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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.

Billy Joel - We Didn’t Start The Fire Chords

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

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

GHarryTruman,DorisDay,DRedChina,JohnnieRay
AmSouthPacific,WalterWinchell,CJoeDiMaggio
GJoeMcCarthy,RichardNixon,DStudebaker,television
AmNorthKorea,SouthKorea,CMarilynMonroe
GDAmC
GRosenbergs,H-bomb,DSugarRay,Panmunjom
AmBrando,“TheKingandI”Cand“TheCatcherintheRye”
GEisenhower,vaccine,DEngland’sgotanewqueen
AmMarciano,Liberace,CSantayanagoodbye
GWedidn’tstarttheDfire;
ItwasAmalwaysburning,
SincetheCworld’sbeenturning
GWedidn’tstarttheDfire
NoweAmdidn’tlightit,
ButweCtriedtofightit
GJosephStalin,Malenkov,DNasserandProkofiev
AmRockefeller,Campanella,CCommunistBloc
GRoyKahn,JuanPeron,DToscanini,Dacron
AmDienBienPhufalls, C“RockAroundtheClock”
GEinstein,JamesDean,DBrooklyn’sgotawinningteam
AmDavyCrockett,PeterPan,CElvisPresley,Disneyland
GBardot,Budapest,DAlabama,Khrushchev
AmPrincessGrace,“PeytonPlace”,CtroubleintheSuez
GWedidn’tstarttheDfire;
ItwasAmalwaysburning,
SincetheCworld’sbeenturning
GWedidn’tstarttheDfire
NoweAmdidn’tlightit,
ButweCtriedtofightit
AmLittleRock,Pasternak,EmMickeyMantle,Kerouac
AmSputnik,ChouEn-Lai,D“BridgeontheRiverKwai”
AmLebanon,CharlesdeGaulle,EmCaliforniabaseball
AmStarkweather,homicide,Dchildrenofthalidomide
GBuddyHolly,“BenHur”,Dspacemonkey,Mafia
AmHulahoops,Castro,CEdselisano-go
GU-2,SyngmanRhee,DpayolaandKennedy
AmChubbyChecker,“Psycho”,CBelgiansintheCongo
GWedidn’tstarttheDfire
ItwasAmalwaysburning,
SincetheCworld’sbeenturning
GWedidn’tstarttheDfire
NoweAmdidn’tlightit,
ButweCtriedtofightit
GHemingway,Eichmann, D“StrangerinaStrangeLand”
AmDylan,Berlin,CBayofPigsinvasion
G“LawrenceofArabia”,DBritishBeatlemania
AmOleMiss,JohnGlenn,CListonbeatsPatterson
GPopePaul,MalcolmX,DBritishpoliticiansex
AmJFK,blownaway,CwhatelsedoIhavetosay
GWedidn’tstarttheDfire
ItwasAmalwaysburning,
SincetheCworld’sbeenturning
GWedidn’tstarttheDfire
NoweAmdidn’tlightit,
ButweCtriedtofightit
GBirthcontrol,HoChiMinh,DRichardNixonbackagain
AmMoonshot,Woodstock,CWatergate,punkrock
GBegin,Reagan,Palestine,Dterrorontheairline
AmAyatollah’sinIran,CRussiansinAfghanistan
G“WheelofFortune”,SallyRide,Dheavymetal,suicide
AmForeigndebts,homelessvets,CAIDS,crack,BernieGoetz
GHypodermicsontheshores,DChina’sundermartiallaw
AmRockandrollercolawars,CIcan’ttakeitanymore
GWedidn’tstarttheDfire
ItwasAmalwaysburning,
SincetheCworld’sbeenturning
GWedidn’tstarttheDfire
ButwhenAmwearegone
WillitCstillburnon,andGon,andDon,andAmonC
WillitCstillburnon,andGon,andDon,andAmonC
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.
ArtistBilly Joel
AlbumStorm Front
GenresPop
Year1989
KeyG
DifficultyEasy

How to play We Didn't Start The Fire on Guitar (Step-by-step)

Billy Joel - We Didn't Start The Fire on guitar requires 5 chords and 5 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.

We Didn't Start The Fire uses these transitions most often: D → Am (31), Am → C (30), and G → D (30). 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 G - D chord transition.

1. G → D chord transition

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

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 30 times.

G to D

2. D → Am chord transition

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

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 31 times.

D to Am

3. Am → C chord transition

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

Here's how to move 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 30 times.

Am to C

4. C → G chord transition

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

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 28 times.

C to G

5. 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 verse, played 2 times.

We Didn't Start The Fire chord transition analysis

A short, data-driven summary of the chord flow in We Didn't Start The Fire.

  • We Didn't Start The Fire includes 127 chord transitions, 5 of them unique.
  • These transitions represent 0.03% of all chord transitions in Chordier.
  • We Didn't Start The Fire contains 2 of the top 10 transitions across Chordier.
  • These transition patterns show how We Didn't Start The Fire connects to the rest of Chordier. Mastering them helps you move to similar songs faster.
    After Am, the most likely next chords across Chordier are F (26%), G (21%), and C (16%).
    • Am → C: 16%
    • Am → Em: 10%
    After D, the most likely next chords across Chordier are G (29%), A (17%), and Em (17%).
    • D → G: 29%
    • D → Am: 4%
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.