There are two kinds of guitarists: those who have tried to play He's A Pirate too fast and instantly capsized, and liars. This is the theme your brain hears the second anyone says "Pirates of the Caribbean," and it is legally impossible to play it without pulling a mildly heroic face.
So here's my little MelodyChords arrangement: one guitar carrying both the iconic melody and its chords at the same time, no band, no ship, no cursed gold. It's an easy version with tab — swashbuckling drama for your fingers, zero press-ganging required.
How this He's A Pirate arrangement actually works
The whole thing lives in D minor, and the engine that makes it sound so epic is that stampeding descending line: Dm – C – Bb – A (i – bVII – bVI – V). The nerdy magic is that last chord. In a pure natural minor you'd expect a limp little A minor, but the theme reaches for a big A major — meaning it borrows the C# from harmonic minor as a leading tone. That single raised note is what yanks you back to the Dm downbeat with all the drama of a cannon going off.
For the MelodyChords part, the trick is simple to say and mean to do: keep the melody as the top voice on your higher strings while the chord tones and bass sit underneath. Practice it painfully slowly first — this theme is built on driving eighth notes, and if you chase the tempo before your fingers know the road, you will faceplant into the reef. Get it clean at half speed, then let the wind do the rest.
If it still sounds like a shipwreck, that's not the arrangement, that's just the ocean testing your resolve — and possibly a sign you should come suffer with me for extra tabs and Guitar Pro files on Patreon.