Chords for How to play acoustic guitar like Paul McCartney
Tempo:
97.8 bpm
Chords used:
G
Am
C
A
D
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[Gm] Hi, Neville Martin here.
Unlike the other two guitar-playing Beatles,
Paul McCartney never really learnt proper fingerstyle, but simply developed his own way of playing based, I think,
on the old ukulele banjo style that he would have seen all around him as a child.
In the post-war years, before television, every family had a banjo, most had ukes, banjos, four-string tenor guitars,
or, as in our house, a banjolele, which was a sort of uke with a banjo body.
The style used to play those instruments was usually a very watered-down [E] version of the proper uke technique
made famous by the brilliant [C] George Formby, so they'd strum along something like this.
[A] [D] [G] [C]
[A] [D] [G] [C]
Whether consciously or not, Paul took this casual, unostentatious style and transferred it to the guitar,
with world-changing results.
Using his thumb to pick out the bass note of the chord,
and one finger to strum the higher strings, he wrote such classics as Yesterday, Blackbird, Mother Nature's Son,
and a host of others.
Transcriptions of his songs are usually done fingerstyle,
but this is not how Paul played Blackbird, for instance.
It's not that easy, though.
Picking the bass note on the beat, and tickling those top strings as casual as he does,
and making it all sound so convincing, takes some doing.
Paul uses his thumb and just one [D] finger, a bit like this.
Whereas [Ab] I've always used the thumb and the backs of my [D] fingernails, more like this.
[Ab] As usual, the best [A] way is the one that [D] works for you.
Here's a little piece in the McCartney style.
[A]
[C] [D]
[A]
[C] [G]
[Am] [G] [Am] [G]
[Am] [G] [C] [Gm] [Am]
[G] [Am] [G] [C] [G]
[Dm] [A] [G]
[Am] [G] [Am]
[G] [Am] [G] [Am]
[Ab]
[G]
I've just tuned all of the guitar strings down a tone, to show you how to get the sound of that most famous of McCartney tracks.
I know Paul tuned down for it, but I don't know whether he actually played it like this.
It certainly sounds [Eb] like it to me.
What do you think?
[F]
[C] [Dm]
[E] [F]
[E] Isn't it amazing that such simple techniques produce some of the greatest songs of the last century?
Have fun!
Oh, and if you're interested, this is my Martin D41, fitted with a Headway Snake pickup,
and strung with Dodario EXP extended play strings.
Unlike the other two guitar-playing Beatles,
Paul McCartney never really learnt proper fingerstyle, but simply developed his own way of playing based, I think,
on the old ukulele banjo style that he would have seen all around him as a child.
In the post-war years, before television, every family had a banjo, most had ukes, banjos, four-string tenor guitars,
or, as in our house, a banjolele, which was a sort of uke with a banjo body.
The style used to play those instruments was usually a very watered-down [E] version of the proper uke technique
made famous by the brilliant [C] George Formby, so they'd strum along something like this.
[A] [D] [G] [C]
[A] [D] [G] [C]
Whether consciously or not, Paul took this casual, unostentatious style and transferred it to the guitar,
with world-changing results.
Using his thumb to pick out the bass note of the chord,
and one finger to strum the higher strings, he wrote such classics as Yesterday, Blackbird, Mother Nature's Son,
and a host of others.
Transcriptions of his songs are usually done fingerstyle,
but this is not how Paul played Blackbird, for instance.
It's not that easy, though.
Picking the bass note on the beat, and tickling those top strings as casual as he does,
and making it all sound so convincing, takes some doing.
Paul uses his thumb and just one [D] finger, a bit like this.
Whereas [Ab] I've always used the thumb and the backs of my [D] fingernails, more like this.
[Ab] As usual, the best [A] way is the one that [D] works for you.
Here's a little piece in the McCartney style.
[A]
[C] [D]
[A]
[C] [G]
[Am] [G] [Am] [G]
[Am] [G] [C] [Gm] [Am]
[G] [Am] [G] [C] [G]
[Dm] [A] [G]
[Am] [G] [Am]
[G] [Am] [G] [Am]
[Ab]
[G]
I've just tuned all of the guitar strings down a tone, to show you how to get the sound of that most famous of McCartney tracks.
I know Paul tuned down for it, but I don't know whether he actually played it like this.
It certainly sounds [Eb] like it to me.
What do you think?
[F]
[C] [Dm]
[E] [F]
[E] Isn't it amazing that such simple techniques produce some of the greatest songs of the last century?
Have fun!
Oh, and if you're interested, this is my Martin D41, fitted with a Headway Snake pickup,
and strung with Dodario EXP extended play strings.
Key:
G
Am
C
A
D
G
Am
C
[Gm] Hi, Neville Martin here.
Unlike the other two guitar-playing Beatles,
Paul McCartney never really learnt proper fingerstyle, but simply developed his own way of playing based, I think,
on the old ukulele banjo style that he would have seen all around him as a child.
In the post-war years, before television, every family had a banjo, most had ukes, banjos, four-string tenor guitars,
or, as in our house, a banjolele, which was a sort of uke with a banjo body.
The style used to play those instruments was usually a very watered-down [E] version of the proper uke technique
made famous by the brilliant [C] George Formby, so they'd strum along something like this. _
_ [A] _ _ [D] _ _ [G] _ _ [C] _
_ [A] _ _ [D] _ _ [G] _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ Whether consciously or not, Paul took this casual, unostentatious style and transferred it to the guitar,
with world-changing results.
Using his thumb to pick out the bass note of the chord,
and one finger to strum the higher strings, he wrote such classics as Yesterday, Blackbird, Mother Nature's Son,
and a host of others.
Transcriptions of his songs are usually done fingerstyle,
but this is not how Paul played Blackbird, for instance.
It's not that easy, though.
Picking the bass note on the beat, and tickling those top strings as casual as he does,
and making it all sound so convincing, takes some doing.
Paul uses his thumb and just one [D] finger, a bit like this. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ Whereas [Ab] I've always used the thumb and the backs of my [D] fingernails, more like this. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Ab] As usual, the best [A] way is the one that [D] works for you.
Here's a little piece in the McCartney style. _
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
[Am] _ [G] _ [Am] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
[Am] _ [G] _ [C] _ [Gm] _ _ [Am] _ _ _
[G] _ [Am] _ [G] _ [C] _ [G] _ _ _ _
[Dm] _ [A] _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [Am] _ [G] _ [Am] _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ [Am] _ [G] _ [Am] _
_ _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _
I've just tuned all of the guitar strings down a tone, to show you how to get the sound of that most famous of McCartney tracks.
I know Paul tuned down for it, but I don't know whether he actually played it like this.
It certainly sounds [Eb] like it to me.
What do you think?
[F] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [C] _ [Dm] _ _
_ _ [E] _ [F] _ _ _ _ _
_ [E] Isn't it amazing that such simple techniques produce some of the greatest songs of the last century?
Have fun!
Oh, and if you're interested, this is my Martin D41, fitted with a Headway Snake pickup,
and strung with Dodario EXP extended play strings.
Unlike the other two guitar-playing Beatles,
Paul McCartney never really learnt proper fingerstyle, but simply developed his own way of playing based, I think,
on the old ukulele banjo style that he would have seen all around him as a child.
In the post-war years, before television, every family had a banjo, most had ukes, banjos, four-string tenor guitars,
or, as in our house, a banjolele, which was a sort of uke with a banjo body.
The style used to play those instruments was usually a very watered-down [E] version of the proper uke technique
made famous by the brilliant [C] George Formby, so they'd strum along something like this. _
_ [A] _ _ [D] _ _ [G] _ _ [C] _
_ [A] _ _ [D] _ _ [G] _ _ [C] _
_ _ _ Whether consciously or not, Paul took this casual, unostentatious style and transferred it to the guitar,
with world-changing results.
Using his thumb to pick out the bass note of the chord,
and one finger to strum the higher strings, he wrote such classics as Yesterday, Blackbird, Mother Nature's Son,
and a host of others.
Transcriptions of his songs are usually done fingerstyle,
but this is not how Paul played Blackbird, for instance.
It's not that easy, though.
Picking the bass note on the beat, and tickling those top strings as casual as he does,
and making it all sound so convincing, takes some doing.
Paul uses his thumb and just one [D] finger, a bit like this. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ Whereas [Ab] I've always used the thumb and the backs of my [D] fingernails, more like this. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [Ab] As usual, the best [A] way is the one that [D] works for you.
Here's a little piece in the McCartney style. _
_ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
_ [C] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [A] _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
[Am] _ [G] _ [Am] _ _ _ _ _ [G] _
[Am] _ [G] _ [C] _ [Gm] _ _ [Am] _ _ _
[G] _ [Am] _ [G] _ [C] _ [G] _ _ _ _
[Dm] _ [A] _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [Am] _ [G] _ [Am] _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ [Am] _ [G] _ [Am] _
_ _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ _ _ _ _
I've just tuned all of the guitar strings down a tone, to show you how to get the sound of that most famous of McCartney tracks.
I know Paul tuned down for it, but I don't know whether he actually played it like this.
It certainly sounds [Eb] like it to me.
What do you think?
[F] _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ [C] _ [Dm] _ _
_ _ [E] _ [F] _ _ _ _ _
_ [E] Isn't it amazing that such simple techniques produce some of the greatest songs of the last century?
Have fun!
Oh, and if you're interested, this is my Martin D41, fitted with a Headway Snake pickup,
and strung with Dodario EXP extended play strings.