Here’s a great song which works really well as a Chord Melody Arrangement, “Marry You” by Bruno Mars (it is wedding season after all!). The original is in F, but I go through it in E to make it a bit more guitar friendly. If you want to play it in the original key, put a capo on the first fret and play the same thing I go through and you’ll be there.
I go through 3 Parts of the song, each part should be played twice. I also go through the “outro” which is the bells part of the song. It actually happens throughout each part, but I like to use it as a way to finish the song.
The chords throughout are the same: E – F#m – A – E, but the melody changes. In order to follow the melody the E chord is sometimes played as a “C Shape”, an open chord or as a series of “Consecutive 6ths”!
Go ahead and arpeggiate it as you wish, just be sure not to go above the melody notes. Dig!
-Related Lessons-
0:50 – Intro to Chord Melody | Layla Outro
1:36 – Major CAGED Chord Shapes | CO 1/10
2:33 – 6th String Barre Chords | BO 9/10
2:33 – Barred 7th Chords
3:00 – Playing Open Chords | BO 4/10
3:05 – Naming a Chord?! | UGT 4/8
4:47 – Slides, Hammer-ons, Pull-offs, Palm Muting & Rakes
6:51 – Consecutive 6ths | Rhythm & Lead Guitar Concept
7:05 – Country Guitar Techniques (Hybrid Picking)
7:18 – Finger Picking Overview
10:06 – Harmonics and Ways To Use Them
10:13 – Natural Harmonics | 4th 3rd and 2 and a half frets
PDF’s
Marry You by Bruno Mars Chord Melody PDF, CAGED Chord Shapes, Open & Barre Chords, 7th Chords, Finger Picking Patterns, Consecutive 6ths, Basics, Theory
