Blackbird Chords Explained

Ever wonder how Paul McCartney came up with those cool chords on the Beatles song Blackbird? What a clever way to play a series of chords, fingerstyle, and continually using one open string of the guitar to keep everything moving forward, flowing from one chord to another so seamlessly.
This video will explain how the Blackbird chords work, and as we'll see, this same technique has been used in many songs from classical guitar to pop music of today.
Blackbird is truly one of the greatest acoustic guitar songs of all time and this lesson will give you a deeper understanding of how it was composed.
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Find out more about guitar lesson books from Blue Morris like Guitar Strumming Like a Pro available from Amazon
www.bluemorris.com/shop

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

*Tabs and more available on our Patreon* at www.patreon.com/guitarlessonsvancouver and you can order my *guitar instructional books on Amazon* details here: www.bluemorris.com/shop

[@jmoorecareers]

Excellent lesson. The interval of a 10th is one of the most beautiful on guitar. Thanks!

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@benjysshed1883]

Another "light bulb moment" tutorial!! Im one of the many people who've memorised Blackbird with no idea what chords I'm playing but as ever your very different way of seeing and explaining things has opened my eyes 😁👍💚

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Awesome thank you!

[@benjysshed1883]

@@GuitarLessonsVancouver 😁👍❤

[@egrobichaud]

Extremely well done. Very cool. And you nailed it right on the head at the end with your final comments. I find it a lot harder to just memorize a bunch of random notes, but it makes total sense when you understand the “why” behind it. I’m the kind of person that doesn’t want to memorize an answer, I want to understand how to figure out the answer…

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Great to hear thanks glad it helped

[@robgallant1641]

Thanks Blue. I get so overwhelmed on KZbin with so many people teaching (my fault not theirs). Your videos bring me back to focus. Much appreciated!

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Glad to hear it thanks!

[@colindayo]

Terrific thanks. Greetings from the UK from another Larivee lover ❤

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Cool, glad to hear there are some Larivee guitars over there :)

[@georgerichardson7728]

what a wonderful teacher you are, thanks a lot mate, from Scotland

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!

[@georgerichardson7728]

@@GuitarLessonsVancouver Yea man, i like your delivery and you clearly love the guitar , it comes across well, thanks .

[@dennisk5082]

Blue. Thanks for the info. What makes your teaching style unique is that you give a clear understanding of how the progressions work, not just the muscle memory to play the given tune. Bravo. Cheers from the Okanagan

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Thank you again! Really appreciated 😀

[@claymathes2701]

A great explanation of this piece of Blackbird 🧠 food for guitar player,a better understanding of theory

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Glad it was helpful!

[@alanb287]

What a great explanation! Thank you!

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Glad it was helpful!

[@ted9876]

Really great insights into this song. Better to learn from chord shapes than finger shapes for me. Easier to remember. Thanks.

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Thank you!

[@isaacjohnson.]

This is such a great eye opening lesson! Thank you. Very well explained, and really tied together pieces of knowledge I already knew but in a new context (of a song I love and know by ear) really helped. Very well done!

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Wonderful! Glad it helped

[@jeffro.]

The G is called a drone... because it drones. Apt name! That's the first song I ever learned on guitar. Thanks, Blue!

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Good point, that is a good term for it. Thanks for posting!

[@MW-ty1dv]

Absolutely brilliant, thank you.

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Glad it was helpful!

[@steveschechter3712]

so satisfying to have this explanation--brilliant! thank you!!

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Thank you! Lots more lessons on the channel!

[@dmyerstc55]

Awesome lesson! Thank you very much

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Glad you liked it!

[@Hexbyte965]

Nice lesson Blue. Thank you.

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Thanks for watching!

[@colink4823]

Really great analysis and explanation of this great song 👍

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Thank you!

[@capearkona1989]

Very nice. Thanks again!

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@RBZ3]

Thanks Blue!

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Thanks again for watching!

[@Kendrick-AZ]

Love it. Man... I *gotta* find the time - no, MAKE the time to have more time with my guitar at which point I'll hop over to Patreon with you. Really looking forward to it. Love your lessons.

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Cool, hope to see you on Patreon soon. Let me know if you have any questions about it all.

[@Andrew-cu9lf]

Exactly what is needed in the flock of Blackbird lessons. He's playing the 1 & 3 of each chord, plus the constant G. Thank you!

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Thanks Andrew... "flock"... nice one!!!

[@samuelgoad7320]

Wow what great timing, I started guitar recently, learning Blackbird, thinking to myself its nice but what lesson am I getting out of this and here you are to help guide my thinking, definitely a subscribe from me!

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Fantastic! Great coincidence 😄

[@bhabi7071]

Excellent

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@charlesfellows8130]

Nice breakdown blue. You can apply this to other strings also by playing the root and the third or? in a key with an open. We're dabbling in the circle of fifths now? Nice.

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Thanks Charles. It works well on the D and high E strings with the open B string on each chord.

[@blutey]

I saw a video recently where Paul McCartney said the chord progression came from a classical piece he knew. I think it was Bach. I used to play this by dropping the A string a step to G.

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

It is a very classical guitar technique, especially those first few chords in open position

[@timwatson4118]

Hi Blue, this is a really cool lesson. I live in New Westminster. Wondering if you teach beginners? Thanks

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Thanks! I do teach beginners. I have a waitlist right now but if you get in touch with me through my website I can get you on that list and give you more details: www.bluemorris.com/contact

[@herkyacuff]

Before you could just look up the tab online, I figured it was an alternate tuning, so didn't learn it for many years...

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

That makes sense it sounds like open tuning

[@louisbelanger8792]

Larrivée guitar made in Quebec, Awesome!

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

They are good guitars. I have two. The D shape and OM.

[@ted9876]

Can’t afford them so I “settled” for a Seagull. Love it.

[@louisbelanger8792]

@ted9876 hi Ted, same here,got a seagull 2015 (nature element model) good Quality price , love it

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

@@ted9876 they did get expensive. Mine were purchased a long time ago. And used at that. Seagull guitars are nice too. Cool to see lots of Canadian guitars out there 🇨🇦

[@Snehilw]

So lets say we want to use some different key (F major for example). There is no open string for Fmaj unless we add a capo. Will the same 'Blackbird' trick work in that case? If yes, how?

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

It's a good point. This works well in G major and E minor. Not so well in other keys. The open strings have to be in key and G Major is especially good because those open strings happen to be part of the G chord, root chord

[@Snehilw]

@@GuitarLessonsVancouver how to make it work for Emin?

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

@@Snehilw The key of E minor has all the same notes, all the same chords as G Major. You just have to start on Em to establish the key. So if you started with an open E minor chord, and walked up the Blackbird sequence until you got to the chord that was at 7th and 8th frets, that would also be an Em. Hard to describe in a comment without showing on a guitar, but hopefully that makes sense.

[@anthonyandrew6725]

I’m sure I saw a video of McCartney play this in open G somewhere. I know he usually plays it in standard. But...

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Maybe... I've never seen that myself.

[@Tai61]

Willing ,uses these chords.

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Yeah, nice example. Little Feat. Cool song.

[@scoobydoo4087]

You left out C#, D# and Eb. Paul runs up the neck chromatically on the A string. And I don’t think it’s Bm. It’s G/B

[@jeffro.]

D# IS Eb.

[@scoobydoo4087]

@@jeffro.your correct

[@petersutton523]

Sounds really cool on 12 string 👍

[@GuitarLessonsVancouver]

Oooh I bet!