One of the Beatles’ most well-known songs, Here Comes the Sun, composed by George Harrison is easily learned on an acoustic guitar and makes for an impressive tune.
This lesson will show you how to play it in its original key of A major with a capo at fret 7. The chord progressions are straightforward and straightforward.
The Verse
This guitar lesson offers a full version of George Harrison’s acoustic guitar part from The Beatles album version of Here Comes the Sun, including three lesson videos, a performance play thru video and PDF tabs and chords for you to learn to play it yourself acoustically guitar.
This song can be quite straightforward to play if you know its chords and strumming pattern; the key challenge lies in keeping your picking hand in position so it can pick up both melody and chords simultaneously.
Beginners can use this song to practice playing open chords and developing their strumming feel. There are no fancy chord progressions or time signature issues; just 6 open chords strung together using an easy strumming pattern. Note that for optimal results you will require a capo on the 7th fret for this tune or else it might sound odd and be hard to keep up.
The Chorus
One of The Beatles’ best-known songs, ‘Here Comes the Sun’ is an upbeat tune about an improved day and its message can provide welcome respite during cold winter weather. While this tune may appear simple to play, chord progression does require considerable dexterity in your right hand to produce satisfying chord progressions.
As much of this song will use open chords, and will switch between strumming and fingerpicking sections, it provides an ideal opportunity to improve fretting hand dexterity.
This song’s chord progressions focus heavily on I, IV (or ii), and V chords, giving the tune its characteristic solid sound. To play along, you should also be familiar with some passing chord shapes such as G7 and Am7; there are also interesting metrical variations within its bridge such as an unusual stepwise bassline as well as shifting between various rhythmic measures for added drama and tension.
The Alternate Chorus
Here Comes the Sun is one of the most gorgeous choruses you will hear on any Beatles song, boasting simple yet sweet and winsome lyrics that serve as the perfect complement to its odd time almost prog-rock bridge. George Martin’s ‘wall of sound’ arrangement consists of warm strings, bright piccolos (to represent sunrays!), steam powered synths playing counter melodies and high capoed acoustic guitar doubling vocal melody lines – it truly creates an amazing experience when listening closely!
It’s not an overly complex song to learn, but there are a few obstacles when playing it – particularly with regards to strumming pattern in the middle of the tune. Although difficult at times, learning this beautiful tune will certainly pay off!
This song is in A Major. Referring to the A Major Chord Cheat Sheet can help identify popular chords found here. Additionally, this is an excellent opportunity to practice finger picking techniques and develop bass notes while keeping in mind to use the D-DU-U-DU strumming pattern throughout.
The Bridge
Addition of a bridge can help your song create tension and release. It can also add contrast and alter energy levels among listeners. Experiment with altering either key or rhythm to give the bridge its own distinct feel; just be sure that transition back to original tempo doesn’t sound jarring!
Another effective method for creating a bridge in music is writing a melody that stands out from both verse and chorus melodies in terms of shape and feel, creating a sense of musical interlude as well as providing your lyrics with an opportunity to address emotional responses in your lyrics.
Bridges work exceptionally well when combined with a standard verse-chorus song structure (ABABCB). Katy Perry’s chart-topping hit features an emotive bridge prior to repeating of its chorus refrain.