Check out this free lesson from Guitar Control instructor Darrin Goodman on 3 easy Beatles songs. Be sure to get the tabs so you can easily follow along with this Easy Beatles Songs lesson.
About This Guitar Lesson
Hey, this is Darrin Goodman with Guitar Control, I want to show you 3 Easy Beatles Songs lesson. These are simple Beatles songs that use fairly simple chords, fun to play, popular songs. So let’s dig in and take a look at 3 Easy Beatles Songs lesson.
Eight Days A Week
So the first of the 3 Easy Beatles Songs we’re going to take a look at “Eight Days a Week”. This song uses a few different chords, so for this first part we’re going to be looking at here, we’ve got D, so the 4th string is open. I’m on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string with my first finger, 3rd fret of the 2nd string with my third finger, and the 2nd fret of the 1st string with my second finger. Then we have E7, so first finger is on the 3rd fret of the first fret of the 3rd string, and my second finger is on the 2nd fret of the 5th string. Everything else is open.
Then we have G, so 3rd fret of the 6th string with my second finger, 2nd fret of the 5th string with my first finger, and the 4th and 3rd strings are open, and the 3rd fret of the 2nd string with my third finger, and the 3rd fret of the 1st string with my fourth finger. Now, you can play this, or you can also play it with the 2nd string open, just by taking off your third finger. Maybe you learned the G like this. Either way is acceptable. Then the last chord for this section is D, so the 4th string is open, 2nd fret… Or excuse me, I already did D, so I guess there’s only three chords in this first part. My bad.
So we’ve got this D, and the strum for this… We’ve got a quarter note for the first strum, so it’s 1, 2, and 3, and 4. So it’s down, down, up, up, down, up. That’s the same strum for this whole part that we’re doing here. Down, down, up, up, down, up, to E7, down,up, up… To G, down, down, up, up, down, up, back to D. That’s the first four measures, and that repeats, so you got…
For this next section, we do have a B minor, so it’s a barre chord, so this is a little bit tougher, especially if you’re a beginner. You’re going to take your first finger, and you’re going to barre it all the way across the 2nd fret of the first five strings. Then your second finger is going to be on the 3rd fret of the 2nd string, your third finger is going to be on the 4th fret of the 4th string, and your fourth finger’s going to be on the 4th fret of the 3rd string, that’s B minor.
A lot of beginners have problems with playing this chord, so an alternative way that you could do it is keep your second, third, and fourth fingers where they are, and just put your first finger onto the 2nd fret of the 1st string. When you play this, you don’t want to hit these other strings, so you’re just going to be, you know… versus… It doesn’t quite sound as full, but it’ll get the job done, especially if you’re a beginner and that’s a difficult chord for you.
For this part here, starting at measure five, we’re a B minor, same strum. So down, down, up, up, down, up to G, down, down, up, up, down, up, back to B minor, to E7, then we go back to D. Down, down, up, up, down, E7, G, D. That’s basically the whole thing. Then from there, we just go back, you know, start over again for the verse again.
Hey Jude
The next of the 3 Easy Beatles Songs we’re going to look at Hey Jude. In this, we have first chord we’re going to look at is F, so I’m on the 3rd fret of the 4th string with my third finger, 2nd fret of the 3rd string with my second finger, and then my first finger is barring across the 1st fret of the 1st and 2nd strings. This is another chord that seems to be difficult for beginners, you know, my private lessons B’s, and I actually… If it’s a total beginner and we’re starting off with chords, we don’t even do B and F right away. You know, we do some of the other chords first, just because they are kind of difficult. So if you’re really struggling with B and F, then this particular song, you might want to put it on the back burner for a minute, until you get better with those.
But just really quick, one of the big issues with F is being able to barre here, but getting these fingers arced up like this. A really good way to do it is if you bring your elbow in close, like this. You know, I’m swinging my elbow close to the body of the guitar, so see what’s happening in my first finger here is I’m actually kind of barring on the edge of it instead of straight on the flat of it. That makes it considerably easier to be able to play it.
For the strum for this, we have two down strokes for beats 1 and 2, so it’s like 1-2, and then we’ve got down, up, down, down, 3E and 4. So (singing). That’s one measure, so we have a measure of F, C. This is the same… I actually don’t remember if there was a C in the last song, so let’s just go over it.
We’ve got a C. We’re on the 3rd fret of the 5th string with your third finger, 2nd fret of the 4th string with your second finger, 3rd string is open, 1st fret of the 2nd string with your first finger, and 1st string is open. Same thing. Then we have C7, so just keep your fingers where they are and take your fourth finger and place it on the 3rd fret of the 3rd string. Then back to F. That’s like the first four measures.
Then we have B♭. Again, another barre chord. In this case, you have to take your third finger, and you’re going to barre it so you’re getting the 3rd fret of the 4th, 3rd, and 2nd string. Then your first finger, really all’s you need to do is pick up the 1st fret of the 2nd string. You could play it like this, if that’s easier for you, so that your second finger is playing the 3rd fret of the 4th string, your third finger is playing the 3rd string, and your fourth finger’s playing the 2nd string. If that’s easier for you, you can do it that way. So we’ve got the same strum, back to F, back to C, back to F, and then it just starts over again. So that whole progression. Just like that.
Let It Be
Okay, and then the final of the 3 Easy Beatles Songs we have Let It Be. Now, Let It Be doesn’t have guitar in it, except… Well, it has a guitar solo, but the main meat and potatoes of the song is on piano, so this is a little bit of my interpretation of how you would play this on guitar, and I’ve really kind of aimed it at beginners. So, we start off, we have C, the same C chord that we did before, to G. For this strum here, we’ve got down, down, down, up. That’s like 1, 2E and then we switch to G, 3, 4E. Now to A minor is just like C, you take your third finger and you move it instead of being on the 3rd fret of the 5th string, it’s on the 2nd fret of the 3rd string. Everything else stays the same. Then to an F, just like in the last song. Back to C, G. All right, so so far, we’ve got…
Then we got this part here, a little kind of trickier, I guess. We have F, and that’s on… It’s a quarter note, so it’s one, then we’re going to go to the 2nd fret of the 4th string with your second finger, and you’re just going to play that and the 3rd string open. Then you’re going to take that finger off and play the 4th and 3rd strings both open. So that’s like two and, so on F, we’ve got (singing), and then we go to C (singing). So that last measure… So that whole sequence… All right, so that’s the riff that’s played for like the intro, and it is also played for the verse, and I think that’s actually what’s happening behind the guitar solo, but don’t quote me on that. I don’t recall.
And then starting at measure 25 on your transcription for 3 Easy Beatles Songs lesson is what would be the chorus, so for the chorus, it’s the same strum, it’s the same chords. They’re just in a different order, so this time, we’re going to start on A minor, so down, down, down, up, to G, F, to C, another measure of C, G, and that same little riff that we did before, F (singing) C. So that’s like (singing).
All right, so there you have it, 3 easy Beatles songs that you can pick up as a beginner. What’s great about playing these 3 easy Beatles songs is there’s so much room in there to kind of make it your own, you know? You can alternate the chord voicing’s a little bit. You know, you can be a little more free with your strumming and stuff. And everybody knows these 3 Easy Beatles Songs, everyone likes to sing along with them, lots of fun to play.
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