Jason Mraz Guitar Lessons: Songs You Can Play On Acoustic

Few pop songwriters make the acoustic guitar sound as warm and easygoing as Jason Mraz. The Virginia-born singer rose to fame with his 2002 debut, Waiting for My Rocket to Come, and he’s since won Grammy Awards, including one for his duet “Lucky” with Colbie Caillat.

On this page you’ll find six Jason Mraz lessons I’ve arranged and taught for acoustic guitar, from “Lucky” and the reflective “Love Is Still the Answer” to four songs from his all-acoustic album Yes!: “Everywhere,” “Long Drive,” “Quiet” and “3 Things.”

Each lesson shows you the chords, the rhythm pattern and the little picking touches that give his songs their feel, so you can play them with confidence.

3 Things is a short, direct song from Jason Mraz’s 2014 album Yes!, running just 2 minutes and 54 seconds. It lists the three things he does when his life falls apart: first, cry his eyes out; second, close his eyes and say thank you to every moment of his life; and third, go where he knows the love is and let it fill him up.

The refrain, “love is still the answer I’m relying on,” foreshadows his 2018 song “Love Is Still the Answer.” Seven writers share the credit: Mraz, the four members of Raining Jane and Michael and Nancy Natter.

Mike Mogis and Mraz produced the album, with Chris Keup and Stewart Myers adding production on this track.

Everywhere is track five on Jason Mraz’s 2014 album Yes!, a fully acoustic record he made with the indie-folk band Raining Jane (Mai Bloomfield, Becky Gebhardt, Chaska Potter and Mona Tavakoli), and all four of them share the writing credit with Mraz.

Mike Mogis, known for his work with Bright Eyes, co-produced the album with Mraz, recording it in rural Omaha, Nebraska, and Oceanside, California, and Atlantic Records released it in July 2014. “Everywhere” runs 3 minutes and 24 seconds and wasn’t among the singles.

The album’s lead single was “Love Someone,” released May 19, 2014, and its 10th-anniversary deluxe edition in 2024 added five unreleased live recordings. Yes! was Mraz’s fifth studio album.

Long Drive is track four on Yes!, the all-acoustic album Jason Mraz made in 2014 with the band Raining Jane, and it runs 3 minutes and 50 seconds.

Mraz wrote it with all four members of the group, Mai Bloomfield, Becky Gebhardt, Chaska Potter and Mona Tavakoli, and Mike Mogis co-produced it. Atlantic Records released the album in July 2014, and it was recorded in Omaha, Nebraska, and Oceanside, California. A live version of “Long Drive,” recorded in 2014 at Mraz’s home studio,

The Mranch, with Raining Jane, was released for the first time on the 10th-anniversary deluxe edition of Yes! in October 2024. It wasn’t one of the album’s singles.

Love is Still the Answer is from Jason Mraz’s sixth studio album, Know., released by Atlantic Records on August 10, 2018.

Mraz wrote it with Dan Wilson, the Semisonic frontman who also co-wrote Adele’s “Someone Like You.” The lyrics ask the big questions, why we’re here and what we’ll give and take by the end of our days, and answer them with the title line, repeated like a mantra, that love is still the answer even when a heart or a dream has been shattered.

It echoes a line from “3 Things,” which is also on this page. Know. is Mraz’s fifth top-10 album in the US, and its singles include “Have It All” and “Unlonely.”

Lucky was written by Jason Mraz, Colbie Caillat and Tim Fagan, and it began as an email exchange.

Mraz had the melody, which came out of an online songwriting group led by Austin singer-songwriter Bob Schneider, and he sent it to Caillat, who wrote her verse and the bridge with Fagan and sent it back.

Martin Terefe produced the duet for Mraz’s third album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things., released on May 12, 2008, and Atlantic issued it as the album’s third single on January 13, 2009. It tells of two best friends who fall in love across a long distance, peaked at No. 48 on the Hot 100 and won the 2010 Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

Quiet is track seven on Yes!, Jason Mraz’s all-acoustic 2014 album with Raining Jane, and at 4 minutes and 18 seconds it’s one of the longest songs on the record.

Unlike most of the album, which Mraz wrote with the members of Raining Jane, “Quiet” is credited to Mraz with songwriters Daniel Omelio and Ammar Malik. It was produced by Mike Mogis and Mraz with additional production from Chris Keup and Stewart Myers. Atlantic Records released Yes! in July 2014, and the album’s lead single was “Love Someone.”

“Quiet” wasn’t released as a single. Mraz has described the album as a collection of songs about love, friendship, healing, hope and consciousness.

Kirby Swinemar is an acoustic guitar instructor, performer and song arranger who has taught online for 21 years and created more than 4,000 original acoustic guitar lessons. He specialises in song-based acoustic guitar instruction, rhythm guitar techniques, and creating full-sounding solo arrangements that help beginner and intermediate players move beyond basic strumming.

Explore more of Kirby's work at Kirby's Guitar Lessons, watch his performances and tutorials on his YouTube Channel or follow him on Facebook. You can also learn more about his teaching background on the About Me page.