Just the Way You Are

How to play Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars on guitar

These are the sounding chords. With a capo on fret 5 you play C, Am, F, the shapes the player above shows.

This song is a great beginner play-along because it stays upbeat, familiar, and easy to loop once you get the feel. You get a steady pop groove at about 120 BPM, and the repeating progression makes it satisfying to lock in and sing along with as you improve.

You can lean on the open shapes for most of the song, with A# being the harder barre shape to watch. The main change to focus on is moving cleanly from F to Dm to A# and back to F without breaking the rhythm, since that turn into A# is usually the trickiest part.

Start by practicing each shape slowly, then loop F - Dm - A# - F until the switches feel automatic. After that, keep the pulse steady and play the full cycle at a relaxed tempo before bringing it up to speed. Once the changes feel smooth, the whole song should come together quickly.

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.