Let It Be: Overrated or Genius?!

Hey there #beatlesfans , in this video Lisa will break down "Let It Be", from what makes it iconic to understanding its catchy chorus and we will also explore a couple musical concepts. Join us as we decide if it's overrated or an absolute genius in the world of music! Let us know your thoughts in the comments 🎹
Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:16 What makes "Let it be" Iconic?
0:59 "Let it be" Intro
2:40 The Chorus
4:39 What is a Plagal Cadence?
5:00 Practice Tool
5:12 The Passing Chords
5:58 "C" Mixolydian Scale
7:45 Closing Thoughts
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#pianote #piano #pianoteacher #thebeatles #letitbe

[@Stratiotis_tou_Christou]

Let it be the most sweet and charming melody of Beatles. I remember the times when my aunt was in the ICU and she was diagnosed with breast carcinoma, and she was given poor prognosis. But, listening to this reignited her lively wonderful spirit and at instant spread positivity in her body, mind and soul. Now, my aunt is absolutely normal the operation and chemotherapy was succesful. I know it might sound like a fairy tale, but trust me once you trust yourself and God you can MOVE MOUNTAINS. I wish I could meet the band to thank them a lot for preparing such a melodious unique masterpiece. Thank you guys for reading my comment ❤ and thank you Pianote for bringing up the tutorial to play this iconic historical masterpiece . God bless guys ❤💐☮️

[@carlbaumeister3439]

Interesting that Paul wrote that song after having a dream (or perhaps a vision) of his mother who’d died of breast cancer about 12 years before. He was distressed bc he couldn’t remember much about her, couldn’t really even recall her face. She came to him and said, “let it be, Paul, just let it be.” So how amazing then, that this song lifted your aunt, and that now she’s fine. When my grandmother died at only 55, her daughter, my mother, was quite upset. But my grandmother appeared to her in a baby blue chiffon dress, and said, “oh, Joanie, everything is going to be fine,” and then hugged her so tightly she told me she could hardly breath for a moment. When my dad died, he appeared to my wife (while I slept next to her but I didn’t wake up) and told her he was just fine, to not worry. We were living in another state, and it was 6am, and we hadn’t even been informed that he’d died.

[@matt_phistopheles]

My family comes from Hamburg and I also lived there for a long time. Over the years I've talked to many people who have seen the band on stage before they were famous. Nostalgia aside not all was great in retrospective because the guys were constantly trying new things and not all of it worked. But when it worked it was amazing. This gave them something that music theory never could: Experience. A lot of it. When they wrote songs like Let It Be they had literally been thousands of hours on stage and in the studio and thus they just knew intuitively, how music works and how it it connects to people. Of course, being a bunch of genius helps too.

[@ryno6101]

Lisa makes everything happy, sparkling, positive and adorable -- plus the history and theory ❤❤❤ Motivating Magic Lisa

[@scottleehutchins]

Beginner piano player here. This explanation of the theory of the song is really interesting. Fantastic video - THANK YOU!

[@WillRose3]

That Am to Cmaj7/G at 2:51 is simply gorgeous. So simple yet so perfect.

[@rednaxelahcitorfaznebo2830]

The Beatles were so advanced in their music !

[@joanjohnstone7241]

George Martin was the brains behind them, they were not that bright!!

[@joanjohnstone7241]

Only because they were under the guidance of a true musician, ie George Martin. On their own they would have been a nine day wonder. FACT

[@tudvalstone]

@@joanjohnstone7241 You don't know how they'd have progressed. Probably differently, under different influences. But before they met Martin, they were a fantastic live rock n roll band for years, those early recordings sound astonishing even today.

[@DoU12Rock]

Right. lol Beatles music is the easiest of all to play. You don’t have to be complicated to be good.

[@judebrown4103]

What a great analysis of a great song, thanks Lisa. Really got the old grey matter thinking properly about a song I've played by just reading the music but not understanding what was going on. Thank you for making me think!😅👍

[@multitrackers3770]

Wonderful explanation! I love your ability to explain it so well and your enthusiasm. Lots of love.

[@kdailey4315]

Anyone can learn to play the piano or a an instrument but not a lot of people can create a first. The Beatles had a lot of "firsts" that nobody thought of before.

[@thailam]

Let It Be is actually underrated. Very great content, and thanks for a very significant analysis of Let It be

[@richardfehlmann4593]

These are wonderful explanations, I love these kind of lessons 👍😃❤🎹 Thank you Lisa Witt 👏👏👏

[@PianoteOfficial]

Thank you for watching!

[@alexj1897]

Wow - interesting and also inspiring stuff here. Much appreciated. Good job on having such a nice speaking voice too, Lisa 👌🏽 😁

[@zealotbr]

Fico hipnotizado com suas aulas :D ❤

[@gozirraizroose]

Great breakdown! Thank you.

[@MotifMusicStudios]

I love the simplicity of this one and think that's sometimes where the magic lives.

[@PianoteOfficial]

Completely agree :)

[@davidfarmer2049]

​@@PianoteOfficialI think you are mistaking "simplicity" for over-use? Some words are so over-used they become meaningless filler-words. Such a shame to apply this to music? It deserves much better than that. Please can we keep to the Queen's English?

[@mikesdrumstudio9312]

This is such an amazing song. I just have to say Lisa, your passion for teaching piano is amazing. I'm a drummer/percussionist doing a lot of producing my own music. I've always loved the piano. about 7 years ago I just started playing. Created music. I've played mallets and studied music. So that helped me. But most recently I started to get curious about playing some of my favorite songs and let it be is one of those songs. I've watced a lot of piano tutorial videos. But none as clear and as passionate as yours. So thank you!

[@PearlPaisley]

Love these deep dive song analyses. More please!

[@PianoteOfficial]

Thank you for watching!

[@ilovemyjob9108]

We need more video like this ❤

[@norasuen9083]

It’s wonderful lesson ,thank you so much ❤❤

[@aBeatleFan4ever]

Loved your breakdown of this classic Beatles song.

[@marisouza2629]

Love it, Lisa! ❤

[@pedervanroestdahl]

Amazingly insightful. Thank you ❤

[@PianoteOfficial]

Thank you for watching!

[@LisaRSArt]

Love this video a lot. Excellent explanations and I love that Bb7. Thanks Lisa. 👏❤️🤘😁

[@PianoteOfficial]

Thank you for watching Lisa!

[@LisaRSArt]

@@PianoteOfficial you guys are the best teachers. So appreciate you. 🙌❤️❤️❤️🥰😁

[@kevinbrady8533]

Thank you for what you do.. you explain it so well..Kev in Dublun, Ireland

[@jeffmeteyer5999]

You have a fantastic method of exposing the song construct Thank you

[@vmGrymm]

I''m only at 0:32 and I just cant hold myself from writing that this is an AWESOME video

[@nigeltufneljunior]

Interesting analysis of this iconic song, thanks!

[@marlenebrilz2847]

Hi Lisa. I just love this song and your explanation makes it so easy to understand the chords. I can’t figure out how to get to the free transcript to play the song. Please let me know. Thanks. Marlene

[@TerryVanner]

Thank you I learnt a lot from it. By the way Hey Jude was released years before Let It Be.😊

[@zetmoon]

Only about a year

[@alancurtis9155]

Very interesting analysis, thanks.

[@PianoteOfficial]

Thank you for watching!

[@dannygibor]

Music theory is cool and I think Lisa is right regarding fitting the right chords to match the downward bass progression. Paul was probably influenced from the song "A Whiter Shade of Pale" that was released in 1967, which was inspired by Bach's "Air on the G String". Bach used the concept of Ground Bass (basso ostinato) - a repeating bass line in many of his works which influenced popular music and jazz. Still, it's a masterpiece by itself and deserves full credit.

[@docsavage8640]

Or just about a thousand gospel tunes

[@erniethefork]

Probably influenced by A Whiter Shade of Pale? Probably is a word used when there's some evidence to support the thing expressed... Respectfully, there is *none* here.

[@dannygibor]

@@erniethefork Whiter Shade of Pale was released in 1967, 3 years before Let It Be, and was a huge hit. I'm not saying they copied the song, just merely stating that both songs start with very similar chord progression, like many other songs (as some noted). It is not unlikely that the Beatles were influenced or inspired from it and from Bach's piece. Play the chord progression of these songs and you will notice the similarity. Using known harmonic movements is something that has been going on for centuries now and of course it doesn't mean that Let It Be (or other songs) aren't original by no means. In short, there is some similarity here that is hard to ignore. I do agree that my description could be misleading to some and it's more accurate to say that the Beatles may have been influenced by other songs and not probably because I don't have any evidence to support this claim and it's just a speculation.

[@danielhkhk7283]

Love your videos! And the song of course.

[@PianoteOfficial]

Thank you!

[@vansullivan236]

Great, thanks ❤

[@mmccarrell]

Another nice lesson. I really like your videos. Can you do one on England Dan & JFK's "I'd really love to see you tonight"? Really nice piano but there's some unique chords in it.

[@lorendigiorgi]

I love the FM7 chord in the intro.

[@BeatlesCentricUniverse]

Great video!

[@berringervids]

To answer the topic of the video.... GENIUS! Love this song! Will always do!

[@berringervids]

cool

[@berringervids]

Must say this: I really doubt Paul and John was thinking about all the theory when they wrote this. It sounded great, so they went forward. Still, they inspired rock music forever! inversions was an easier way to play the song. Really :)

[@pytulyn1]

Who is this beautiful woman??!?

[@Vtxfurio]

Ur weird

[@lloydmoss217]

Although I V vi IV is very common today, it wasn't as common back then...so it sounded fresh.

[@rickkaylor8554]

I wanted to learn to play piano so I could play this song when I was in high school. It is a very touching song despite being so simple.

[@marlenebrilz2847]

Hi Lisa, How can I get the transcript of Let It Be by the Beatles downloaded to play? I see it but not know how to get it.

[@MJKRISTO11]

Hi Lisa, where can I find the background music for let it be?

[@17244852]

Nice! Thanks for that Lisa.

[@17244852]

Yay!

[@liyakatbawade3546]

Wonderful melody by the genius 👌👌👌👏👏👏

[@PianoteOfficial]

Yes!

[@johnboyd6943]

Simply put - he is a genius. Nuf said.

[@joanjohnstone7241]

George Martin was the genius behind this.

[@BeatlesCentricUniverse]

@@joanjohnstone7241 NONSENSE. Another Martin Apologist.

[@joanjohnstone7241]

🤮@@BeatlesCentricUniverse

[@themiamatrix]

Lisa is the perfect spokesperson. I picked up a keyboard a month ago at my ripe age of 58. Lisa is infectious to watch! Sure, she is strikingly beautiful but it's the personality that comes through. Now I need to bite the bullet and join. Lisa Witt, siren of the piano world

[@aridelgado2]

Can you make a tutorial video about “A little bit longer” by Jonas Brothers? Ps: I've been learning a lot with you, so thank you so much.

[@harto4736]

Every Piano learner, and of course every piano player learned this simple harmonies at their beginning of piano playing. They are the basic and millions knows them. BUT : None of this millions was able to make such a song from it. - THAT`S the genius !!!

[@KitKat-lp8gn]

May I request a tutorial for "Just the two of us" for chord progressions and main melody? 😊

[@richardfehlmann4593]

One slight correction: Hey Jude (1968) was before Let It Be (1969, published 1970) 😉

[@august_astrom]

That word "overrated" is awfully close to "Let It Be" in that title... Awesome video, Lisa! 😄

[@photographerw.j.smithphoto1214]

Just found your channel...your smile and enthusiasm kept me glued to the video. Not to mention I'm a huge Beatles fan and saw the title. New subscriber!

[@codetech5598]

Paul (or Billy) has a knack for writing endearing melodies over basic chords.

[@davidcollins1154]

I think you are getting confused with Billy Joel as there is only one Paul.

[@codetech5598]

@@davidcollins1154 No, Billy Joel never changed his height and the shape of his face.

[@lethiapage4767]

Im pretty sure its so successful because even if the music gives the theorists something to pick apart, the sound is simple and accessible, conversational, then becomes quite soulful, anthemic, churchy even. And the lyrics are just masterful...meant something to Paul for sure but anyone can plug in their own experience. Its just a beautiful song.

[@zitherzon2121]

THE original 1 5 6 4 song and the first song every musician learned on the piano. It inspired hundreds of other pop songs using that exact same chord progression. That's genius enough for me.

[@rodger7029]

Not the original

[@zitherzon2121]

@@rodger7029 Which pop song was before it?

[@mattbrook-lee7732]

​@@zitherzon2121auld lang syne

[@zitherzon2121]

@@mattbrook-lee7732 Is that your idea of a pop song that was frequently played on the radio at one time in the past ?

[@mattbrook-lee7732]

@@zitherzon2121 errrr.....think I'm gonna go with yes

[@Its-Mahsakiani]

It’s a dream for me to learn how to play “no time to die” by Billie Eilish. Please teach us that song Lisa 😿

[@ArjunAJ-nw7rl]

Why didn't you mention the Fmaj7 - F6 progression ??? The best part in the song IMO. ❤

[@tonyc8752]

“It shows up everywhere in pop music” I noticed not one of those songs was before Let It Be. How popular was the progression before that?

[@tripptucker5571]

Will you please do de nova adagio by a alicia keys

[@lloydmoss217]

Isn't Paul playing E G & C for the C Chord Intro?

[@albertoandolini7881]

thats inspiring ❤Let it be is The Beatles goodbye song...the music is not really sounds emotional... immortality

[@kjh789az]

Good and interesting analysis - thanks. Let's keep in mind that LIB was written by the same person who woke up one day with the harmony and melody in his mind for the song that, after some work on the lyric, became Yesterday. My point is that we can deconstruct LIB using technical terms, but its conception is Macca using his ears and musical sense to bring harmony and melody together to express his feelings toward his late mother, Mary. The harmonic complexity of Yesterday is even more amazing as several anayists have suggested. This may help to explain why AI generated songs in the style of X miss the emotional mark that genuine genius brings to mundane, even cliched musical ingredients. There's nothing mundane about LIB. If you watched the Peter Jackson footage of The Beatles working on LIB, when Paul sits at the grand piano and quietly plays this for the first time, George, Ringo and John show by their reactions that they know this is something special.

[@xekusion]

Am I wrong but does the pentatonic scale sound like the intro for Westworld?

[@lemardu3122]

hi can you do a tutorial of Waiting for Your Love by Steve B

[@joanjohnstone7241]

Nice tutorial - you used to give us free scores to download, can we get one for this please?

[@hendrianfajar]

Please do "How do i say goodbye" by Dean Lewis

[@Jermsybug]

@6:38 Didn’t “Hey Jude” come before “Let It Be”?

[@timpratt2725]

So how often was this chord progression used before this song?

[@codetech5598]

for about 500 years

[@Dan-ne2et]

Genius! 🥳

[@PianoteOfficial]

Completely agree!

[@Dan-ne2et]

@@PianoteOfficial It is & will always be a brilliant masterpiece. 👏

[@OlivierGeoffrion]

Ohhh thank you for playing CM7/G (2:54) in the chorus ! I hear everybody playing à G chord after Am but it's not the right chord ! So People please stop playing à G chord in the chorus !!!!😁😉

[@bindumanoj698]

Wow!!!!!

[@erniethefork]

I bought the single within a week or so of it coming out. I was 10 years old :) And, I remember watching the video of them performing it on the Ed Sullivan Show, which was taken from the Let it Be movie which hadn't been released yet. Doubtful that Paul considered applying a mixolydian (or any other scale) while composing this song (or any song)? Let me just put all doubt aside and state emphatically..... NO, he did not. When do songwriters EVER do that... virtually, never.

[@mcquey9524]

Genius 😊👍❤

[@PianoteOfficial]

Yes!

[@tr5947]

Great video and "Hey Jude" came before "Let It Be".

[@conganigechiranthana8650]

Genius ❤🎉

[@IntoTheSky19]

Wonderful analysis. One tiny point: Let It Be came after Hey Jude, so perhaps Hey Jude was the more groundbreaking song...

[@mamati4312]

✨

[@intoodeep001]

There may also have been a little nudge from George Martin, "hey Paul, try this...".

[@RapEye]

at 2:59 you go all the way to C, as you say and show, but your chords charts shows C/E.

[@lean3170]

❤❤

[@eldenjr]

My favorite Beatles tune. This and, Yesterday are truly amazing.

[@kwesibruno]

You're my one.

[@stevewallis661]

True story: Paul Mcartney cant read or write music. Its all ear trained! Pretty amazing

[@user-et2fj8xm5l]

And God given..

[@lorendigiorgi]

Genius!

[@rogerlmoore4544]

Ironically, none of the Beatles knew music theory. They just knew what sounds good. As the saying goes: rock music comes from the crotch, not the head.

[@joanjohnstone7241]

They knew nothing about music, they were a bunch of drop out druggies - all music was thanks to George Martin. They just got lucky is all.

[@arunavadasgupta2147]

Thank you that I will Confered with Grammy award

[@rednaxelahcitorfaznebo2830]

It doesn't matter how many chords are there in a song. What matters is how you come up with a melody that would be a commercial hit.

[@ShortFuseFighting]

thats literally the worst possible way to think about music

[@erniethefork]

You're right, the emphasis on how many chords there are ("written w/ just FOUR chords") is absolutely irrelevant for obvious reason. It's as if to say... How could this song be SO good w/ just FOUR chords...? It's the combination of melody and lyric that creates anything a lot of people love to listen to. And guess what...It might only be two chords or one. Yeah, not relevant.

[@carlbaumeister3439]

He is THE songwriting genius of the 20th Century. And his gift has influenced every great songwriter to follow him. I heard Penny Lane the other day, and it occurred to me that nobody else but Paul McCartney could have written something like that. BTW, Hey Jude was before Let it Be. Great video!

[@PackerBronco]

George Gerswhin

[@carlbaumeister3439]

@@PackerBronco He’s pretty good, but, nah.

[@PackerBronco]

@@carlbaumeister3439 I would also put Cole Porter above McCartney. And to misquote John Lennon: "Best songwriter of the century? He's not even the best songwriter in the Beatles..."

[@carlbaumeister3439]

@@PackerBronco Everybody has different tastes. Cole Porter’s music, although he obviously has some nice songs, even standards, for the most part, bores me. From that era, I much prefer Irving Berlin (similar style, but bolder and more memorable tunes, especially impressive for a guy who basically played only the black keys!), and Rogers & Hart (later Rodgers and Hammerstein, even better), as well as Sammy Cahn, and whoever else was writing for Sinatra. (And yes, I know Sinatra and the other crooners sang a lot of Porter.) As far as writing showtunes, I would venture that Andrew Lloyd Webber is also better than Porter was. Just more interesting melodies, rhythms, even lyrics. But based on your recommendation, I’ll download some of his essentials on Apple Music. “Night & Day” is gorgeous, and I think the first time I heard it, as a child, was probably either the Stan Getz version (my dad listened to a lot of Getz) or Brazil 66 (who also did the first version of “Fool on the Hill” I ever heard, even before I heard The Beatles version). Or maybe it was Ella. Very enchanting number. Maybe when I listen more, I’ll change my “tune,” about Porter, but I doubt I’ll conclude he’s better than McCartney. The quip you’re “misquoting” is actually a fabrication, according to McCartney. He says John never said that about Ringo’s drumming (implication ofc being that Paul was a better drummer than Ringo), and he adds Lennon would have never said that (even as much as it would match Lennon’s peerless wit) bc it wasn’t even close to true (although I’ll admit his drumming was perfect for the Band on the Run album-even Ginger Baker was impressed and asked Paul who did the drumming). Some people slam Ringo’s playing, maybe bc he doesn’t play like Buddy Rich, Neil Peart, or even Keith Moon, but when he replaced Pete Best, The Beatles were complete. His drumming was the core of the Beatlemania sound, and later, his drumming made songs like Rain and Strawberry Fields, and was the icing on the cake to Come Together. Yeah, I know a lot of ppl think Lennon was better than McCartney, but I lean towards McCartney . . . slightly. I’m a big Lennon fan, but after the breakup, even though I had to buy them bc they were John Lennon, I could never sit through a whole Lennon album. I do think he had some great singles, however. Harrison . . . well his first album was incredible, but it was a long wait for his next great album, Cloud 9. As for during The Beatles, I’ll say that in the early period, John was generally better (& more prolific) than Paul, but from Revolver & forward, with perhaps the exception of the White Album, Paul was superior, and that ofc included the singles, bc he wrote nearly all of them from ‘66 on.

[@PackerBronco]

@@carlbaumeister3439 I know the Lennon quote wasn't true about Ringo (whom I think was amazing) which is why I said misquoted. We all have our favorites though. I'm not downgrading McCartney, I just like the body of work from composers if we're looking at the 20th century. The way some people write about music in the 20th century, you think that it all started in the sixties and there is nothing worthwhile before it.

[@jchow5966]

Genius!!!!!

[@RamingtonSteele]

both :D

[@jonathanpark7245]

I think it was so iconic because it was a very popular song by a ver popular band

[@ryansmith240992]

Hey @pianote can you do a video on Rick Wakeman please 🙏

[@ryansmith240992]

😁

[@charlesgoldsmith6410]

👍

[@allgood6760]

He got the inspiration from his mother and she said let it be...

[@johnniewalker39]

Thank you. You're beautiful.

[@barakawilliam9209]

Hi

[@jweyek]

I have a feeling that McCartney did think about music theory at least somewhat while composing. George Martin the producer was a classically trained musician, and I imagine that Paul learned a lot from him.

[@joanjohnstone7241]

Exactly.

[@KS622]

Your voice can trigger an ASMR

[@RolandJanssens]

j'aime mais j'ai difficile parce que je ne parle pas anglais sorry

[@OzTwanger]

McCartney a pure genius