Playing Karma Police on Guitar
The original key is A major, but most people transpose it down to G because the radio version sits pretty low and it's easier on the voice. The chord progression is straightforward once you get past the first few bars. You're looking at Am, F, C, G, E7, Am, F, C, G — that's the core loop for the verse and chorus. The Em7 chord shows up in the bridge section, and there's a Dm that sneaks in during the instrumental break.
Karma Police Chords Radiohead
I spent probably six months playing this song live before I ever figured out the right way to handle the transition from the F to the C. What most people don't tell you is that the F chord needs to be played as Fmaj7, not just a plain F. The Radiohead version uses that open F with the E note ringing over the top, and it completely changes how the progression feels. If you just barre an F and move to C, it sounds stiff and wrong. Try it and you'll hear the difference immediately. Here's the thing that trips people up: the chorus hits an E7 that sounds harsh if you strum it too hard. The original recording layers that E7 under a lot of reverb and the piano takes most of the harmonic weight. When you're playing solo guitar, you need to lightly brush the E7 rather than dig in. A hard strum makes it sound like a mistake. Light fingerpicking works better. I usually pluck just the bass note and the two higher strings on that chord, which gives you the color without the aggression. The bridge is where things get interesting. The Em7 to C to G progression cycles twice, and the second time through you add a hammer-on from G to A on the high E string. This is easy to miss if you're just reading standard chord charts online. Most free tabs online show the basic chords and call it done, but they leave out the melodic details that make the song actually sound like Radiohead and not some cover band version from 2004.
I ran into a specific issue when trying to play this at tempo live — the Am to F transition is awkward with a pick because you have to lift your index finger and stretch to the barre at the same time. What I ended up doing was switching to fingerstyle for that section only. Pluck the Am with your thumb and first two fingers, then shift to the F shape without completely releasing tension. It took about three weeks of slow practice at 60 BPM to make it clean, but once it clicks it's actually faster than trying to pick through those chords. Another common mistake is rushing the intro. The song starts slow and deliberate, and many guitarists come in too hot on the first Am. Count eight beats of silence before you start playing. Jonny Greenwood's guitar line in the intro is minimal — it's basically just single notes on the D and G strings with a slight delay effect. Don't try to add extra embellishments. The space matters more than the notes. If you're using a capo, place it on the second fret and play in the key of G. That gets you close enough to the recorded key for most listening situations. Going up three frets with a capo puts you nearer the original A major, but then you're pushing your voice higher and the guitar becomes brighter in a way that can sound thin through a small amp. The second fret is the sweet spot for most players.
The dynamics are critical here. Verses should be played softly, almost underneath yourself. The chorus lifts noticeably but never explodes. The climax at "karma has a cat" is where most players mess up by going loud across the board. Thom Yorke's vocals actually drop slightly in volume here while the instrumentation builds around them. Replicating that dynamic contrast on guitar means muting more strings during the build and letting the chords ring fully only on the downbeats of the chorus.
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