All I Want For Christmas Is You | TAB
Let’s look at all of All I Want Is Christmas Is You using TAB so you can play it with a band.
You’ll notice how sometimes the chord written above the TAB isn’t exactly corresponding, that’s because the TAB only picks out part of the chord.
Here’s the intro, before the singing starts. This reminds me of Mr. Sandman!
Next, we have the slow first verse. This reminds me of American Pie and Don’t Stop Me Now.
What you saw here is the same as all other verses, well, almost!
Before we start playing the main section (verse at tempo) there’s an instrumental section which will come back after all verses. Check the chords and lyrics lesson where I’ve written it first as a separate section, then as part of the verse (in the chart).
During this instrumental section, we establish the comping, all quarter notes have a little dot above them which means to “play short”. I could have written them all as 8th notes followed by a rest but this would have looked more messy.
Make sure you can see how the chords are repeated rhythmically, using a muted strum at the end to move to the next chord. This mute could be open strings as well.
Here’s the verse. Now pay attention to how the rhythm is repeated slightly differently and there are no muted strums if the chord is played over two bars.
Next, let’s look at the middle 8. Here, pay attention to how the chords have been recycled from the verse, essential information if you’re into hit writing!
Lastly, the outro is similar to the instrumental section but not the same.
First, we play on strings 2-4, then move that up to strings 1-3, this increases the intensity. The Am7 may seem the same as the C chord earlier but the bass changes and as we move up to the top strings it is obvious that the chord has changed.
As nice as these subtle changes are, it’s the D chord which is the big change here. First it’s a D6, then a D9. That slide really makes it stand out.
Paying attention to the small details like the intro melody, the comping being consistent and that final D chord is what will set you apart from the happy amateur and the dedicated pro.
You must constantly prove that this is what you are to every musician you play with, and do it by having taken care of your parts, they will notice.
All I Want For Christmas Is You TAB | Related Pages
All I Want For Christmas Is You | Chords + Lyrics
Learn All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| G | G | G/B | G/B |
I don’t want a lot for Christmas, there is just one thing I need…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Driving Home For Christmas
- Fairytale of New York
- I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
- Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
- White Christmas
Mariah Carey tunes
Discovered by Record label boss and future husband, Tommy Mottola, Mariah Carey became one of the best-known singers of the ’90s.
Her best-known tunes include Without You, Hero, Emotions, Dreamlover, When You Believe, and Vision of Love.
Mariah Carey on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This guitar lesson by Dan Lundholm features TAB and covers All I Want For Christmas Is You. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.