Yesterday by mattiboo

Paul McCartney makes a solo appearance on "Yesterday", playing his 1964 Epiphone Texan FT-79 acoustic guitar. He employs his famous "two-finger" picking method throughout the song, a distinct style involving the thumb to play a chord's root and the pointer finger to pluck the upper strings.

While a staple of The Beatles late 1965 and 1966 tours (the '66 version played as a whole band arrangement), there exists only 2 videos of Paul playing this song solo from 1965: one from the Ed Sullivan show and the other from Blackpool. The Ed Sullivan show version shows the clearest view of Paul's picking technique, and despite the inconveniently placed microphone for a discerning guitarist, it can be seen that Paul played the first half of the song using only his pointer finger to strum the chords, while after the first bridge he switches to using both the pointer and middle fingers. There is not much difference in tone between the two methods other than it being slightly louder with two fingers, but I replicated this switch after the first bridge in my video. Likewise, he keeps his hand position open throughout the song.

Paul's 1960's two-finger picking method differs from how he has played "Yesterday" in more recent times, opting to flick down with his nails for the chords instead of plucking upward with the flesh of his fingers. The 1960's method gives a softer, more intimate sound while the nail method is louder and more defined. He also plucks the E string along with the low notes in modern versions. Taking advice from his former wife Heather Mills, Paul has stated that he uses an acrylic nail to play "Yesterday" night after night while on tour. For my video, I used the authentic 1960's method of plucking upwards, as can be seen in the Ed Sullivan and Blackpool performance videos.

The Epiphone Texan used on "Yesterday" was tuned down a whole step to make it easier for Paul to sing to. Although the song is sonically in F, in my description I will refer to all chords as though the guitar were tuned to E standard, so the first chord would be referred to as a G major, not F major.

The first G note is plucked slightly hard, causing a rattling sound. This is noticeable throughout the song, especially on the low notes. The strings have a lot more flop in their detuned state, so the performer must be careful to play softly so as not to cause buzzing, except where desired.

The second pass through the G chord at 0:01 is played with staccato accenting. The third strum of the first F#m7 chord is played with all open strings as passing notes (0:07). Paul makes use of a number of interesting chords in "Yesterday", notably the F#m7, Em7, Cmaj7, and Am6. Paul does not ever do 3 strums on the Em7 chord at 0:17, instead playing low E, strum, strum, low E. Notice again the open strings at 0:18. The two G chord plucks on the line "ter-day" of "yesterday" are played with the first featuring the low G, and the second being just the chord (0:20).

The three low G notes at 0:22 are played to rattle the string. No passing low E is played at 0:24, instead the G note transitions to the F#. The F#m7 chord is played staccato at 0:24, with a low F# played where the third strum would normally be. A small lick is played at 0:29. Again, a C note is played where the third strum would normally be for the Cmaj7 chord at 0:30.

To transition to the first bridge, Paul plays, on the G chord: strum, low G, open string strum (0:37). The third G chord strum at 0:47 is played louder than the others. The low F# note is played twice at 0:49, with the F#m7 chord being played staccato, then the low B is played along with a high F# during the B7 chord at 0:50. The high G note during the walking bass and melody at 0:52 is played on the fret, causing a weak sound and rattle.

Returning to the third verse at 0:59, Paul plucks the G chord, missing the first strum. The last strum of the F#m7 chord at 1:02 is played open. The walkdown from Em to Cmaj7 at 1:05 begins with plucking both the second fret E and the high E together, then a light strum, then plucking the D note and another light strum.

Nothing of interest occurs during the second bridge, but Paul does play all the strums when returning to the verse at 1:36. He adds a high F# to the second strum of the Em at 1:41, then plays a small lick at 1:43 featuring a D note to E note.

Paul concludes "Yesterday" playing a descending figure on the high strings, strumming only with his pointer finger. The E and B strings are primarily sounded, but the G string is lightly played as well. Two hammer-ons reinforce the melody line "Yesterday" from the first fret B string to the third fret.

Instruments Used:
Paul McCartney Guitar: Epiphone Inspired by 1964 Texan FT-79

Song

Yesterday

Performed by

mattiboo

Originally by

The Beatles

Video title

The Beatles - Yesterday - Guitar Cover - Epiphone Texan

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