Die With a Smile Chords: Full Guide to Playing the Song

There’s a reason guitarists are flocking to learn “Die With a Smile” — the 2024 collaboration between Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars is built on lush, jazz-tinged chords that give it a sophisticated feel. But the official tabs reveal a puzzle: the song uses advanced voicings like Amaj7 and Bm9, which can trip up players who aren’t used to barre chords.

Song: Die With a Smile · Artists: Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars · Key: A · Difficulty: Advanced · Tuning: Standard (E A D G B E)

Six key facts about the song, one pattern: the chord set varies by source, but the core harmony revolves around A major.

What chords are in “Die With a Smile”?

Chord progression breakdown

• The intro progression is Amaj7 – Dmaj7 – E – C#m7).
• Ultimate Guitar lists the full set as Amaj7, Bm7, Bm9, C#7, Dmaj7, C#m7, Bm7/E, E13, F#sus4, F#, F#m, A, E/G#, E9sus4, Bm, Bm/E, and B7 (Ultimate Guitar).
• Chordify identifies the core as Amaj7, Dmaj7, Amaj7, C#m7 (Chordify).

A tutorial for beginners uses a simplified set: G7, C7, Bm7, Esus4, E, Am7, Am7/D, Em, G, D/F#, B7, and A7 (YouTube beginner guitar tutorial).

Chord shapes and diagrams

• Amaj7 can be played as an open chord (x02120) or as a barre at the 5th fret (575655).
• Bm7 is a barre chord at the 2nd fret (x24232) or at the 7th fret (797777).
• Bm9 is another barre shape at the 2nd fret (x24242) or at the 7th fret (797979).
• For the beginner version, G7 (320001), C7 (x32310), and Am7 (x02010) use open strings (YouTube easy guitar tutorial).

Tips for transitioning between chords

• Practice moving between Amaj7 and Dmaj7 by keeping the ring finger on the 2nd fret of the G string.
• For the Bm7 to E transition, move the barre shape down two frets while keeping the middle finger anchored.
• Use a metronome at 60 BPM to lock in the changes before speeding up (MusicTheory.net (music education resource)).

The implication: mastering these shapes unlocks not just one song but a whole family of pop-jazz progressions.

In what key is “Die With a Smile”?

Key signature and scale

• Ultimate Guitar lists the key as A (Ultimate Guitar).
• Chordify’s chords (E, C#m7, F#m, Bm7) suggest E major as the key (Chordify).
• The A major scale consists of A, B, C#, D, E, F#, G# (MusicTheory.net).

Relative minor

• The relative minor of A major is F# minor.
• This means the song’s harmony can also be analyzed in F# minor, though the chord progressions emphasize A major tonality.

Capo usage to change key

• Several tutorials place a capo on the 2nd fret and play open shapes like G major 7 and C major 7 (YouTube easy guitar lesson).
• With a capo at the 2nd fret, the actual sound is in A major, but the fingerings are in G major.
• Players can also use a capo on the 4th fret to play in A major using E-shaped chords (Musicnotes (licensed sheet music retailer)).

The pattern: the key ambiguity between A and E is a result of different harmonic interpretations — the song’s intro strongly centers on A, but the chorus leans toward E. Knowing both helps you choose the right voicing for your arrangement.

What is the easiest Bruno Mars song to play on guitar?

Top 5 easy Bruno Mars songs

• “Just the Way You Are” uses C, G, Am, F — all open chords (Ultimate Guitar (community tab platform)).
• “Count on Me” is simple with G, C, D, Em (Ultimate Guitar (community tab platform)).
• “Grenade” has a straightforward progression: Am, C, G, D (Ultimate Guitar (community tab platform)).
• “Talking to the Moon” uses Am, F, C, G (Ultimate Guitar (community tab platform)).
• “The Lazy Song” is built on G, C, D, Em (Ultimate Guitar (community tab platform)).

Just the Way You Are

• This song is often recommended for beginners because it uses only four chords: C, G, Am, F (Musicnotes (licensed sheet music retailer)).
• The progression is consistent throughout verse and chorus.

Grenade

• Grenade uses Am, C, G, D — all open chords with no barre shapes.
• The strumming pattern is a simple down-down-up-down-up (YouTube guitar tutorial).

Count on Me

• Count on Me uses G, C, D, Em — standard open chords.
• It’s a great song for practicing chord transitions between G and C.

Talking to the Moon

• This ballad uses Am, F, C, G — the same four chords as “Just the Way You Are” but in a different order.
• The slow tempo makes it forgiving for beginners.

What this means: “Die With a Smile” is notably harder than Bruno Mars’ earlier hits because of its maj7 and barre chords. For a beginner, starting with “Just the Way You Are” or “Count on Me” builds the foundation needed to tackle the 2024 track.

Did Bruno Mars write “Die With a Smile”?

Songwriting credits

• The song was co-written by Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga (Wikipedia (online encyclopedia)).
• Additional songwriting contributions likely include producers such as D’Mile and Andrew Watt (Genius (lyric annotation platform)).

Collaboration with Lady Gaga

• This is the first official collaboration between the two artists.
• The song was released as a single in 2024 (Billboard (music industry publication)).

Other contributors

• Producers and engineers are listed on the single’s credits, including mix engineers at Conway Recording Studios.
• The full credits are not yet public, but the songwriting pair is confirmed.

The catch: without official writer credits beyond the duo, we can’t fully attribute the harmonic complexity to one artist. But the use of maj7 chords is a signature of both artists’ recent work.

What is the forbidden chord on guitar?

History of the forbidden chord

• The “forbidden chord” refers to the augmented fourth interval, also known as the tritone (MusicTheory.net (music education resource)).
• In medieval music theory, the tritone was considered dissonant and was banned in church music (Wikipedia (online encyclopedia)).

The tritone (devil’s note)

• The tritone spans three whole steps, e.g., C to F#.
• It was labeled “diabolus in musica” (the devil in music) by medieval theorists.
• Modern songs use the tritone freely — it appears in the dominant seventh chord (e.g., G7 contains B and F, a tritone).

Why it was banned

• The tritone was avoided because it didn’t fit the strict consonant intervals of Gregorian chant.
• Musicians later embraced it for tension and resolution, especially in jazz and blues.
• Today, the tritone is a fundamental building block of harmony (Berklee College of Music (music education institution)).

The trade-off: what was once forbidden now gives songs like “Die With a Smile” their emotional depth — the Bm7 chord contains a tritone between B and F, which resolves beautifully to the E major chord.

How to Play “Die With a Smile” on Guitar: Step-by-Step Guide

1. Set your capo (optional): Place a capo on the 2nd fret to use easier open shapes. This transposes the song to A major while you finger G-shaped chords (YouTube guitar tutorial).
2. Learn the basic chord shapes: For the capo version,