Yesterday chords

by The Beatles

Song Key: F Major

Time Signature: 4/4

Tempo: 96 bpm

Guitar Tuning: E A D G B e

Skill Level: Beginner 🟢

Chords: F, Em, Em7, A7, Dm, Dm7, B♭, C, C7, G7, Gm

Beginners: Easier chord voicings for Bb and Gm in the charts below

Arrangement Beginners Song Details

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Yesterday

Song Key is highlighted - Transpose to any other key

                 F
Intro: 4/4 ‖            |      %      ‖

   F            Em7       A7                  Dm    Dm7
1. Yes-ter-day    All my  trou-bles seemed so far a-way
 Bb       C7                      F
   Now it looks as though they're here to stay
   C   Dm7    G7         Bb    F
   Oh  I   be-lieve  in  Yes - ter - day

   F          Em7        A7             Dm      Dm7
2. Sud-den-ly    I'm not half the man I used to be
 Bb          C7               F
   There's a sha-dow hang-ing ov-er me
   C   Dm7         G7       Bb  F
   Oh  Yes - ter - day came sud-den-ly


        Em7  A7   Dm   C   Bb    Dm       Gm       C7        F
Chorus: Why  she  had  to  go    I  don't know she would-n't say
        Em  A7    Dm   C      Bb       Dm    Gm       C7      F 
        I   said  some-thing  wrong    Now I long for yes-ter-day


   F           Em7         A7            Dm      Dm7
3. Yes-ter-day    Love was such an eas-y game to play
 Bb      C7              F
   Now I need a place to hide a-way
   C   Dm7   G7       Bb    F
   Oh  I  be-lieve in Yes - ter - day


        Em7  A7   Dm   C   Bb    Dm       Gm       C7        F
Chorus: Why  she  had  to  go    I  don't know she would-n't say
        Em  A7    Dm   C      Bb       Dm    Gm       C7      F 
        I   said  some-thing  wrong    Now I long for yes-ter-day...


   F             Em7         A7            Dm      Dm7
4. Yes-ter-day      Love was such an ea-sy game to play
 Bb      C7              F
   Now I need a place to hide a-way
   C   Dm7   G7       Bb    F
   Oh  I  be-lieve in Yes - ter - day
                               
               G7             Bb     F
   | Mm - mm - mm -  mm   |   Mm  -  mm-mm... |

Arrangement Details:

Key Signature: F Major – 1 flat (Bb)
Time Signature: 4/4 — Four quarter-note beats per measure
Tempo: Moderately with expression
Metronome: ♩ = 96
Voice Range: D4 - F5
Chord Types in This Arrangement:
- Major chords: F, Bb, C
- Minor chords: Em, Dm, Gm
- Dominant 7th chords: A7, C7, G7
- Minor 7th chords: Em7, Dm7

🎸 Beginners Guitarists

Easier voicings for Bb and Gm have been included in the charts above.
Gm includes a mini-barre - 1 finger - 3 strings. If you find this easy, you are ready to learn barre chords.

If you find the mini-barre uncomfortable, you can play it using 3 fingers, similar to how you would play an 'A' chord.
Where you have Dm followed by Dm7, you don't have to play the Dm7 if you find the chord changes a little busy. You can replace Dm7 with Dm/C, which simply adds a C bass-note to the Dm chord (3rd fret, 5th string).
The C chord over the 'Oh' at the start of the 4th line of each verse can interrupt the flow of the song, especially if you are playing solo. It sounds fine if you don't play it... the choice is yours.
The same applies to the chorus, where you can play a Dm over the 'Had to go I don't', leading up to the Gm on 'know', instead of the chord changes for each word... it still sounds fine.
Easier Key for Beginners:
If you're fingerpicking, and the chords don't sound as clean as you would like (and you are playing along with the video), you can use a capo on the 5th fret and play in the key of C Major. This is the easiest key to play in, and will suit many beginners.
Chords in C Major: C, Bm, Bm7, E7, Am, Am7, F, G, G7, D7, Dm. The only 2 chords you may be unfamiliar with are Bm and Bm7.
Think of Bm7 as a B7 chord without the 1st finger... super easy!

Right-handed Charts:

Left-handed Charts:
Use the Transposer for all key transpositions.

Song Details:

Songwriter: Paul McCartney (credited to Lennon–McCartney.)
Lyrics Begin: Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away, now it looks as though they're here to stay, oh I believe in yesterday.
Genre: Chamber Pop
Featured Artist: The Beatles
Single:
Recorded: 14, 17 June 1965
Released: 13 September 1965
B-side: Act Naturally

About the Song

Paul McCartney lamented over the song's production and inclusion on the album as he felt it wasn’t really their style of music.
Originally released in the USA where it topped the American charts.
Matt Monro did a cover version of the song reaching the UK Top 10 about three months after the release of the album by The Beatles.
One of the most covered songs of all time with over 2200 cover versions.
First song by the Beatles that relied on one band member (Paul) to perform alone with a string quartet.
Won many awards such as Best Song of the 20th Century and Number 1 Pop Song of all Time by Rolling Stone Magazine.
Remains a very popular song today, and rates highly in the Top 10 most popular songs recorded by the Beatles.

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