Without You (Harry Nilsson & Mariah Carey) Guitar Lesson with TAB

In this guitar lesson, you get TAB demonstrating how to play Without You on the acoustic guitar, both like Harry and Mariah!

Without You | TAB

Let’s go through how to play Without You on the acoustic, both as Harry does it, and Mariah.

For Harry’s version, we are in the key of E, we don’t use a capo, here’s the intro:

Notice how the sus2 is above the 3rd, this is the chord riff. E is chord I.

Here’s the verse.

I really like how it is small in bars 2-4, then builds on the second line as we go deeper.

The progression is I – III – II – IIIx. Then VI – IIx – I – V.

Here’s the chorus.

I’ve started in a C shape here for the E chord, you could also try an open E chord. Feel free to develop this part!

Let’s now fit a capo on fret 4 and think in the key of D, we are then a tone above the original key (F# not E).

If you don’t like this, you could fit a capo on fret 2 and play Harry’s chords in Mariah’s key.

Thinking in D changes some of the chords, here’s the intro.

D/F# is new, we have to play this in order to get that 3rd below the sus2.

Here’s the verse.

This is definitely easier to play than in Harry’s key. Let’s now look at the chorus.

Play along with the original recordings, find yourself an ambitious singer and try to stick to the basics as they belt it out.

It takes a true professional to not complicate things when someone else in the band goes all out.

Learn to play Without You by Harry Nilsson and Mariah Carey using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recordings.

| Esus2 E | G#sus4 G#m |
No, I can’t forget this evening or your face as you were leaving…

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.

Known as the 5th Beatle, Harry Nilsson was a singer-songwriter from New York who moved to L.A. to pursue a recording career.

Harry is best known for the tunes EVerybody’s Talkin’, Coconut, One, Without You, and Spaceman.

This guitar lesson by Dan Lundholm features TAB and covers Without 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.