How To Play Let It Go From Frozen On The Guitar?

Let it go is one of the most recognizable songs by Disney. It was featured in the animated movie Frozen. The song quickly became a huge success and appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 at number four. It sold several millions of copies that year the movie was released. Also, the song won several awards, such as Grammy and the Academy Award.

The song takes place in the scene when Elsa runs to the mountains because she has lost control over her ice powers. Elsa sings about breaking free from hiding her powers and chooses to run to the mountains. There, she no longer needs to hide her powers, and she can use them freely. She builds a fantastic ice castle and creates a living ice man, Olaf.

The song is easy to play for most beginners as it mostly has open chords. There is just a small section that contains two barre chords. But they are five and four-string barre chords, which are easier than the six-string chords.

Tuning And Tempo

The song uses E standard tuning (E A D G B E), and the song’s tempo is 137 bpm. Although the tempo is considered a bit fast, the strumming pattern is easy, so you shouldn’t worry about it. Also, you can always adjust the tempo depending on the singing. 

Capo

If you want your guitar to sound more like the song in the movie, you will have to place a capo on the first fret. However, it isn’t a must, and you can play the song without using a capo. But in this tutorial, I will use a capo on the first fret.

Remember that the guitar will sound at a lower pitch if you don’t use it. It is actually useful for people who can’t sing as high as the original soundtrack.

Guitar Chords

Whether you choose to play it with a capo or not, remember that the chords remain the same. If you use a capo, you just refer to the capo as the “new nut” and play the same chords.

Most of the chords in this song are easy open chords. There is a small section at the end of the verse that has two barre chords. In total there are eight chords in this song.

The open chords in this song are: Em, C, D, Am, A, G

The barre chords are: Bm, Bb

Strumming Patterns

I have broken down the song into three different strumming patterns because I wanted to make it more suited to the singing as in the movie. 

However, if you feel like it is too many strumming patterns at once, you can just stick to the strumming pattern that I wrote for the pre-chorus section. It will fit the whole song just fine as well.

All the strumming patterns consist of 8th-related notes. So for you to play those strumming patterns, you need to know how to strum on a beat and offbeat.

If you are having a hard with these strumming patterns, try the following:

• Practice just the strumming patterns with muted strings.
• Practice with a metronome
• Slow the tempo until you can perfectly strum according to the pattern.
• Break down the pattern into two sections; focus on beats one and two and then three and four.
• Separate the downstroke and the upstrokes; first, play only the downstrokes, then the upstrokes separately, and then incorporate them both.

Strumming Pattern That Fits The Whole Song

Verse Strumming Pattern

This strumming pattern played over the Em, C, and D chords.

This strumming pattern played over the Am and A chords.

Pre Chorus Strumming Pattern

This strumming pattern played almost the entire section.
It is played over the D and C chords.

This strumming pattern played for two measurements at the end of this section. It is played over the C chord. The sign under is an accent. It means that you strum the chord loader compared to the other strums.

Chorus Strumming pattern

This strumming pattern played over the G, D, and C chords.

This strumming pattern is played over the Em chord only which comes after the D chord.

Chorus Ending Strumming pattern

The ending of the chorus can bit a bit challenging both because of the barre chords and the timing of the strums. So if you are having a hard time, don’t worry about it. Try strumming them with just down strokes or the pattern which suits the whole song.

This strumming pattern played over the Bm and Bb chords. The tricky part here is the first two strums are for the Bm chord, and the last one you need to change to the Bb chord.

This strumming pattern played over the Bb and C chord. It is continuing the previous strumming pattern. As in the previous one, the tricky part is that you need to change the chord from Bb to C in the last strum.

Chord Progressions & Strumming Pattern

Once you get the hang of the chords and the strumming patterns, it is time to combine them both.

Verse

Pre Chorus

Chorus

Let It Go Chords & Lyrics

Verse

 Em                          C
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
 D                  Am
Not a footprint to be seen
 Em              C             
A kingdom of isolation, 
 D                      Am
and it looks like I'm the Queen
 Em          C              
The wind is howling like 
 D                Am
this swirling storm inside
 Em                 D                  
Couldn't keep it in 
 A            A   
Heaven knows I've tried

Pre Chorus

 D                   D                 
Don't let them in, don't let them see
 C                 C                     
Be the good girl you always have to be
 D                  D                   
Conceal, don't feel, don't let them know
 C           C        C       C
Well now they know

Verse

 G          D
Let it go, let it go
 Em               C
Can't hold it back anymore
 G          D
Let it go, let it go
 Em              C
Turn away and slam the door
 G         D         
I don't care  
 Em        C
What they're going to say     
 Bm           Bb         C   
Let the storm rage on, the cold never bothered me anyway

Verse

 Em                    C
It's funny how some distance
 D               Am
Makes everything seem small
 Em                 D
And the fears that once controlled me
 A            A     
Can't get to me at all

Pre Chorus

 D                   D      
It's time to see what I can do
 C                 C    
To test the limits and break through
 D                  D  
No right, no wrong, no rules for me, 
 C           C        C       C
I'm free

Chorus

 G          D
Let it go, let it go
 Em               C
I am one with the wind and sky
 G          D
Let it go, let it go
 Em               C
You'll never see me cry
 G         D
Here I stand
 Em        C
And here I stay
 Bm              Bb
Let the storm rage on

Bridge

 C         C              C            C
My power flurries through the air into the ground
 C         C             C             C
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
 D         D             D            D
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
 E          C            D             Am   C
I'm never going back, the past is in the past

Chorus

 G          D
Let it go, let it go
 Em               C
And I'll rise like the break of dawn
 G          D
Let it go, let it go
 Em               C
That perfect girl is gone
 G         D       
Here I stand 
 Em        C
in the light of day
 Bm         Bb         C
Let the storm rage on, the cold never bothered me anyway

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