Yellow by Coldplay is an accessible guitar song for beginners. With just three simple open chords and 8th all down strumming, this track is ideal for beginning players. Additionally, its intro features an acoustic intro so make sure that an acoustic guitar is used when starting it off; starting on G chord might make things simpler!
Key of B Major
The key of B major is an exciting and versatile chord progression, featuring 5 sharps and two natural notes, that can produce different results depending on how they’re played. For instance, C# minor (vi) adds tension while G# minor (viideg) creates a soothing atmosphere.
Not used to playing in keys with sharps may find the prospect of learning the B major scale daunting, but with practice it soon becomes second nature.
When reading a key signature, keep this in mind: the white note names indicate scale notes while black ones indicate chords. Also keep in mind that ascending and descending note names correspond with each other on an octave note so as to easily determine when and what to play. In this way, navigating what to play will become easy!
Intro
This simple intro features only three easy chords – making it great for beginners as well as practicing your open chords! Tune the thinnest string down a semitone until it sounds like D sharp; this gives the chords an exquisite sound. Also note that strumming is limited to down strums at first if you are new, then gradually introduce up strokes when ready.
This song is in B Major, one of the most frequently used keys for playing music, boasting near-average Chord Complexity, Chord Progression Novelty and Chord-Bass Melody Tension complexity measures. According to Theorytab this key ranks 11th for pop songs and 18th overall.
Verse
Coldplay’s song Yellow features straightforward chord progressions with 8th all down strumming patterns that make it an excellent introduction to playing an acoustic guitar for beginners.
This song’s lyrics reference something “yellow”, such as a car or flower of that hue. Additionally, its melodic structure is quite straightforward while the chord progressions match those typical for songs in its genre.
Yellow was composed in B Major, which is an ideal key for pop music with many popular chords and interesting progressions using commonly-used scale degrees. According to Theorytab’s database, this key ranks eleventh most frequently for song compositions.
Chorus
Coldplay’s Yellow is an ideal song to practice both open and power chords, as well as passing diminished chords which may prove challenging at first but are truly invaluable in your practice.
This song employs simple C major and E major triad chords as the foundation. A triod can be formed simply by strumming three open strings at once.
If you are unfamiliar with intervals, please read this article before continuing this lesson. The interval between notes within a chord, known as its third (also referred to as its triad), distinguishes major from minor chords and defines their sound differences; for instance a C major triad contains two C’s separated by one third and an E, while its equivalent C minor chord contains two A’s and one D which are separated by an octave – thus producing two very distinctive tonalities!