The Righteous Brothers
Unchained Melody
This is a really lovely song and one that is very simple to play. The chords featured in the song are all pretty simple open chords and the pattern is a common 6/8 picking pattern which you may have heard and learnt if you have ever learnt R.E.M.`s `Everybody Hurts` (another classic).
You have a bit of freedom to play this song as you like as you can fingerpick it all the way through or pick it for parts of it and strum it for parts of it.
Personally, when playing this as a solo guitarist and with a singer I think it sounds great fingerpicking most of it and then strumming the later part of the song where it builds up nicely. This gives the song some contrast and adds a big crescendo feel to it.
If you want to strum any part of it, I recommend strumming it with the same rhythm as you pick it and strumming all downstrums for a groovy, urgent feel.
This strum pattern would look like the following.
- D d d D d d
However you choose to play this one, take it slow and don`t rush. Most people play this song a little too quickly, so keep it steady and enjoy!