Why The Beatles' 'Yesterday' is a MASTERCLASS in songwriting

Why is Yesterday such a brilliant song? Here's why Paul McCartney is such a genius mind!

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Atkin - The Forty Seven

0:00 The song we all know
0:42 The first phrase
2:04 The melody
3:07 Second phrase
4:40 Turnaround
5:32 The mystery flat note
6:51 The wrong key?
7:52 Acoustic Adventure
8:40 Chorus phrase 1
9:55 Chorus phrase 2
11:00 One more time!
11:35 The perfect song

Hi, my name is Paul Davids! I am a guitar player, teacher, producer, and overall music enthusiast from the Netherlands! I try to inspire people from all over the world with my videos, here on YouTube.

Thank you for watching!
Paul

Below is the gear and services I use to make these videos. They redirect to websites and provide me with a small kickback should purchase any of these things.

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[RCSmiths]

I always find the Beatles' more vulnerable and slow songs to be a true testament to their songwriting. Material like Yesterday, Something, and Don't Let Me Down show that they never lost their roots back from their first album. Cheers

[julian]

The isolated voice of Paul gives chills to my spine!

[rome]

Paul has so many perfect chord progressions I honestly couldn't guess which this would be before I watched the video. I would nominate "Michelle, " "Penny Lane, " and "Blackbird" as also having perfect chord progressions. That's just to name a few that I think are particularly elegant and creative.

[zBeeKing]

I really love these song deconstruction videos. Understanding why I love certain parts and progressions to my favorite songs is probably the single most enjoyable aspect of my guitar journey these days. I've known how to play this song for years, but sitting down early in the morning with my coffee, picking up my guitar, and just following along with you while you breakdown and analyze the song, part by part, is really fun and special for me. Keep up the great work and thanks for the video.

[tommytorres]

you have a gift for explaining things so clearly. thanks for all your videos.

[championhairpuller]

Always mind-blowing when I think of how young the Beatles were when writing so many masterpieces.

[carlbaumeister]

Another hallmark of McCartney is while he’s playing chords primarily under his songs, he puts in little snippets of melody on the instrument. Not too much, just enough to accentuate in certain spots of the song. You hear this in certain piano-based songs of his, such as Hey Jude and the Long and Winding Road.

[martmakesmusic]

I just found out about this movie called yesterday..and while watching it suddenly this video pops up...your scaring me paul

[ChidOki]

Great timing on this video, I just watched the film Yesterday again with my wife a few nights ago and it always sends me on a Beatles revival, they’re all I’ve been listening to the last few days!

[LunarBoomMusic]

This video beautifully highlights why The Beatles' 'Yesterday' is a songwriting masterpiece. Their ability to create vulnerable and slow songs sets them apart as legends in the music industry. Other songs like 'Something' and 'Don't Let Me Down' also showcase their incredible talent. Understanding their chord progressions is a joy for music enthusiasts, and videos like

[rbshaw]

Brilliant, fascinating and fantastically well explained. Thanks Paul. Both Pauls! The fact that a 23 year old wrote this instinctively with zero formal music training or academic knowledge is astounding. There'll be no one like him again. I'm sure of it.

[SCDfamily]

McCartney has instinctively written his music to be great pop songs. In my opinion, best pop songwriter of my generation.

[Orwell_]

One of the most beautiful melodies in rock history.

[beancounter]

I’m coming on 71 y/o and have heard every Beatle song hundreds and hundreds of times over the years to the point where I just back off for a period of time. I listen to all genres of music from Miles and Coltrane to Country to Metal even hip hop now and then. Yet I always come back to the Beatles every now and then and it blows me away how fresh their music feels, to my ears anyway. Thanks Paul for stoking the fire of the wonder of these four lads yet again.

[pairof_ls]

I can’t tell what’s better. The Beatles coming out w songs like this in a time where nobody could. Or you(Paul David’s) having one of the best FREE guitar lesson YouTube Channels I’ve ever seen. Thanks for letting us see these methods the way you do.

[arbour_music]

Impeccable video! Shows how great of a melody writer McCartney is, when he talks about writing music I always get the idea he was primarily a "melody-first" writer, so he had the melody already and just had to work out chords to go underneath to support it, the opposite of how a lot of people are taught and how pop is written today. So in the end I feel like it's actually the melody that dictates the chords, and that pretty much all legendary songs were written this way too.

[giacomocorazzol]

Something that's been haunting me for years now: the contrast between the sorrow expressed by the the lyrics and the outspoken, direct, no-frills way in which he sings them. No tears. No sobs. Only selfconsciousness. It is that contrast, that tension, that is heartrending.

[JaQute]

Whats even crazier is the fact that all of this just manifested spontaneously in his dream. Unbelievable talent.

[wizofoz]

It has never occurred to me till watching this excellent video of the connection between Yesterday and Blackbird. Written within a short space of time from each other, both feature the ascending melody with descending bass. It really shone out when Paul played that section.

What genius, to have this melody appear in your mind, fully formed, while asleep. What talent to write the words and find the chord voicings to compliment it.

One of the greatest songs ever written.

[odysamadara]

Would be great to watch you play this whole beattle's song at the end of your video🙏