Get ready to learn a beautiful chord melody arrangement of "Let it Be" by The Beatles! This tutorial includes a 10-minute step-by-step lesson as well as a full play-along!
In case you're not familiar with the chord melody guitar style it is a beautiful approach to playing guitar where you combine the chords and the melody at the same time--similar to how a solo pianist approaches playing songs.
Usually, in order to combine the chords and melody of a song the guitarist would have to strum the chords while singing the melody. In the chord melody guitar style, the guitarist uses chord inversions to follow the melody as it moves. Chord inversions are essentially different versions, or "spellings", of the same chord found in multiple positions of the neck.
The Use of Triads in Chord Melody
Simpler chord melody arrangements (like this one) rely heavily on small 3-note chord inversions called "triads". Triads serve many purposes, but in the context of chord melody playing they are the vehicle that enables guitarists to play the same chord in various positions of the neck. This, in turn, enables guitarists to follow the melody as it moves around the neck and combine the chords and melody notes at the same time as seen in this excerpt from a chord melody arrangement of the classic song "Greensleeves" (also known as "What Child is This?"):
As you see, we have two versions of the Em chord as well as two inversions of the D chord--all played in different positions of the neck. This enables us to follow the melody as it moves to the different positions of the neck. If you are new to the chord melody guitar style I highly recommend checking out our "Can't Help Falling in Love" lesson where we cover the basics of chord melody guitar technique.
We'll be looking at chordal triads more extensively in a future lesson. In the meantime, playing through chord melody arrangements like this one is by far the best way to get proficient at triad chord shapes and to internalize the concept of a "chord inversion".
I hope you find this arrangement of "Let it Be" as fun to play as I have! Feel free to submit any questions or comments below!
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David Osborn is the founder and head teacher at Kids Guitar Academy. David has been teaching guitar professionally for over 20 years, specializing in guitar studies for kids & teens. Aside from teaching, David enjoys spending time with family & friends, fishing, and playing electric guitar in his church's worship band.
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