Learn "Somewhere Only We Know" by Keane on Guitar

In this song lesson, we'll learn how to play Somewhere Only We Know by Keane on the acoustic guitar. This is an arrangement based on the original piano parts. :) The best way to mimic the piano riffs and melodies is to use a capo on Fret 2 with chords in G.

🎹 Copying the piano is tricky sometimes! We'll get creative to make it authentic, and focus on the song-defining riffs and melodies. Stick around to find out how!

Let's start with the intro, which contains a lovely melody on the Keane original.

Somewhere Only We Know by Keane – Intro & Verses on Guitar

The chord progression for the intro and verses is:

G, G/F#, Am, D

I suggest you choose Rock G - technically a G5 chord - the grip sounds best in this context.

There are a couple of ways to play G/F#. Keep fingers 3 and 4 down and move the bass note back one fret. But if you want to mimic the original melody, you need to change the fingering. My grip lets you play the D-C-B melody line on string 2. If you go for this one, make sure you mute string 1 so it doesn't blur the melody.

🔥 Embellishments: The Am and D open chords are perfect for adding embellishments to bring new flavours into your playing. See my Sus Chords and D Chord Explorer lessons for inspiration, or add the original Dsus4 embellishments.

Somewhere Only We Know by Keane – Intro & Verse Strumming

As for the strumming, use all down strums with accents on all four beats and an upstroke after the "and" of 4. If you want to pick up the position of the melody notes, listen to Keane or check out my slow demo in the Slow Intro Demo chapter.

I suggest you add a stop during the first G in the verse. Strum on beat one and let it ring for the rest of the bar. When you reach G/F#, start playing the eighth-note intro pattern. This pause signals the start of the lyrics and helps you mimic the drop in dynamics in the Keane original. :)

How to Play the Pre-Chorus on Guitar

The progression in the pre-chorus is simple too:

Em, Bm(b6), C, |C  D  | x2

These are all standard chord grips except for the second one. The chord is either a Bm(b6) or a GMaj7/B, but don't worry about the name - it's simply a Bm with an extra note: the open G string replaces the usual note on string 3. :) This chord adds some of the personality from the original.

🎸 Piano Riff on Guitar: The piano plays Bm while alternating between F# and G as an embellishment note. This is a common piano trick, but it’s pretty awkward on guitar over barre chords. So we let both notes ring out instead. :)

Another option is to directly mimic the piano by alternating between the notes F# and G on string 1. There are several ways to do this, but they're all pretty tricky! See the video for inspiration. :)

Somewhere Only We Know by Keane – Chorus

Note that the arrangement for Somewhere Only We Know is intro, verse, pre-chorus, verse, pre-chorus, then chorus 1. :) After chorus 1, we end with a pre-chorus and a double chorus. It's an unusual arrangement, but it works well.

Here's the chorus progression:

Am, |G/B  D | x3
C, |D  G |, C, D, C, D.

The progression changes slightly in the double chorus - listen to the track to pick up the differences.

🎆 Shift the Dynamics: Bring your version of this Keane tune to life by varying your dynamics. In my Strumming Dynamics course, we look at tons of guitar techniques you can use to alter the dynamics. This will transform your guitar playing!

There are some wicked embellishments you can add to the chorus. Over Am and D, we can add sus notes, and I love lifting off finger 2 from C to get Csus2.

C6 and D6 also work well in this section. To get to C6 from open C, move finger 1 up one string and one fret, or fret two notes with finger 2. From D, you get D6 by lifting off finger 2 or adding little finger two frets above finger 1. :)

Explore This Guitar Arrangement

Remember, this is a guitar arrangement of a piano song. This means there's plenty of scope to experiment and make it your own. We've covered some of the authentic piano movements in Somewhere Only We Know - listen to it and find others you like, or make up your own.

You can also try moving the bass notes around. This is easy on piano, so pianists often change bass notes during chords, while guitarists don't. See what you can cop from the original, or make up your bass movements!

It's practice time. Enjoy this guitar arrangement of Somewhere Only We Know. :)

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