Now We Are Free

“Now We Are Free” is one of Hans Zimmer’s most iconic themes, right up there with “Time” from Inception. Originally composed with vocalist Lisa Gerrard for Gladiator, the piece captures the Roman concept of the afterlife—Elysium—and the protagonist’s final journey home.

From an arrangement standpoint, Zimmer is a master of “less is more.” He relies on foundational chord progressions that allow the melody to do the heavy lifting. This makes his work particularly rewarding to adapt for fingerstyle guitar; the chords and Lisa Gerrard’s vocal lines fell into place quite easily on the fretboard.

It’s an evocative, timeless melody that carries a lot of weight without being overly complex. I play this one often, and I hope you enjoy this version.

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Hans Zimmer:  Time | fingerstyle guitar + TAB

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How to play Now We Are Free | fingerstyle guitar

The guitar tab for this arrangement is beautifully written across 3 pages. While chord shapes are relatively simple, I recommend this piece for intermediate guitar players and up.

Enjoy, the guitar tab is available below:

You’ll play the guitar tab straight through, repeating the Verse as the finale. My song structure looks like this, in accordance with the guitar tab:

Intro, Verse, Chorus 2x

Chorus (#2) 2x, Verse

When returning to the finale verse, you’ll start with the chord shape, rather than the open string preceding it.

[guitar tab] **Hans Zimmer: Now We Are Free | fingerstyle guitar

This song is played in standard tuning with a capo on the 2nd fret.