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An easy beginner guitar tutorial to help you learn the song Count on Me by Bruno Mars on guitar fast with easy chords options, no complicated theory and without a capo (if you don’t have one or don’t want to use one). Learn how to play and sing this song in 2 easy steps.
STEP 1: WATCH THE GUITAR TUTORIAL
Click here to watch the video on YouTube
STEP 2: REFER TO TUTORIAL NOTES
- C x2 (Remember, sound like Elvis!)
- C Em Am G F
- C Em Am G F
- Dm Em F G
- C Em Am G F
- C Em Am G F
- C Em (Beginning of Ooo Ooo part)
- Am G (Ooo Ooo still going)
- F G (–Yeah yeah yeah)
- Dm Em Am G
- Dm Em F G
- C Em Am G F
- C Em Am G F
- C Em (Beginning of Ooo Ooo part)
- Am G (Ooo Ooo jumps to last line instead of Yeah Yeah Yeah)
- F C (Last line: You can count on me cos I can count on you)
BEGINNER TIPS:
Replace F Major with F7 if F Major is too difficult to play. The original key of the song is C# so capo the 1st fret and use the chords below if you want to play in the same key as the original song.
CHORDS USED (6): C G Am Em Dm F
- Tutorial Song Key: C
- Original Song Key: C# (Capo 1st fret)
STRUMMING PATTERN
- down DOWN down DOWN
- down (down up) down (down up) OR
- (down up)(DOWN up)(down up)(DOWN up) <–Recommended
Help Me Dude – I’m a COMPLETE beginner and still need help
- Check out the Free Beginner Guitar Course and Lessons on the site to see if they help
- Send me an email through the contact form here and I’ll do my best to help answer your question (silly questions allowed).
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
You are incredible on the guitar! And I am your fan.
I would like to have your version of the song Count On Me – Bruno Mars, if you can send me the guitar chords for my e-mail would be very grateful.
Kisses Simone.
Hi Simone, I’ve put the chords up on the site if you want to check them out. There is also a link to guitar chords and lyrics on the Ultimate-Guitar.com website in case you want to transpose the chords of the song quickly.
Nice one , but can you help me to improve on changing faster
Hey man, I recommend practising standard chord progressions. I got two examples on the site here:
http://learnguitarfasttips.com/779/c-g-am-f-guitar-chord-progression/
http://learnguitarfasttips.com/780/g-d-em-c-guitar-chord-progression/
Start slow with single strums and gradually build up the speed of your counting and the number of strums you do. Watch the vids and you’ll understand what I mean. Hope it helps
Hi Ian! I just wanted to say you’ve been so helpful! I’m a beginner in guitar, and you’ve taught me so much ^_^
Thanks!
Ian, you’re amazing! You are so talented! I love this song. I’m trying to learn how to play it, and I’m glad I found your website
But what gets me is G Major. It’s like my fingers can’t cooperate with each other to make G major chord ugh. Can I just skip it? Would it make a HUGE difference on the song?
Thanks
So helpful, I have learn alot thanks.
Hi Ian, Great tutorials! I can play Spanish guitar, but I want to learn how to play chords. Can you tell me what the rhythm is of this song? Is it just 4/4?
By the way, I saw a video of Bruno Mars where he plays the song on the guitar alone ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKGA9RAmi4c.) He uses different chords, than in your tutorial. Is this because he not using a capo?
Hi Berber, yeah the rhythm of the song is in 4/4. In the video Bruno Mars is using a combination of normal chords, ‘variations’ of normal chords and ‘barre’ chords.
In my tutorials, I try to avoid using variations to minimize the number of chord shapes used in a tutorial and to keep things simple for beginners. It may not be completely the same as the original, but its close enough, and in most cases variations and normal chords are inter-changeable if your goal is to simply play through the song and not song exactly like the original.
The barre chords you see where he plays higher up the fret board can be played using normal chords, which is what I show in the tutorial. I avoid mixing the use of normal chords and barre chords in the same song tutorials to keep things simple for beginners so they don’t get confused.
In the video he is playing the song in the key of C, which is the same song key as the tutorial. You will notice that the first 5 chords he plays in the song are the same as the chords taught in the tutorial where he plays a variation of the G chord instead of the normal way shown in the tutorial.
If you can play along with him using the chords in the tutorial and the sound doesn’t clash, this is a good indication that you are in the same song key, even if he seems to be using what looks like different chords.
The chords he uses are different not because he’s not using a capo, but because he is using variations and barre chords in place of normal chords. There is more than one way to play the C major chord for example on the guitar. The way I show you in the tutorial is the most standard way you would play it. Hope this answers your questions.
Wow, Thank you for your quick and very helpful reply. To bad I’m at work and start playing the song right now.
Thanks, you helped me alot