Congratulations: by clicking this you have voluntarily re-summoned the one song that hijacked every radio, TikTok and grocery store in 2020. "Why you always in a mood?" Buddy, I have been in a mood since this loop crawled back into my skull. And now it lives on my guitar, so at least it's paying rent in tab form.
This 27-second clip covers the intro riff to Mood by 24kGoldn on guitar, and — because I clearly hate having free time — I give you two ideas for how to play it. One version strums the chords like a normal, well-adjusted person; the other picks out the melody on top so it sounds like the actual hook. Tab and Guitar Pro are down below.
How the Mood intro riff works
The whole song rides one short, repeating chord loop — that's the entire trick behind why it's stuck in your head. The nerdy takeaway is what I do with it: the same progression can be a rhythm part OR a melody, depending on which notes you spotlight. Idea one is to just strum the shapes and let the chords do the work. Idea two is to pick out only the top notes of each chord, and suddenly you're playing the vocal-style hook as a single-note riff. Same fingers, same frets, completely different job.
Practical version: learn the chord shapes first so your left hand knows where home is, then go back and isolate the highest note in each shape. That top-note line IS the melody hiding inside the chords. Once you can see it there, you'll start spotting it in half the pop songs you play — it's the same reason figuring out chords and melody by ear gets easier the more loops you decode, and it's basically step one of writing your own pop song.
So yes, four chords and a mood swing, and you too can annoy your neighbours in the key of viral. If you want the Guitar Pro file and the originals, they live on my Patreon — right next to my dignity, which also moved out in 2020.