomethingbig…
It’sliketheEmfeelingwhenyou’bouttowinthemedal
AndyouDworkedsohardthatyouknewyouwouldn’tAmsettle
Handsareintheair,handsareCintheair
WhentheyEmhearyouwhenyouthoughttheywouldn’tlisten
It’slikeanDanthemthatthewholeworld’sAmsinging
Handsareintheair,handsareCintheair,woahAmoh
EmSomethingbigIfeelithappening,Doutofmycontrol
BmPushingpullingandit’sgrabbingme,Cfeelitinmybones
LikeEmoh,whoaDohwhoaBmohohohohwhoaoh
CSomethingbigIfeelithappeningEmoh
WhoaDohwhoaBmohohohohwhoaoh,Csomethingbig…
EmWoah,GyeahAmyeah
IfweEmstompourfeetthegroundwillshake
IfweGclapourhandsthewallswillbreak
AmYellsoloudwon’tforgetournames
‘CauseCsomethingbigishappening
EmTakethispackandstartafire
GRaisethisupwe’refeelinghigher
AmTheycan’ttellusanything
C’CausesomethingbigisAmhappening
EmSomethingbigIfeelithappening,Doutofmycontrol
BmPushingpullingandit’sgrabbingme,Cfeelitinmybones
LikeEmoh,whoaDohwhoaBmohohohohwhoaoh
CSomethingbigishappeningEmoh
WhoaDohwhoaBmohohohohwhoaoh
CSomethingbigIfeelithappeningEmohEm
SONG DATA3 Chords, 200 Chains, 1 BookDiscover the most-used three-chord combinations in songs and build real command on guitar.
14,015 TRANSITIONS ANALYZED#1 at 23%: Which Transition?Master guitar today with the most repeated high-impact chord transitions.
ArtistShawn Mendes
AlbumHandwritten
GenresPop
Year2015
KeyEm
DifficultyIntermediate

How to play Something Big on Guitar (Step-by-step)

Shawn Mendes - Something Big on guitar requires 6 chords and 9 core chord transitions. You can find the full step-by-step guide below. Before you start, tune your instrument. The song uses the ↓-↓↑-↑↓↑ pattern; practice it muted first, or simplify to downstrokes while you learn the changes.

Something Big uses these transitions most often: Em → D (14), C → Em (13), and Bm → C (10). These transitions may feel a little challenging at first, but with steady practice you can play this song quickly.When you are ready, begin with Em - D chord transition.

1. Em → D chord transition

Guitar Em chord diagram Fingering: 0-2-2-0-0-0Guitar Em chord diagram
Guitar D chord diagram Fingering: x-x-0-2-3-2Guitar D chord diagram

To move from Em to D:

  1. Lift your middle finger from A string fret 2 and place it on E string fret 2.
  2. Slide your ring finger from D string fret 2 to B string fret 3.
  3. Place index finger on G string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 14 times.

Em to D

2. D → Bm chord transition

Guitar D chord diagram Fingering: x-x-0-2-3-2Guitar D chord diagram
Guitar Bm chord diagram Fingering: 2-2-4-4-3-2 Barre at fret 2.Guitar Bm chord diagram

To move from D to Bm:

  1. Lift your index finger from G string fret 2 and place it on E string fret 2.
  2. Slide your middle finger from E string fret 2 to B string fret 3.
  3. Lift your ring finger from B string fret 3 and place it on D string fret 4.
  4. Place pinky on G string fret 4.

This transition appears in the verse, played 10 times.

D to Bm

3. Bm → C chord transition

Guitar Bm chord diagram Fingering: 2-2-4-4-3-2 Barre at fret 2.Guitar Bm chord diagram
Guitar C chord diagram Fingering: x-3-2-0-1-0Guitar C chord diagram

Here's how to move from Bm to C:

  1. While playing Bm, lift your pinky from G string fret 4.
  2. Lift your index finger from E string fret 2 and place it on B string fret 1.
  3. Slide your middle finger from B string fret 3 to D string fret 2.
  4. Lift your ring finger from D string fret 4 and place it on A string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse, played 10 times.

Bm to C

4. C → Em chord transition

Guitar C chord diagram Fingering: x-3-2-0-1-0Guitar C chord diagram
Guitar Em chord diagram Fingering: 0-2-2-0-0-0Guitar Em chord diagram

Here's how to move from C to Em:

  1. While playing C, lift your index finger from B string fret 1.
  2. Lift your middle finger from D string fret 2 and place it on A string fret 2.
  3. Slide your ring finger from A string fret 3 to D string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 13 times.

C to Em

5. D → Am chord transition

Here's how to move from D to Am:

  1. Lift your index finger from G string fret 2 and place it on B string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from E string fret 2 to D string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from B string fret 3 and place it on G string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 4 times.

6. Am → C chord transition

Switching from Am to C:

  1. Keep index finger on B string fret 1.
  2. Keep middle finger on D string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from G string fret 2 and place it on A string fret 3.

This transition appears in the verse, played 6 times.

7. Am → Em chord transition

To move from Am to Em:

  1. While playing Am, lift your index finger from B string fret 1.
  2. Lift your middle finger from D string fret 2 and place it on A string fret 2.
  3. Slide your ring finger from G string fret 2 to D string fret 2.

This transition appears in the chorus, played 3 times.

8. Em → G chord transition

To move from Em to G:

  1. Lift your middle finger from A string fret 2 and place it on E string fret 3.
  2. Slide your ring finger from D string fret 2 to E string fret 3.
  3. Place index finger on A string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 3 times.

9. G → Am chord transition

Here's how to move from G to Am:

  1. Lift your index finger from A string fret 2 and place it on B string fret 1.
  2. Slide your middle finger from E string fret 3 to D string fret 2.
  3. Lift your ring finger from E string fret 3 and place it on G string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse, played 3 times.

Something Big chord transition analysis

A short, data-driven summary of the chord flow in Something Big.

  • Something Big includes 71 chord transitions, 9 of them unique.
  • These transitions represent 0.02% of all chord transitions in Chordier.
  • Something Big contains 3 of the top 10 transitions across Chordier.
  • These transition patterns show how Something Big connects to the rest of Chordier. Mastering them helps you move to similar songs faster.
    After Em, the most likely next chords across Chordier are C (26%), G (18%), and D (18%).
    • Em → G: 18%
    • Em → D: 18%
    After C, the most likely next chords across Chordier are G (35%), F (16%), and D (11%).
    • C → Am: 10%
    • C → Em: 8%
SONG DATA3 Chords, 200 Chains, 1 BookThe 200 most popular three-chord chains from real songs. See which songs use each chain and expand your repertoire with patterns that actually matter.