How to Play "One Way or Another" by Blondie on Guitar

About This Song

According to Rolling Stone Magazine, "One Way or Another" is one of the 500 greatest songs of all time.c Blondie vocalist Debbie Harry still plays it more than 40 years after its release. The New Wave classic has been featured in several films, including Coyote UglyMandy Moore also did a cover of the song.

Step 1: Verse Barre Chords

The main riff of "One Way or Another" accompanies the verses of the song. All the chords you need are D and B, plus the chords between them if you want to sound close to the original. Barre chords will do the trick. 

Whichever fingers you can use depends on your biology. The important thing is that your fingers are able to hold the sound of the chords, which you have to slide back and forth the neck of the guitar. A relatively unusual rhythm and strumming style, which includes carefully placed upstrokes, is used. 

Familiarity with the song will help you achieve this. You may strum the chords between when sliding from D to B, but you do not need to do so when sliding back.

Step 2: Chorus Chords

The other main part of the song is the chorus, and you can either play the notes of the melody or strum the chords to accompany the vocals. For the chords, the strumming style to use is straightforward if you are familiar with the song. The following is a chord progression you can use for the chorus of "One Way or Another:"

  • D Bm7 A F#m
  • G Bm7 A F#m
  • G E F#c

Step 3: Chorus Melody

Strumming the chords of the chorus of "One Way or Another" will do just fine to provide accompaniment to this part of the song. However, you may opt to mirror the melody of the lyrics on the guitar, as the lead guitarist of Blondie does in the original. You may use a "how to" video to learn how to do this by rote. You can also learn where to pluck every note by ear or trial and error.

References

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