Guitar lesson for

Last Christmas

by Wham!  •  Lesson #200

Video Lesson

Get the PDF chord sheet (3 pages)

  • Support me on Patreon.com to get access to this and 200+ other PDF chord sheets I've made, plus new PDFs I make going forward (1-2 added each week).
  • The cost is $3/month (one month minimum, cancel anytime). Annual plans also available. Here's a free sample if you're on the fence. Thanks!
Download the PDF on Patreon

After clicking the button and logging in to Patreon, look for the PDF attached to the bottom of the post.

Editor’s notes

After many requests, I’m please to bring you all this lesson for “Last Christmas” by Wham. I’ll teach the basic chords, explain some strumming pattern options, and show a few ways to spice things up with some simple chord voicing modifications. I hope that you’ll be able to pick this one up quickly and run with it. Best of luck!

PDF chord sheet overview

Here’s an up-close look at the print-friendly PDF chord sheet I made for this song (3 pages, with lyrics/tabs/strumming/etc):

Lyrics w/ chords

(capo 2nd fret to be in same key as Wham!)

INTRO

    C  /  Am  /  Dm  /  G  /

CHORUS
          C
          Last Christmas, I gave you my heart
                  Am
          But the very next day you gave it away
          Dm
          This year, to save me from tears
               G
          I'll give it to someone special

          [chorus x1] => [instrumental chorus x1]

VERSE
    C
    ...Once bitten and twice shy
    Am
    ...I keep my distance, but you still catch my eye
    Dm
    ...Tell me, baby, do you recognize me?
    G       
    ...Well, it's been a year, it doesn't surprise me

    C
    ...(Merry Christmas!) I wrapped it up and sent it
    Am
    With a note saying, "I love you, " I meant it
    Dm
    Now, I know what a fool I've been
              G
    But if you kissed me now, I know you'd fool me again

          [chorus x2] => [instrumental chorus x1]

    C
    ...A crowded room, friends with tired eyes
    Am
    ...I'm hiding from you, and your soul of ice
    Dm
    ...My god, I thought you were someone to rely on
    G
    Me? I guess I was a shoulder to cry on

      C
    A face on a lover with a fire in his heart
      Am
    A man under cover but you tore me apart
    Dm
    .........Ooohhh....
              G
    Now, I've found a real love you'll never fool me again

          [chorus x2]

      C
    A face on a lover with a fire in his heart
      Am
    A man under cover but you tore him apart
    Dm
    ...Maybe... next year...
         G                                              
    I'll give it to someone, I'll give it to someone...
    C        Am    Dm    G    (repeat progression, fade out to end)
    Special...

Chords needed

Without a capo, you’ll need to use these chords to play this song. I immediately don’t love this, because B-minor is a barre chord and that may up the level of difficulty for this song.

E –––2––––2––––0––––0–––
B –––3––––3––––0––––2–––
G –––2––––4––––0––––2–––
D –––0––––4––––2––––2–––
A ––––––––2––––2––––0–––
E –––––––––––––0––––––––
     D    Bm   Em   A

Instead, I’ll be teaching with these chord shapes. Use a capo on the 2nd fret (and these chords) if you prefer to play along w/ the Wham version of this song. Otherwise, you can not bother with a capo (and still use these chords) and you’ll be just fine.

E –––0––––0––––1––––3–––
B –––1––––1––––3––––0–––
G –––0––––2––––2––––0–––
D –––2––––2––––0––––0–––
A –––3––––0–––––––––2–––
E ––––––––––––––––––3–––
     C    Am   Dm   G

Chord progression for entire song

Straight up, use the four chords shown above - in that same order - for the entire song! 8 counts per chord (2 measures of 4 beats each). Typed out crudely, that looks like this:

1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
C               Am              Dm              G

Strumming pattern

There’s a few ways to approach this. At the simplest, start with a single down strum on the 1 and 3 counts:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +       D = down strum
D       D

Or you could do a down strum on the back beat (2 and 4 counts):

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +       D = down strum
    D       D

But if you do this, you may want to include lighter strums on the 1 and 3 counts, with accented (stronger) strums on the 2 and 4:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +       D = down strum      > = accented strum   
D   D   D   D         
    >       >

If you want to bring in up-strums, here’s a very common pattern you can use:

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +       D = down strum      > = accented strum
D   D U   U D U       U = up strum
    >       >

Finally, perhaps the most advanced of these, would be to include a percussive “slap” strum. See my video lesson for reference.

1 + 2 + 3 + 4 +       D = down strum      > = accented strum
D U x U D U x U       U = up strum        x = percussive slap
    >       >

Spicing up the chord shapes

Something I demonstrate in my video lesson, is how you can add a single note to the voicing of each of the chord shapes - and this can go a long way to spicing up the sound of the song. Shown here are each of the 4 chords I use to play the song, and each of the chords has its “modified” version just to the right.

E –––0––0––– –––0––0––– –––1––0––– –––3––3–––
B –––1––3––– –––1––3––– –––3––3––– –––0––1–––
G –––0––0––– –––2––2––– –––2––2––– –––0––0–––
D –––2––2––– –––2––2––– –––0––0––– –––0––0–––
A –––3––3––– –––0––0––– –––––––––– –––2––2–––
E –––––––––– –––––––––– –––––––––– –––3––3–––
     C          Am         Dm         G

Playing the chorus melody along with chords

Here’s the melodic phrase heard during the chorus vocals, that I like to sometimes incorporate into the plucking & strumming of these 4 chords. The key here is to accent these melody notes, and then bring in full strums as you’re able. With some practice, you can get the best of both worlds: the recognizability of the melody, mixed with the full sound of the strums.

E ––––––––––––––––0––––––––––0–––––––––––––––––0–––––0–1–0–––––––––––––––––––––––––
B –––3–3–1––1–3–3–––1––––3–3–––1––1–0–1–0––––––3–3–––––––––3–––––0–1–0–0––1–0–0––––
G –––0–––––––––––––––––––2––––––––––––––––2––––2–––2–––––––––2–––0––––––––––––––0––
D –––2–––––––––––––––––––2–––––––––––––––––––––0–––––––––––––––––0–––––––––––––––––
A –––3–––––––––––––––––––0–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––2–––––––––––––––––
E –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––3–––––––––––––––––
     C                   Am                    Dm                G

Good luck!

I hope this helps, and as always let me know if you have any questions.

Enjoy my lessons? Buy me a beer!

If this and my other lessons have proven helpful to you, please consider making a one-time donation to my tip jar. Contributions of any amount help make this project possible (including the many, many hours I put into it).

You can also support me on Patreon. For only $3/month you'll get access to a print-friendly PDF of my notes for each new lesson (view free sample).

Thanks!

Subscribe to my YouTube channel

Be sure to never miss a lesson by subscribing on YouTube. I put out 2-3 new videos every week. These include full song lessons, as well as covers, practice tips, behind-the-scenes updates. Thanks!

Recent video lessons:

📝 Print-friendly PDFs now available for all new lessons I make, including all those listed below. Get a free sample »

← back to lesson list