Yesterday Chords & Guitar Lesson

Welcome to my Yesterday guitar chord chart by The Beatles. This is a great guitar song that can use a bass pluck style finger picking pattern. You can also strum the song but I think it sounds much better finger picked.

While the key of the song is in F, McCarty played the song in G on a guitar that is tuned down a whole step. The chords here will be in G since it is easier to play. But if you want it to sound just like the recording you will have to tune the guitar down.

See, even pros cheat to make things easier 😉

Yesterday Guitar Chords:

Yesterday Strumming Patterns:

Strumming: Try to hit the high strings on the D strum
1 + 2+   3 + 4+
BDDD   BD DD

Now please don’t yell at me that this isn’t EXACTLY the way Paul plays it. The goal is to make it more accessible to players to have fun with.

Picking:
1  +  2 +   3 + 4 +
B P  P P   B P P P

I also like to play it as:

Picking:
1  +  2 +  3 + 4  +
B  P B P  B P B  P

Yesterday Guitar Lesson:

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Yesterday Chord Chart:

Intro: G G

Verse:
       G        |F#m         B7|                            | Em           Em/D|
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away
|C             D7|                                        |G     G/F#|
now it looks as thought they're here to stay
|Em7    A7|     |C         G|

oh! I believe in Yesterday.

Verse:
  G              |F#m     B7|.                      |Em    Em/D|
Suddenly, I'm not half the man I used to be
|C                 D7|                      |G      G/F#|
There's a shadow hanging over me
|Em7     A7|            |C         G|

Oh! Yesterday, came suddenly.

Chorus:
|F#m     B7|    |Em Em/D   Em/C    Em/B|

Why   she    had    to          go,      I don't
|Am       D7|                G

know she wouldn't say
|F#m    B7|       |Em       Em/D   Em/C    Em/B|
I            said    some    thing wrong, now I
|Am     D7|             G
long   for yesterday

Verse:
  G              |F#m             B7|                       |Em    Em/D|
Yesterday    love was such an easy game to play
|C            D7|                         |G    G/F#|
  Now I need a place to hide away
|Em7      A7|     | C         G| Oh!
I     believe, in Yesterday...

Chorus:
|F#m     B7|    |Em Em/D   Em/C    Em/B|

Why   she    had    to          go,      I don't
|Am       D7|                G

know she wouldn't say
|F#m    B7|       |Em       Em/D   Em/C    Em/B|
I            said    some    thing wrong, now I
|Am     D7|             G
long   for yesterday

Verse:
  G              |F#m             B7|                       |Em    Em/D|
Yesterday    love was such an easy game to play
|C            D7|                         |G    G/F#|
  Now I need a place to hide away
|Em7      A7|     | C         G|
I     believe, in Yesterday...

G/D             G/C#      G/C                 G
Hum hum hum hum hum hmm hmm

This file is the author’s own work and represents his interpretation of this song. It’s intended solely for private study, scholarship or research.

We do not distribute printable chord and lyrics charts. These charts are here only to support online learning. We highly recommend buying music from Hal Leonard or a reputable online sheet music store.

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