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You’re about to get an in-depth dive into “Say Something” by Justin Timberlake and Chris Stapleton. Learn the chords needed to play this song on guitar, accompanied by the full lyrics, video tutorial, free downloadable guide, song information, and more.
Check it out:
Accompanying video tutorial:
Capo on the 3rd fret
Chords needed
*These charts are read as the strings and frets needing played.
Chord shapes and structures of how I played them in the video:
Verses, Choruses, and Post-Choruses:
E ––––0–––––0–––––3–––––0–––––
B ––––1–––––1–––––0–––––3–––––
G ––––2–––––0–––––0–––––2–––––
D ––––2–––––2–––––0–––––0–––––
A ––––0–––––3–––––2–––––0–––––
E ––––-–––––3–––––3–––––2–––––
Am C G D/F#
Other variations that work just as well, for this song:
E ––––0–––––2–––––
B ––––1–––––3–––––
G ––––0–––––2–––––
D ––––2–––––0–––––
A ––––3–––––0–––––
E ––––0–––––-–––––
C D
Bridge:
E ––––0––––0–––––0–––––3–––––0–––––
B ––––1––––1–––––1–––––0–––––3–––––
G ––––2––––2–––––0–––––0–––––2–––––
D ––––3––––2–––––2–––––0–––––0–––––
A ––––3––––0–––––3–––––2–––––0–––––
E ––––0––––-–––––3–––––3–––––2–––––
F Am C G D/F#
Guitar chords lesson and how-to technique tutorial for Say Something by Justin Timberlake & Chris Stapleton off of the Man of the Woods album. Learn the chords and techniques for playing this song on guitar in this simple, beginner’s lesson.
The verses and choruses and hook or post-choruses are made up of these same chords. We do get a slight variation on the Bridge, towards the end of Say Something.
Here’s the main chords for this song:
- Am to C to G to D
Or, instead of a standard D, you can play a D/F# chord - D over F# or D with an F# bass note - I prefer this variant for this song, and I saw Chris Stapleton hitting that F# bass note in the video.
Each chord is held for 4 counts. I do add some hammer ons to spice it up a bit.
For this Bridge variation section you could either play four straight chords:
- F to Am to C to G
Inline with the song and what I’m showing here is this bass note of a G shape being hit in between the F and Am and Am and C, kind of walking up in between the chords. See video, about 1/2 through, for this technique.
Lyrics and chords
Capo: 3rd fret
[Verse 1: Justin Timberlake]
Am C G
Everyone knows all about my direction
D Am
And in my heart somewhere I wanna go there
C
Still I don't go there
[Chorus: Justin Timberlake]
G
Everybody says say something
D
Say something, say something
Am C
Say something, say something, say something
G D
I don't wanna get caught, up in the rhythm of it
Am C G
But I can't help myself, no, I can't help myself, no, no
D
Caught up in the middle of it
Am C G
No I can't help myself, no I can't help myself, no, no, no
D
Caught up in the rhythm of it
[Post-Chorus: Justin Timberlake & Chris Stapleton]
Am C
Maybe I'm looking something I can't have (Maybe I'm looking something I can't have)
G D
Maybe I'm looking something I can't have
[Verse 2: Chris Stapleton & Justin Timberlake]
Am C G
Everyone knows all about my transgressions
D Am
Still in my heart somewhere, there's melody and harmony
For you and me, tonight (whoa)
Am C
I hear them call my name
[Chorus: Chris Stapleton & Justin Timberlake]
Everybody says say something
Say something, say something
Say something, say something, say something
I don't want to get caught, up in the rhythm of it
But I can't get help myself, no I can't help myself, no, no
Caught up in the middle of it
No I can't help myself, no I can't help myself, no, no, no
Caught up in the rhythm of it
[Post-Chorus: Justin Timberlake & Chris Stapleton]
Maybe I'm looking something I can't have (Maybe I'm looking something I can't have)
Maybe I'm looking something I can't have (Maybe I'm looking something I can't have)
Maybe I'm looking something I can't have (Maybe I'm looking something I can't have)
Maybe I'm looking something I can't have (Maybe I'm looking something I can't have)
[Bridge: Justin Timberlake & Chris Stapleton]
Sometimes, the greatest way to say something is to say nothing at all
Sometimes, the greatest way to say something is to say nothing at all
Sometimes, the greatest way to say something is to say nothing
[Part-Chorus: Justin Timberlake, Justin Timberlake & Chris Stapleton]
But I can't help myself, no I can't help myself, no, no
Caught up in the middle of it
No I can't help myself, no I can't help myself, no, no, no
Caught up in the rhythm of it
[Post-Chorus: Justin Timberlake & Chris Stapleton]
Maybe I'm looking something I can't have (Maybe I'm looking something I can't have)
Maybe I'm looking something I can't have (Maybe I'm looking something I can't have)
Maybe I'm looking something I can't have (Maybe I'm looking something that I can't have)
[Outro: Justin Timberlake & Chris Stapleton]
Sometimes the greatest way to say something is to say nothing at all
Sometimes the greatest way to say something is to say nothing at all
Sometimes the greatest way to say something is to say nothing
Song information for:
Say Something
- Artist: Justin Timberlake featuring Chris Stapleton
- Released: January 25, 2018
- Album: Man of the Woods
- Songwriter(s): Justin Timberlake, Larrance Dopson, Floyd Nathaniel Hills, Timothy Mosley, and Christopher Stapleton
- Producer(s): Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Danja, and Larrance Dopson
- Length: 4:39 (single version)
Information from Wikipedia page
Again, feel free to add some hammer ons to spice it up. Have fun and just enjoy playing the song!
Themes from Justin’s new Man of the Woods album are based right in my home state here in Montana. Justin has spent some time living near Bozeman, in Big Sky, MT. I’m looking forward to that full album release by him.
This is my take on the song. I do not own any rights to the song, yet my video, tutorial, and other learning materials here are all from me.