John Legend is one of the most popular songwriters of our time, and his song “All of Me” has become one of the best-known love songs in recent memory. It’s even had 1.1 billion streams on Spotify!
Even if you’re a new guitarist, you’ll likely be able to easily master the chords for this simple yet beautiful song. So without further ado, here are the guitar chords for All of Me.
What Chords Do You Need?
For this song, you only need five chords. And since these are chords that most guitarists learn early on, you might already be familiar with them! To play the song, you will only need Em, C, D, G, and Am. If you already know how to play these chords, feel free to skip to the next section.
If you don’t, here’s a quick guide:
Em
- Place your middle finger on the fifth string at the second fret.
- Place your ring finger on the fourth string at the second fret.
C
- Place your first finger on the second string at the first fret.
- Place your middle finger on the fourth string at the second fret.
- Place your ring finger on the fifth string at the third fret.
- Mute or skip the sixth string.
D
- Place your first finger on the third string at the second fret.
- Place your middle finger on the first string at the second fret.
- Place your ring finger on the second string at the third fret.
- Mute or skip the fifth and sixth strings.
G
- Place your first finger on the fifth string at the second fret.
- Place your middle finger on the sixth string at the third fret.
- Place your ring finger on the first string at the third fret.
Am
- Place your first finger on the second string at the first fret.
- Place your middle finger on the fourth string at the second fret.
- Place your ring finger on the third string at the second fret.
- Mute or skip the sixth string.
Some guitarists play this version with no capo. Others recommend placing a capo at the first fret. If you aren’t sure which is best, try playing and singing each version. If your voice is on the higher side, you might be more comfortable playing and singing with the capo.
Guitar Chords for All of Me
Now that you know the chords you’ll need, let’s take a look at the whole song:
Here’s the first verse and pre-chorus:
And then we come to the chorus:
Now on to the second verse and the pre-chorus again:
And back to the chorus:
Next, we have a bridge that sounds a bit like the pre-chorus:
And finally, an outro:
Mastering the Strumming Pattern
Playing this John Legend hit is a little more challenging than it looks. Think of each four-beat measure looking like this (with the plus sign being the “and” of each beat):
1 + 2 + 3 + 4
In All of Me, you only play the 1, then 4, and the “and” of the two. So here’s what you’d be playing:
1 + 2 + 3 + 4
Each measure of the song only requires three strums. You can make them all down strums, but it’s usually easier to sing along if you include an up-strum in the middle.
Of course, when it comes to strumming, it’s often easier to listen to a pattern than it is to read about it. This video takes you through playing the song and demonstrates the strumming pattern we mentioned above.
Keep Learning!
It’s a great feeling to be able to play a song the way it’s written. But don’t be afraid to experiment a bit and make this song your own. Maybe you want to tweak the strumming pattern. Or perhaps you want to venture into fingerstyle playing. Either way, developing your own rendition of All of Me (or any other song you know) is a great way to grow as a musician.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Luckily, you won’t need a simplified version of the song; the original All of Me is written using five easy chords.
To play All of Me, you will need Em, C, D, G, and Am.
That depends on who you talk to. But generally speaking, C, D, G, and Em are four of the most essential guitar chords. They are also among the first chords that new guitarists learn.
Most guitarists play the version we covered above (with Em, C, D, G, and Am) with no capo. But if you have a higher-pitched voice and want to sing along, there’s nothing wrong with using a capo.
