Can’t Help Falling In Love by Elvis Presley is a ballad written in the key of D Major. The Can’t Help Falling In Love chords are written out in ut, so make sure you add a capo to your guitar so you’re playing it in the correct key.
Capo II ** [Intro] C G Am C G [Verse 1] C Em Am F C G Wise men say, only fools rush in F G Am F * C G C But I can't help falling in love with you C Em Am F C G Shall I stay, would it be a sin? F G Am F * C G C If I can't help falling in love with you [Chorus] Em B7 Em B7 Like a river flows surely to the sea Em B7 Darling so it goes Em A7 Dm G Some things are meant to be [Verse 2] C Em Am F C G Take my hand, take my whole life too F G Am F C G C For I can't help falling in love with you [Chorus] Em B7 Em B7 Like a river flows surely to the sea Em B7 Darling so it goes Em A7 Dm G Some things are meant to be [Verse 3] C Em Am F C G Take my hand, take my whole life too F G Am F C G C For I can't help falling in love with you F G Am F C G C For I can't help falling in love with you
Covers of Can’t Help Falling In Love
This song by Elvis Presley is very popular, and there are a lot of beautiful renditions done by a handful of amazing musicians and artists. Below you can find a list of some beautiful covers of this song:
- Kina Grannis – Can’t Help Falling In Love
- Andrea Bocelli – Can’t Help Falling In Love
- Alan Ng – Can’t Help Falling In Love
- The Chillest – Can’t Help Falling In Love
- Vesislava – Can’t Help Falling In Love
- Ingrid Michaelson – Can’t Help Falling In Love
Can’t Help Falling In Love Chords Explained
Often times when musicians and singers cover ballad songs like these, they won’t do an exact rendition. Obviously the harmony is there, the melody and lyrics are there, along with the pulsing rhythm. However, the voicing and/or arpeggio might not be there. There’s also not an immediate need for it since the initial three elements is enough to carry the song and make it unique.
All chords are basic major and minor chords. In the chorus however you’ll find a dominant 7th chord, which is just a tried with a flattened 7th.
How To Practice Memorizing and Playing Chords
Triads
Learning how to master, memorize and play harmony is so very important. Harmony and chords will be used interchangeably since they in a way mean the same thing. In the case of the Can’t Help Falling in Love Chords, we have to go back to the basics before we just whip out some chords that maybe we don’t master yet.
In general, we need to start with the basics first. Which entails practicing all 12 major and 12 minor triads. Whether this is on piano or guitar. Piano will allow us simply play the theoretical version of each chord. If it’s a guitar you’re using, you need to use a different voicing since guitar is approached very differently when it comes to harmony.
In the case of guitar, you’re most often dealing with shapes. Simply playing a bar chord and shifting it around will allow you to play all 12 chords. In the case of piano, you need to make sure you memorize the proper combination between triad notes and black and white keys. You can use the following chord chart to memorize your basic triad chords for piano.
7th Chords
In the case of 7th chords, depending on whether you’re playing guitar on piano, we’re essentially in the same realm as with the triads. 7th chords entail minor 7th, major 7th and dominant chords. 7Th chords will be able to be played on guitar using very basic chord shapes. Simply moving them around will allow you to play all 12 chords of each chord quality (-7, maj7 and dom7).
In the case of piano, we’re dealing with an entirely different beast. You need to approach it the same way as you did with triads, but just know you’re learning the theoretical version of 4 note chords (7th) in stead of 3 note chords (triads). You can use the following chart to memorize your 7th chords.
Why Memorizing Chords Is So Important
Memorizing chords, whether they are triads or 7th chords is very very important. Yes, you have diminished chords, augmented chords etc, but for every musician, whether you are an amateur or a professional, we recommend you memorize your chords. At least the basic triads (major, minor) and their 7th chord counterparts.
It is the equivalent of literally learning a new language. When you dive into learning a new language, you won’t be able to express yourself until you actually have enough vocabulary and grammar under your belt to properly express yourself and have conversation. Otherwise you might have to constantly refer to a dictionary, and the quality of your conversation would go down the drain rapidly. The same can be said for memorizing your chords for musical pieces.
Imagine you’re wanting to play a song, but instead of having to read the lyrics and chords, you have to stop at every chord and look up what it means and how it should be played. That would be a very terrible experience as a musician to go through, but even more of an unpleasant experience for audience members to listen to.
Bottom line, memorize your chords, at a rapid pace. Practice transitioning between them, whether you do this on guitar or piano, and you’ll have laid foundation work nicely for your future musicianship.
How To Get Better A Rhythm/Feel While Playing Can’t Help Falling In Love Chords
Once you have your chords placement down, the next thing you need to get a grasp on is timing, feel and rhythm. The big question is, how do you get really good at using rhythm and feel to convey the emotion of this song. Songs like Can’t Help Falling In Love and ballads in general will shine a big spotlight on rhythm and feel. If you don’t have it, or its off, due to the nature of the ballad as a song, it’ll become very obvious.
A few recommendations:
- Always practice with a metronome
- Practice at the regular speed, slow and much faster. Similar to speeding up a song on YouTube
- Play the part without the backing track, then play it with the song.
This is a really great habit to get into since it’ll improve your inner metronome. With that being said, this will take time and can’t be sped up. The best thing you can do for yourself is to get in an authentic habit using the metronome while practicing. After a while, you’ll notice you playing way more in time as if you’re playing with a metronome. That’s the ultimate goal for every musician to achieve.
Mastering Melody for Voice & Instrument
Grasping the melodical aspect of this particular song and music in general is is very important. Imagine having your chords down, and playing them beautifully on your instrument. To then have it be butchered by a bad melodically rendition. We will briefly go over what you can do to master melody performance, whether on your instrument or vocals.
In terms of playing beautiful melodies with your instrument, especially ballads like these, timing, tone and feel is everything. The timing part will be improved if you apply the methods above. Tone comes from two elements. 70% is determined by your finger pressure (on piano and guitar), and amplifier sound. If you’re playing on an acoustic guitar, you don’t have many options in terms of amplification.
Make sure you let your notes las long enough. Don’t cut them off too short, and if you do, time it properly. Otherwise it’ll feel like a weird mess up. If you have a good tone on your amplifier, it’ll make up for some finger pressure issues, but in general, you want to focus much more on your finger pressure and timing. Use amplification to literally amplify your skill and feel.
Bottom Line In Regards To The Can’t Help Falling In Love Chords
Our goal here was to use this song as an example of what some of the most important things in music are you should think about. From a professional musician point of view, the parts mentioned above are it. The thing you need to perform beautifully. Memorize chords, practice timing and focus on phrasing and tone. When you play ballads, all of these things will be much more in the spotlight than when you play upbeat jazz, latin music or rock. This is why I play more ballads than anything. In an effort to practice my skills as a musician.
If you have any questions about this song, its chords or some of the recommendations that we’ve mentioned above. Don’t hesitate to reach out to us and we’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have. We would really appreciate if you’d leave a comment in the comment section below and if you could leave a review in the review section down below.
Supplemental Info
A few things to keep in mind is that if you’re looking to become a more rounded musician, we have some resources for you to consider. Lots of professional musicians agree that prior to becoming a great pop musician, a mastery of classical and jazz music can be beneficial. The way to approach this master is by putting up a master schedule. We will explain below what this practice master schedule looks like:
Classical
- Practice 45 minutes per day
- Practice scales, arpeggios, Hanon exercises, chords, tone, feel, timing (with metronome)
- Tackle 1 classical piece at a time
Verdict
You don’t need to be doing a lot to master classical music. In fact, classical is heavily focussed on technique and speed. Practice your basics real well and fast, and start to apply those techniques to your classical songs. Next, once you tackle one song at a time, become very proficient at that song, and you’ll get to an amazing level in no time.
Jazz
- Practice 45 minutes per day
- Major 7th, Minor 7th, Dominant 7th
- Pentatonic Scales, Blues Scales
- Jazz standards, mostly ballads
Verdict
This is your first step to becoming a great jazz musician. Do the basics, often and fast, just like with classical music as mentioned above. As with any skill or hobby, practice makes perfect. Nothing is more true than to become a skilled musician. Do this, and the Can’t Help Falling In Love Chords will come to you as easy and with certainty as the sun rises in the east.
If you’re looking for valuable resources to help you get better at classical and jazz music, use our search box and type in related keywords in order to see if we have something to offer. More in particular, if you’re looking to get better as a jazz musician, you might want to check out our Jazz Real Book PDF section. In fact, we recommend that once you do your classical basics, and you tackle your jazz basics, that you immediately move into learning jazz from the all American real book.
This book is a collection of really great jazz standards from the 30s, 40s and 50s. They contain theme songs from movies and tv shows as performed and arranged by jazz trios and quartets as led by some of the greats like Bill Evans, Charlie Parker and many more.
If yo have any questions about jazz or classical, or how you can master these genres, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. I love to help people understand music. I like to help them get better at it as they practice to get better.