Six String Fingerpicking Courses and Lessons

How to Play All By Myself by Eric Carmen – Fingerstyle Guitar Lesson and TAB

Eric Carmen

SONG DETAILS

DIFFICULTY:

4

TUNING:

Standard

All By Myself was written by American singer-songwriter Eric Carmen and released in 1975 as the lead single from his self-titled debut album, Eric Carmen. It became a huge international hit, reaching number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 and cementing its place as one of the great power ballads of the 1970s.

The song’s soaring melody is famously inspired by themes from Sergei Rachmaninoff‘s Piano Concerto No. 2. Carmen originally believed the music to be in the public domain, but it later emerged that this was only the case in the United States at the time, resulting in royalties being shared with Rachmaninoff’s estate.

It’s a beautiful and deeply emotional song, and like many piano-driven ballads, it translates wonderfully to fingerstyle guitar. This arrangement is fairly stripped back while still capturing the drama of the original, making it suitable for early-intermediate players and above.

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All By Myself Fingerstyle Guitar Lesson

There are three main sections in this arrangement: a very short one-bar intro, a four-bar verse that repeats, and a four-bar chorus. Structurally it’s actually quite simple, which allows you to focus on tone, dynamics and expression rather than worrying about complex form.

Technically, the piece relies mostly on solid, consistent fingerpicking technique. There are the occasional light strums to add emphasis and texture, but nothing that should feel out of reach if you’re comfortable with early-intermediate patterns.

The main challenge comes from navigating the number of chord changes smoothly. As a result, it’s a very good idea to learn the chord progression separately first. If you can move through the shapes confidently before adding the fingerpicking, the whole arrangement will feel far more secure under your fingers.

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