Love Me Tender

by Elvis Presley • Lesson #623 • Jun 5, 2026

Looking for my Key of C chord + melody lesson for this song? View lesson #624 »

About This Lesson

In today’s lesson I’ll teach you to strum & sing Love Me Tender as recorded by Elvis Presley. I’ll begin by teaching you the chords measure by measure, demonstrating how to make your way through this familiar song with a single strum per chord. From there, I’ll dive into the alternating bass notes as heard in the Elvis recording. This can always be a bit tricky, but I’ll walk you through it step-by-step… showing you a few helpful ways to simplify some of the tricky chords.

  • 0:00 Playthrough & Welcome
  • 2:19 Chords: Line 1
  • 6:47 Chords: Line 2 & 3
  • 15:30 Alt. Bass: Line 1
  • 18:46 Alt. Bass: Line 2 & 3
  • 19:47 Final Tips & Farewell

Practice Notes 3 pages

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Lesson Discussion

Jump in the conversation with other members of the Song Notes community! Post a comment about this lesson, ask a question, or even upload a video of your progress. All skill levels welcome!

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Bonus: Zoomed Playthroughs

Here’s a few extra videos, made in thanks to those supporting me with Premium membership here on my Song Notes website. To those showing your support, you have my true thanks and appreciation — and I hope you find these additional videos helpful!

Alternating Bass Note Playthrough, with Singing

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Alternating Bass Note Playthrough, without Singing

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Single-Strum Playthrough (No Bass Notes)

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Bonus: Learn the Melody Notes!

Melody Notes Only

Here’s a playthrough of the melody notes for each measure. I find this invaluable if you want to reference the pitch of each note when learning to sing the song. Also, you can learn these notes and attempt to add them to the chords while strumming.

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Melody Notes, with Droning Bass Notes

Here’s a playthrough of the same vocal melody notes, but with the bass note of each chord added twice per measure (on the “1” and “3” counts). I use fingerstyle in this video (right thumb and index), though you could also use hybrid picking if you have that technique under your belt.

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Don’t miss my chord + melody lesson teaching this song, where I use Key of C chords (capo 2). This lets you use slightly easier chords, and moreover add the vocal melody notes to each of the chords you play.

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Title (short)
Love Me Tender by Elvis Presley
YouTube URL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCsvCWSZQRQ
Thumbnail (video)
Video thumbnail for
Thumbnail (pdf)
PDF thumbnail for
Slug
623
Lesson URL
/lessons/623/
PDF num pages
3
Patreon URL
n/a
Discussion URL
https://community.songnotes.net/c/song-notes-lesson-discussion/love-me-tender-strum-and-sing-lesson-623
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