Hello all of you, here is the next guitartutorial brought to you by guitartutorleeds.com. Today a classic, it is “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King. One of those songs anyone knows.

Now watch the video at the bottom of this article where I demonstrate how you can play this song on the guitar on your own.

We will play the song by using basslines and chords, just as what you hear in the original song. Once you get the feel for playing in this style it will give your playing a feel of accomplishment.

Here are the Chords and the Bassline for the Song:

                         C                   C                       Am                Am
                         /                    /                         /                    / 

     A  —2—-3—–   —2—-3—–   –3—-2—0—-   ——-0—–  

     E  -3————   -3————-   —————–   -0-3——— 
Count 1 and  2³ 4

                      F                   G                     C                    C
                      /                   /                      /                     /

  A  -0————   —————   —2—-3——-   —2—3——

  E  —-3—-1—-   -1—2—3—-   -3————–  -3————-

N.B: Observe just one strum for the chords, and they are all on beat 4. I would suggest playing the F and G chord as barrechords:

        F            G

E  —1———-3——–

B  —1———-3——–

G  —2———-4——–

D  —3———-5——–

A  —3———-5——–

E  —1———-3——–

Playing the chords as suggested is easier as your first finger is already
playing the bassnote of the chord in the bassline.
Pay attention to the counting, the small ³ above the 2 means you hold the beat.
It is my own indication of how to hold beats and not play them. If you have been
using the blog for some time you will be used to my style of notation rhythms, if you are new to this site please pay attention to my additional indication and explanations about how to play pieces.

I have written out the piece in the key of C major as this seems to be the most obvious key for beginners. If you plan on playing this song for your reportoire just check the key with your voice. This song is an easy one to transpose to different keys. I have played this song in almost any possible key for different occassions.

See if you can make the song flow without any gaps as this will seriously improve your playing. It is better to play a few songs really good instead of knowing a whole lot of songs you can only play so so. It seems to be a guitarist’s attitude just to play riffs or bits of the song. Singing will also improve your playing as you need to pay attention to your rhythm and making it all work with your voice. Hey did I not tell you before: This Music Thingy is a job for life, you will never get bored and there is always more to be done.

Enjoy for now, and stay tuned for some more well-known songs with basslines.
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Eddie