Metallica
Nothing Else Matters chords
Nothing Else Matters by Metallica is an intermediate song in Em, played with no capo. The whole sheet is 6 chords (Em, D, C, G, B7, A) across 3 sections: Intro → Verse ×2 → Chorus. Every shape is an open chord, so nothing here needs barre strength. It sits at roughly 46 BPM.
By Chiye · Updated
Hardest change in the sheet: D → C, 3 times.
- Difficulty
- Intermediateno barre needed
- Key
- Emwith no capo
- Tempo
- 46BPM
- Tuning
- Standard (E A D G B E)low to high
- Chords
- 6all open shapes
- Sections
- 3each with its own progression
Chords in Nothing Else Matters
Frets read low E to high E, x means leave that string out.
Chord sheet
One chord per bar in this practice sheet. Follow the time signature shown beside each section; dots mark the remaining counts in the bar. Tap a bar to hear its chord, or loop the section to practise the changes.
Chord accompaniment only. Follow the section notes for this arrangement’s timing. Songs whose words are public domain →
Intro6/8 · ♩=46
Verse× 2 · 6/8 · ♩=46
Chorus6/8 · ♩=46
Printable one-page chord chart
How to play Nothing Else Matters
Nothing Else Matters is Metallica’s acoustic masterpiece and the gateway song for metal players moving to clean guitar. The intro arpeggio over Em, D and C is played fingerstyle and repeats all the way through the verses.
The verse adds G and B7 on the line “trust I seek, and I find in you” — that B7 is the emotional hinge of the song, so give it a moment to ring. The chorus is pure arena rock: C, A, D with big, patient downstrokes, no rushing.
Practise the intro pattern slowly — thumb on the low strings, fingers plucking the top three — and let each chord ring out before you move. Once the pattern is automatic, the whole song opens up, because the left hand barely changes between sections. Open strings everywhere; let them sing.
How to practise Nothing Else Matters
Four steps computed from this sheet: the order the shapes are easiest to learn in, the changes that really occur in the progressions above, where each chord turns up, and the tempo ladder up to the speed marked here.
Learn the shapes easiest first
Em (0-2-2-0-0-0, beginner) → D (x-x-0-2-3-2, beginner) → C (x-3-2-0-1-0, beginner) → G (3-2-0-0-0-3, beginner) → B7 (x-2-1-2-0-2, beginner) → A (x-0-2-2-2-0, beginner)
6 of the 6 shapes are open chords, so nothing here needs barre strength yet.
Drill the changes this sheet actually uses
D → C3×Em → D3×A → D2×C → A2×
These counts come from the progressions on this page, so they are the changes you will actually play, not a generic list of pairs to practise.
Know where each chord turns up
- EmIntro, Verse
- Devery section
- Cevery section
- GVerse
- B7Verse
- AChorus
Climb the tempo ladder
Start at 28 BPM and move up only when a full pass is clean: 28 → 35 → 41 → 46 BPM. The tempo marked on this sheet is 46 BPM, and the last step is the one that always feels like a jump. Stay at 41 for longer than feels necessary.
Practise each section's chord changes slowly, then play the sheet through at a steady tempo without pausing between sections.
Playing Nothing Else Matters with a capo
This sheet needs no capo. Each card shows what you would finger at that capo position so the song still sounds exactly as written. Useful when the shapes above are awkward, or when you want to sing it higher without learning new chords.
No capoas written
Em D C G B7 A
6 of 6 stay open
Fret 1
Ebm C# B F# Bb7 Ab
no open shapes left, all barre
Fret 2
Dm C Bb F A7 G
4 of 6 stay open
Fret 3
C#m B A E Ab7 F#
2 of 6 stay open
Fret 4
Cm Bb Ab Eb G7 F
1 of 6 stay open
Fret 5
Bm A G D F#7 E
4 of 6 stay open
Fret 6
Bbm Ab F# C# F7 Eb
no open shapes left, all barre
Fret 7
Am G F C E7 D
5 of 6 stay open
Working out a different key? The capo calculatordoes the same arithmetic for any chord set.
More songs built on the same chords
If Nothing Else Matters clicks, these use the closest set of shapes, so the chords you just learned keep working.
More intermediate songs to learn after this one: Father and Son, 500 Miles, The One That Got Away, Treat You Better.
These chords across the songbookHow often each chord in Nothing Else Matters turns up across all 104 songs on this site, and what it most often moves to next. The counts come from the sheet library itself, not from theory.
155bars of this chord across the songbook
43songs use this shape
Most often followed by C, 27×.
323bars of this chord across the songbook
58songs use this shape
Most often followed by G, 52×.
420bars of this chord across the songbook
70songs use this shape
Most often followed by G, 115×.
509bars of this chord across the songbook
77songs use this shape
Most often followed by D, 89×.
10bars of this chord across the songbook
5songs use this shape
Most often followed by E, 3×.
134bars of this chord across the songbook
24songs use this shape
Most often followed by D, 19×.