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Melody, with Chords: "You Are My Sunshine"

Lesson #411 • Jan 12, 2022

Video lesson

If you’re looking for my full song lesson for You Are My Sunshine (with the sheet music), you can find it here.

Instructional PDF 2 pages

Follow along with the print-friendly PDF! It includes all of my notes for this lesson, allowing you to follow along at your own pace. You're free to download, print, and share the PDF across your devices.

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Follow along with the print-friendly PDF!

It includes all of my notes for this lesson, allowing you to follow along at your own pace. You're free to download, print, and share the PDF across your devices.

To download the PDF, upgrade to premium or log in.

About this lesson

Hey friends! A lesson today where I show the process of working out the melody notes for “You Are My Sunshine”, as covered by Johnny Cash in 2003. I’ll walk you through things, using the chord shapes for the song (A, D, and E major) as a starting point – and help you learn how to look for & recognize the melody notes therein. I would consider this an essential guitar skill, as understanding where to find the melody notes for any song you’re playing opens so many doors.

  • 0:00 Introduction to the Melody Exercise
  • 1:00 Worksheet and Resources
  • 2:00 Finding the First Melody Notes
  • 7:40 Continuing with the Melody
  • 12:55 Completing the Melody
  • 21:50 Integrating Melody with Strums
  • 25:00 Conclusion and Additional Resources



Full song lesson also available!

If you want to learn this entire song (played with strumming), I have a separate video lesson you can view here. You also can get the 4-page sheet music to follow along. Check it out!



Similar melody lessons I’ve made…

Previously, I made a lesson showing the same concept (of figuring out the melody notes, given the chords) for “Can’t Help Falling in Love” by Elvis Presley. View my lesson notes & get the PDF »

I also tackle this at the end of my lesson for “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” by Carole King / The Shirelles. View my lesson notes & get the sheet music »

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Title (long)
Melody, with Chords: "You Are My Sunshine"
YouTube URL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBCESmYYYyY
Thumbnail (video)
Video thumbnail for Melody, with Chords:
Thumbnail (pdf)
PDF thumbnail for Melody, with Chords:
Slug
411
Lesson URL
/lessons/411/
PDF num pages
2
Patreon URL
https://www.patreon.com/posts/61077679
Discussion URL
n/a
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