How to play "With or Without You" on Gesture Synth
With or Without You runs on the exact same engine as Let It Be — D, A, Bm, G — but it sounds completely different. The tempo is faster, the key is lower, and the B minor hangs there for a full bar, giving the loop its aching quality.
If you learned Let It Be first, this song is almost free: the shapes are the same four triads, transposed. The real work is musical, not technical — holding the Bm steady instead of rushing to the next chord.
Difficulty: Easy
The same I–V–vi–IV loop as Let It Be, but faster and with the emotional B minor sustained.
The whole song
D → A → Bm → G, sixteen times. One chord per bar, no variations, no bridge. The entire performance is in how you treat the loop.
Practice tips
- Right hand stays on 1 finger; every chord is a triad.
- The Bm is degree VI in the minor world — the most expressive chord in the loop, and the easiest to rush. Count a full four beats on it.
- 110 BPM is brisk for chord changes on a new instrument, so loop just D → A → Bm before adding the G.
Keep going
Once you can play "With or Without You" from memory, try these next:
Ready for the next challenge?
Browse the rest of the songbook or review the gesture reference.
Browse the songbookChord gesture reference