“A Thousand Years” was written and performed by Christina Perri and released in 2011. The song gained widespread popularity after featuring in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 soundtrack and is known for its emotional lyrics and simple, heartfelt melody.
A Thousand Years is in the key of B flat. To play it with easier chords on guitar, put a capo on the 3rd fret and play the chords G, Em C and D.
Why it works on guitar
This song is ideal for beginner to intermediate players. It uses familiar open chord shapes and a steady, flowing strumming pattern in a 3/4 time that works well for developing consistency and control, especially when accompanying vocals.
In this lesson
We’ll go through the chords used throughout the song and focus on the strumming pattern, looking at how to keep it smooth and even while supporting the song’s gentle, emotional feel.
A Thousand Years guitar lesson-
Copyright & educational use notice
This chord and lyric display is the author’s own interpretation of the song and is provided for educational purposes only, to support online guitar lessons.
Lyrics are shown solely to demonstrate song structure, timing and chord placement. We do not provide downloadable or printable lyric or chord charts, and this material is not intended for redistribution.
