ABBA - The Winner Takes It All - Guitar Cover

Super Trouper

1980 4:55

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About The Winner Takes It All

At 104 BPM in Gb major, "The Winner Takes It All" sits in a key that pushes guitarists straight to barre chords or a capo at the second fret to access friendlier open shapes. The song is built on a flowing, arpeggiated chord pattern that demands clean left-hand fretting and a relaxed right-hand picking motion. Keeping those arpeggios even and unhurried is harder than it looks, because the arrangement breathes quite slowly and any rushing stands out immediately. The chord movement through the verse carries a lot of the emotional weight, so nailing the voice leading between shapes matters more than speed. If the transitions between the barre positions are tripping you up, use the Practice Toolbar to loop those bars slowed down until the shifts feel automatic. ABBA wrote this as a piano-led track, so translating it to guitar means making deliberate choices about texture. As a Pop Rock piece it rewards a clean, warm tone over anything with heavy gain.

• Playing in Gb major on guitar means barre chords throughout, or a capo on the second fret to use open-D shapes and reduce left-hand fatigue.
• The signature guitar part is an arpeggiated accompaniment where evenness and tone between notes matter more than technical difficulty.
• Practise the chord transitions at a reduced tempo using the Practice Toolbar, focusing on smooth fretting-hand movement rather than strumming speed.