Adele – Someone Like You Guitar Lesson

Welcome to Adele’s Someone Like You guitar lesson. Improve your open chord changes and basic strumming skills with the beginner song arrangement featured in this lesson. Someone Like You was released in 2011 and comes from Adele’s album titled 21. 

Song structure

The song has a common pop song structure. Here is the layout:

• Intro
• Verse 1
• Pre-chorus
• Chorus
• Verse 2
• Pre-chorus
• Chorus
• Bridge
• Chorus x2

To play along with the recording, you will need your guitar in standard tuning and a capo on the second fret.

Intro riff

Figure 1 (shown below) is the intro part performed on the piano and arranged here for guitar. This is best played using fingerpicking technique. This part is optional to learn. Therefore, you may want to skip this and instead play the rhythm part (see figure 2) throughout the whole song.

Rhythm guitar part

Someone Like You uses the chords G, C, D, Am and Em. In addition, you will also find the chord D/F# and the chord G/B. Playing chord D (instead of D/F#) and chord G (instead of G/B) will also work for those finding it difficult to play those chord variations.

Figure 2 (shown below) shows you the rhythm playing throughout the song.

A variation on figure 2’s rhythm is played in the last bar of the first pre-chorus. In that bar, sustain chord C for two counts (a minim/half note). Note the 2/4 time signature at the beginning of that bar. 2/4 means there are two quarter note beats in that bar. Note also the asterisks at the end of the bridge and in the chorus that follows. In the chord with an asterisk at the end of the bridge, you hold that chord for 4 counts (a semibreve/whole note). In the chorus which follows the bridge, hold each chord with an asterisk for two counts.

Conclusion

So this is it for our Adele’s Someone Like You guitar lesson. It’s a fun and easy-to-learn song that uses basic chords. For those just starting to learn fingerpicking, it is an ideal song as it has a simple fingerpicking pattern.

Note: The score excerpts and lyrics in this lesson are shared for educational purposes only.