Mastering Yesterday by The Beatles on acoustic guitar can be an excellent way to strengthen your guitar playing skills. The song itself isn’t too difficult and with practice you will soon see progress!
Now you should have memorized all six open chord shapes. It can help to develop an understanding of how chords relate by noting how every change of one note (flat or sharp) alters its type and thus the chord shape.
C Major
Yesterday is an iconic song from The Beatles and not considered too challenging for beginning guitarists to learn on guitar, although if this is your first experience it may take some practice before getting used to its chords and fast tempo sections.
This song is set in C Major. This key is commonly used in pop songs because it offers an array of sounds that will appeal to most beginners. If you would like to switch things up a bit and play in G Major instead, simply detune your guitar by one tone and switch keys during performance.
This will produce a more relaxed sound for the song, although its integrity may not be as pure. As you perform the tune, work on developing rhythm and finger placement as part of its performance.
G Major
G Major is one of the easiest keys for beginners, making it ideal for beginning players. However, its overall sound may be too loud for some beginners; to compensate, capo 5th fret and play in C Major instead; this will lower its overall volume and be more suitable for novice players.
Learning Yesterday on acoustic guitar may not be especially challenging, but some basic skills are necessary. These include knowing how to switch chords quickly and seamlessly; properly tune your instrument using either an online tuner or by matching each string’s sound against its note on a piano; read sheet music including key signatures to determine how many sharps or flats there are in a scale; as well as understanding and memorizing chord charts.
E Major
E major is one of the first chords most beginners encounter, and is an extremely versatile chord. You can use it to craft various progressions that give songs their start, middle, and end based on context.
The key of E is famous for its powerful sounding triads that are used widely in blues and rock music, making its triads immensely appealing. Not often seen in serious classical pieces but often employed for dramatic transitions from other keys such as D Minor or G Major.
To play this chord, first bar the 9th fret from strings 4-2, then use your fourth finger to mute the 1st string (otherwise it would ring out over the chord). This variation on moveable maj7 can then be moved around as desired – great way to learn! Since only three fingers are necessary – all other strings can remain open – it makes learning to play an easy chord!