How to play “Yesterday”

download the pdf file with notation, chord charts, lyrics and tabs Yesterday-tabs

Download tabs, chords and lyrics for Yesterday

“Yesterday” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was first released on the album Help! in August 1965, except in the United States, where it was issued as a single in September. The song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. It subsequently appeared on the UK EP Yesterday in March 1966 and made its US album debut on Yesterday and Today, in June 1966.

McCartney’s vocal and acoustic guitar, together with a string quartet, was essentially the band’s first solo performance. It remains popular today and, with 2,200 cover versions, is one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded music. “Yesterday” was voted the best song of the 20th century in a 1999 BBC Radio 2 poll of music experts and listeners and was also voted the No. 1 pop song of all time by MTV and Rolling Stone magazine the following year. In 1997, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) asserts that it was performed over seven million times in the 20th century.

“Music — what a powerful […]

Paul2026-06-29T15:43:22-04:00

Kettle Drum Boogie

Here’s an example of MIDI guitar using the MIDIPLUS Piano Engine and Fishman Triple-Play MIDI guitar divided pickup. MIDIPLUS website is here: https://www.midiplus.com.tw/en/product-detail/PianoEngine/. You can get it from Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/MIDIPLUS-PianoEngine-host-sound-module/dp/B09HXQQKGJ

My guitar MIDI setup uses the TriplePlay divided pickup from Fishman https://fishman.com/tripleplay/. I’m very happy with the responsiveness of the MIDI and the various settings you can apply changes to optimize your sound for the way you play. I use primarily fingerstyle technique rather than a pick and the settings in the TriplePlay interface will accommodate that, as well as changing the “strength” of the signal out of the divided pickup for each string separately, which is handy for balancing the volume of struck notes somewhat.

In the General MIDI (GM) standard, kettle drums (timpani) do not have a dedicated, standardized percussion note. Instead, timpani are typically treated as a melodic instrument and assigned to MIDI Note 47 (B2) or mapped chromatically depending on the specific orchestral sound library or synth you are using. In this case, the guitar input and the MIDI sound are both available and mixed to make the timpani a little more guitar-ish.

MIDI for guitar is a ton of fun, and the technology is such these days that you might get away with letting your laptop process the audio file into midi rather than using a dedicated pickup-to-midi […]

Paul2026-07-19T08:27:36-04:00

Pennsylvania 6-5000

How to play “Pennsylvania 6-5000” A fun tune and not too hard to get under your hand.

Pennsylvania 65000 chord chart- iReal Pro

Pennsylvania 6-5000 chord lyrics

The song became a jazz and big band standard also recorded by the Andrews Sisters, Judy Garland and Martha Raye in a duet, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Jimmy Mundy and His Orchestra (1959), Louise Gold, Kathy Miller, Martin Brushane Big Band, the Blue Moon Big Band (1999), in a 1976 Carol Burnett Show episode in a tribute to Glenn Miller, Syd Lawrence, Michael Maxwell and His Orchestra, Richard Hunt and Jerry Nelson (Bobby Benson and the Baby Band) in The Muppet Show (1979, Episode 319), Fud Candrix and His Orchestra, Jerry Gray, Mina, Lou Haskins, Jack Livingston, Raquel Rastenni (1941) in Copenhagen, Starlight Orchestra, Klaus Wunderlich, New 101 Strings Orchestra, Heptet, Meco, Tex Beneke, The Modernaires, Jack Million Band, Al Pierson Big Band, BBC Big Band Orchestra, SWR Big Band, and by Captain Cook und seine singenden Saxophone in 2012.

Fats Waller’s arrangement of the song for piano was published in the UK songbook Francis & Day’s Album of Fats Waller: Musical Rhythms in the 1940s.

“Sometimes you want to give up the guitar, you’ll hate the guitar. But if you stick with it, you’re gonna be rewarded.” – Jimi Hendrix

looking for online guitar lessons? First one is […]

Paul2026-06-29T13:39:30-04:00

And I Love Her

And I Love Her, a beautiful Lennon/McCartney tune.

Here are tabs, lyrics, notation and chord diagrams for this first part. You might notice that some chords you already know in one position are played in another spot, and this is so we can take advantage of moving the chord shape to get the proper voicing.

“I merely took the energy it takes to pour and wrote some blues.” – Duke Ellington

Paul2026-08-10T16:02:07-04:00

Every Breath You Take

every breath you take ”

Every Breath You Take” is a song by the English rock band the Police from their fifth and final studio album Synchronicity (1983). Written by Sting, the single was the biggest American and Canadian hit of 1983, topping the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for eight weeks (the band’s only No. 1 hit on that chart), and the Canadian RPM chart for two weeks. Their fifth UK No. 1, “Every Breath You Take” topped the UK singles chart for four weeks. It also reached the top 10 in numerous other countries. In May 2019, the song was recognised by BMI as being the most played song in radio history.

“Every Breath You Take” is the Police’s and Sting’s signature song, and in 2010, it was estimated to generate between a quarter and a third of Sting’s music publishing income. At the 26th Annual Grammy Awards, “Every Breath You Take” was nominated for three Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals, and Record of the Year, winning in the first two categories. For the song, Sting received the 1983 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA).

Intro G | G | Em | Em | C | D | G

G […]

Paul2026-07-19T08:20:58-04:00

California Dreamin’

California Dreamin’ lead sheet/w chords, lyrics and melody

“California Dreamin'” is a song written by John and Michelle Phillips of the Mamas & the Papas, released in December 1965.

It’s a well-loved example of the music of the 1960s counterculture era. In 2021, Rolling Stone placed the song at number 420 in its “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list.

The song was written in 1963 while John Phillips and Michelle Phillips were living in New York City during a particularly cold winter, and the latter was missing sunny California. John would work on compositions late at night and brought Michelle the first verse one morning. At the time, John and Michelle Phillips were members of the folk group the New Journeymen, which evolved into the Mamas and the Papas.

Here’s another version of “California Dreamin'” in C. I’m experimenting with recording two classical guitars (well one recorded twice, to be honest).

For a guitar student, All obstacles become stepping stones

Paul2026-07-23T09:55:37-04:00

Peaceful Easy Feelin’

Chords, lyrics and tabs for Peaceful_Easy_Feelin’

“Peaceful Easy Feeling” is a song written by Jack Tempchin and recorded by the Eagles. It was the third single from the band’s 1972 debut album Eagles. The single reached No. 22 on the charts and is one of the band’s most popular songs. Glenn Frey sings the lead vocal, with Bernie Leadon providing the main harmony vocal (starting in the beginning of the second verse) and Randy Meisner completing this three-part harmony.

“Learn from the masters, learn from your contemporaries. Always try to update yourself.” – Jimmy Stewart

Paul2026-07-14T07:59:55-04:00

Waltzing Matilda

“Waltzing Matilda”

Waltzing_Matilda is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country’s “unofficial national anthem”. The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot, by walking (waltzing) with one’s belongings in a “matilda” (swag) slung over one’s back, a slang expression that may have originally been repurposed from a work of light verse by Charles Godfrey Leland.

The song narrates the story of a “swagman” (itinerant worker) boiling a billy at a bush camp and capturing a stray jumbuck (sheep) to eat. When the jumbuck’s owner, a squatter (grazier), and three troopers (mounted policemen) pursue the swagman for theft, he declares “You’ll never catch me alive!” and commits suicide by drowning himself in a nearby billabong (watering hole), after which his ghost haunts the site.

The original lyrics were composed in 1895 by the Australian poet Banjo Paterson, to a tune played by Christina MacPherson based on her memory of Thomas Bulch’s march Craigielee, which was in turn based on James Barr’s setting for Robert Tannahill’s poem “Thou Bonnie Wood o Craigielee.

Download tabs, lyrics, chords and notation

Paul2026-06-23T12:09:26-04:00

how to play till there was you

How to play Till there was you. Tabs, chords notation and lyrics:

Till there was you

How to play Till there was you. Tabs, chords notation and lyrics:

Till there was you”

Till There Was You” is a show tune written in 1950 by Meredith Willson, originally entitled “Till I Met You.” It was originally recorded October 25, 1950, by Meredith Willson & his Orchestra and Eileen Wilson. The song was retitled and used in his musical play The Music Man (1957), and which also appeared in the 1962 movie version. It is sung by librarian Marian Paroo (performed by Barbara Cook on Broadway, and by Shirley Jones in the film) to “Professor” Harold Hill (portrayed on Broadway and in the film by Robert Preston) toward the end of Act Two.

In 1959, the song became the first of four US Top 40 hits for Anita Bryant. “Till There Was You” was covered by the Beatles in 1963.

“The song of rejoicing softens hard hearts. It makes tears of godly sorrow flow from them. Singing summons the Holy Spirit. Happy praises offered in simplicity and love lead the faithful to complete harmony, without discord. Don’t stop singing.” – Hildegard von Bingen

Paul2026-09-02T12:40:42-04:00

Hurt

“Hurt” is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from its 1994 studio album The Downward Spiral—where it is the closing song on the album—written by Trent Reznor. It was subsequently released on April 17, 1995, as a promotional single from the album, wherein it was issued straight to radio. The song received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rock Song in 1996. In 2020, Kerrang! and Billboard ranked the song number two and number three, respectively, on their lists of the greatest Nine Inch Nails songs.

In 2002, American country singer Johnny Cash covered “Hurt” to commercial and critical acclaim. The related music video is considered one of the greatest of all time by publications such as NME. Reznor praised Cash’s interpretation of the song for its “sincerity and meaning”, going so far as to say “that song isn’t mine anymore”.

“You don’t have to change that much for it to make a great deal of difference. A few simple disciplines can have a major impact on how your life works out in the next 90 days, let alone in the next 12 months or the next 3 years.” – Jim Rohn

Paul2026-07-11T09:27:04-04:00

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California Dreamin’

“Waltzing Matilda”