Looking for easy Beatles songs to play on the guitar?
The other day I did a search on Google for “Easy Beatles Songs” to see what would come up; the top 5 entries that I looked at had pretty bad information about this subject. One post on a chat room recommended Yesterday and I Feel Fine, and another one listed Here Comes the Sun as one of their easier songs. I went through my list of easy Beatles songs that I show students, and looked through my Beatles song books and added a few that I had forgotten about and compiled this list of songs. This is by no means a thorough list – I know Love Me Do would probably fall in the C chord category – but these are the songs I usually show to my students.
Easy Beatles Songs using G, E, A, D, but not C
The Ballad of John and Yoko This song is just E, E7, A, and B7 and is played with a very simple 8th note strumming pattern – no syncopation. Just ignore the electric guitar country riffs in between the vocal lines. The strumming pattern is just down-up four times for each measure – in other words, four pairs of down-ups or four pairs of eighth notes.
Twist and Shout This song has guitar riff between the A and D chord that you can ignore. The whole song is just D, G, and A and is very repetitive.
Get Back There’s a simple blues riff in song that can be ignored and strummed instead, but it’s definitely within reach of students in their first few months of playing.
Maxwell’s Silver Hammer This Beatles song has a really simple ¼ note rhythm and is actually played on the piano. There is actually no G chord in this song, but you do have to play B7.
Hey Jude If you capo the third fret, you can play this song with D, A ,G, and Emin. One warning: there’s a lot of chord changes in this song.
I’ve Got A Feeling This song has a somewhat difficult picking and strumming pattern for a beginner, but you could ignore the picking and just try to strum the chords. It’s basically A, D, E, and G, and they play barre chords instead of open chords in some cases, but you can play the open chords instead.
Beatles Songs using the C chord
Your Mother Should Know This is played on piano with a simple ¼ note rhythm. There are a lot of chord changes, but they’re open chords like Fmaj7 and A minor. One bonus is that there’s an easy piano solo that you can play on the guitar.
You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away This song is in 6/8 time, and has an Fmaj9 chord, as well as a version of the C chord that requires 4 fingers. There’s a little guitar riff in the chorus played between the G and D chord.
All You Need Is Love The verse in this song by the Beatles has one measure of 4/4 and one measure ¾, and then there is a series of D chords with a descending bass line that can be a little tricky. The chorus has an A7sus4 chord in it and a B7 chord.
Songs Using The F Chord
Let It Be Yet another Beatles song that is played on the piano, but you only need to know C, F, G, and A minor. You can also play those melodic runs with the F and A minor chords, but they’re not essential.
Can’t Buy Me Love This is a really fast shuffle rhythm, and includes C7 and D minor 7.
Guitar Riff Songs
Hey Bulldog If you capo 2nd fret, the guitar riff can be played on 5th string with open notes. There’s bridge that has an ascending chromatic riff that’s similar in playing style to a blues riff. The chords in the verse are (relative to the capo) A7, E minor, G, A, and D.
Day Tripper The riff in this song has you playing across 3 strings, and there’s other guitar riff songs that are easier and should be attempted before this one. You’ll need to be comfortable playing power chords to play the chorus.
Come Together This Beatles song has a slow blues riff during the verse, and then switches to power chords (B5, G5 and A5) during the chorus.
If you want other tips on easy songs by popular bands, check out some other posts I’ve done including “Easy Rolling Stones Songs” and “Easy Led Zeppelin Songs.”