Fur Elise is a popular classical song written by Ludwig Van Beethoven. This song is less commonly known as Bagatelle No. 25.
In this post, we’ll cover how to play the guitar chords for Fur Elise, sheet music with guitar tabs, and a fingerstyle arrangement for this song.
How to read the guitar chord charts
To clarify how to read the chord charts, the top horizontal line represents the high E string and the bottom horizontal line represents the low E string. The vertical lines separate each fret. The numbers in the blue dots tell you which fingers to use on the fretting hand.
For example, on the E minor chord, you use the:
- 1st finger on the 5th string, 2nd fret
- 2nd finger on the 4th string, 2nd fret
- Circles represent open strings
- On some other chords, X means to avoid the string
You can check this link for more on how to read guitar notation symbols.
Fur Elise guitar chords
The chords for Fur Elise are E Major, A minor, C Major and G Major. Try the following chords one at a time until you feel comfortable switching between them. These chords will be written above the melody in the next section.
If needed, here are some resources on chords:
- What are the first chords you should learn on guitar?
- 6 tips to get better at switching between chords on guitar
Fur Elise guitar tabs and chords
Here is an easy guitar tab of Fur Elise which has been modified and shortened for beginner level guitarists.
For the sheet music below, keep in mind that the chords and melody are meant to be played as separate parts. We’ll look at how to connect these parts later in the arrangement section of this post.
If needed, you can refer to this simple guide to understanding music symbols.
Fur Elise fingerstyle arrangement
In this section, we essentially put different parts together using a finger picking style method of playing.
The numbers next to some notes on the top staff indicate which fingers to use on the fretting hand. You can check out this post to learn how to finger pick on guitar.
If you like this style of playing, you can check out this post to learn how to connect a melody and chords on guitar.
Want to learn more songs? Check out the sheet music with guitar tabs resource on this site.
Get the free guitar practice guide here!
All the best,
JG
