All I Want for Christmas Is You

How to play All I Want for Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey on guitar

These are the sounding chords. With a capo on fret 7 you play C, Em, F, G#, Fm, Am and more, the shapes the player above shows.

This song is a great holiday crowd-pleaser, and it feels bright, upbeat, and very rhythmic once you lock in the pulse. At about 120 BPM, you get a fast, driving feel that rewards clean changes and steady time.

You can lean on the open shapes G, C, and Em, but Bm is the harder barre shape that adds the challenge. The main change to watch is the opening move from G to Bm and back again, since that shift can expose any hesitation in your fretting hand.

Start by looping G - Bm - G - C slowly until the shapes feel automatic. Then add the rest of the song in small sections, keeping the tempo steady before you push it up to full speed.

Use the play-along above to follow each chord change in time with the music, or learn the shapes first with the chord diagrams below.