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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.

James Bay - Stealing Cars Chords

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

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

EmAmEmDEm
Allweneedisaspark,Amasecondchance,alifelineEmD
EmWaitingGupintheAmdark,holdingupforasearchClightGD
CNoIdon’tGknowwhyDseasonschangeEmorChowwefellGsofarA
CBeforeourGheartsgoupinAmflames
EmLet’sgoCthrowingGstones,DandstealingEmcars
CGAmEmCGD
EmLettheheatofthesun,AmreigniteyourmemoryEm
‘CauseifwejustGturnandrun,AmletthemfirethegunB
CNoIdon’tGknowwhyDseasonschangeEmorChowwefellGsofarA
CBeforeourGheartsgoupinAmflames
EmLet’sgoCthrowingGstones,DandstealingEmcars
CSilenceandsmokeremindus,GmaybeCtheworldwon’tfindusG
CFalltotheEarthinredAmlight’tilit’sgoneCG
CGAmEmCGACGAmCGBm
CNoIdon’tknowGwhyseasonsAmchange,EmhowCwegetbacktotheGstarsA
CBeforeourheartsgoupinGflames,Alet’sEgoEmthrowingCstones
AndDstealingcars,Emlet’sgoCthrowingstonesGandBmstealingEmcars
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.
ArtistJames Bay
AlbumChaos and the Calm (Deluxe)
GenresAlternative, Blues, Folk, Indie, Indie Folk, Blues Rock
Year2015
KeyEm
DifficultyIntermediate

How to play Stealing Cars on Guitar (Step-by-step)

James Bay - Stealing Cars on guitar requires 9 chords and 18 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.

Stealing Cars uses these transitions most often: C → G (23), Em → C (11), and Am → Em (8). 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 - Am chord transition.

1. Em → Am chord transition

Guitar Em chord diagram Fingering: 0-2-2-0-0-0Guitar Em chord diagram
Guitar Am chord diagram Fingering: x-0-2-2-1-0Guitar Am chord diagram

Switching from Em to Am:

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

This transition appears in the verse, played 3 times.

Em to Am

2. 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 2 times.

Em to D

3. Em → G chord transition

Guitar Em chord diagram Fingering: 0-2-2-0-0-0Guitar Em chord diagram
Guitar G chord diagram Fingering: 3-2-0-0-0-3Guitar G chord diagram

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 2 times.

Em to G

4. G → Am chord transition

Guitar G chord diagram Fingering: 3-2-0-0-0-3Guitar G chord diagram
Guitar Am chord diagram Fingering: x-0-2-2-1-0Guitar Am chord diagram

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 8 times.

G to Am

5. 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 3 times.

6. C → G chord transition

To move from C to G:

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

This transition appears in the verse, played 23 times.

7. G → D chord transition

Switching from G to D:

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

This transition appears in the verse, played 7 times.

8. D → C chord transition

To move from D to C:

  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 A string fret 3.

This transition appears in the chorus.

9. Em → C chord transition

Here's how to move from Em to C:

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

This transition appears in the chorus, played 11 times.

10. G → A chord transition

Switching from G to A:

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

This transition appears in the chorus, played 5 times.

11. A → C chord transition

To move from A to C:

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

This transition appears in the chorus, played 4 times.

12. Am → B chord transition

To move from Am to B:

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

This transition appears in the verse.

13. B → C chord transition

Switching from B to C:

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

This transition appears in the chorus.

14. G → Bm chord transition

To move from G to Bm:

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

15. Bm → C chord transition

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.

16. A → E chord transition

Here's how to move from A to E:

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

This transition appears in the verse.

17. E → Em chord transition

Switching from E to Em:

  1. While playing E, lift your index finger from G string fret 1.
  2. Keep middle finger on A string fret 2.
  3. Keep ring finger on D string fret 2.

This transition appears in the verse.

18. Bm → Em chord transition

Here's how to move from Bm to Em:

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

This transition appears in the verse.

Stealing Cars chord transition analysis

A short, data-driven summary of the chord flow in Stealing Cars.

  • Stealing Cars includes 97 chord transitions, 18 of them unique.
  • These transitions represent 0.03% of all chord transitions in Chordier.
  • Stealing Cars contains 6 of the top 10 transitions across Chordier.
  • These transition patterns show how Stealing Cars connects to the rest of Chordier. Mastering them helps you move to similar songs faster.
    After G, the most likely next chords across Chordier are C (25%), D (24%), and Am (13%).
    • G → C: 25%
    • G → D: 24%
    After C, the most likely next chords across Chordier are G (35%), F (16%), and D (11%).
    • C → G: 35%
    • C → Am: 10%
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.