{"id":66,"date":"2017-11-24T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-11-24T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2023-01-12T10:18:31","modified_gmt":"2023-01-12T18:18:31","slug":"how-to-play-hey-jude-on-piano","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/how-to-play-hey-jude-on-piano\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Play &#8220;Hey Jude&#8221; by the Beatles"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hey you. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s time to learn Hey Jude by the Beatles. If you\u2019ve put some time into your piano practicing and are looking to challenge yourself with a track that <\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">everyone <\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">knows, this tune has got it all! Whether it be rhythmic <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/how-to-play-piano-chords\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chording<\/a> in the verse, creative bluesy motions in the chorus, or all out piano jamming in the outro, this song will boost your piano skills across the board.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<center><a class=\"join\" href=\"https:\/\/pianote.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/blog\/Hey-Jude-Lead-Sheet.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">DOWNLOAD THE FREE LEAD SHEET HERE<\/a><\/center>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before we begin, take note of the key this song is in. There\u2019s only one flat note in the key signature, which can only mean one thing: Hey Jude is in the key of <\/span><strong>F Major.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So now that you know the key of this song, let\u2019s take a look at the verse.<\/span><strong> &nbsp;<\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<center><div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:584px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/832865914\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:101.71233% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/832865914?et=gvSU68aYRoRWiWlR__q-VA&amp;tld=ca&amp;sig=A05UlLGYg6vul1PjiU5MJYZonA14zHe6lHae96CT8vo=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"584\" height=\"594\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/center>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Pictured:&nbsp;A rare era for the Beatles when drummer Jimmie Nicol temporarily replaced Ringo Starr when Ringo had Tonsillitis<\/em> &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>The Verse<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The verse of this song is rhythmically quite simple. With just one exception, the right hand plays only quarter notes of each chord, while the left hand plays 8th note octaves to reflect the chord changes. &nbsp;The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/piano-chord-progressions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">chord progression<\/a> itself consists of an 8 bar loop consisting of the chords<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>F &#8211; C &#8211; C7 &#8211; C7sus4 &#8211; F<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>Bb &#8211; F &#8211; C &#8211; F &nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most of these chords are pretty self explanatory, but let\u2019s take a look at voicing that <\/span><strong>C7sus4. <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s actually simpler than you think. Your left hand pedals 8th note octaves of <\/span><strong>C<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, while your right hand plays <\/span><strong>G &#8211; Bb &#8211; F. <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With both hands combined, you have all the ingredients for that chord: the root\u2019s in the bass, the 5th and 7th are the bottom two notes of the right hand while the top note gives you that suspended 4. It\u2019s a great skill to be able to break down seemingly complex chords into their smaller components to make things a little more digestible. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The other part to look out for in the verse is that little 8th note push in the right hand that leads up to this <\/span><strong>C7sus4 <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chord. If you listen to the vocal melody of the song then you\u2019ll have an idea of how this part works, since the piano follows the vocal melody. To practice this section, play this part repetitively at a very slow tempo. You want this 8th note movement in the right hand to sync up perfectly with the left hand octave accompaniment.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/d2vyvo0tyx8ig5.cloudfront.net\/cms-uploaded\/Beatles Pic 2_file_1535654222.jpeg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Hurrah! &nbsp;The boys are back together!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>The Chorus<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Next up we have the chorus. Rhythmically, the chorus is pretty similar to the verse, but there\u2019s some interesting stuff that\u2019s happening in the left hand that gives this part its sophisticated sound. First, let\u2019s look at the chords in the right hand. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>F7 &#8211; Bb &#8211; <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&nbsp;<\/span><strong>Dm &#8211; Gm &#8211; F &#8211; C &#8211; F<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The left hand is where the magic is with this part of the track. Again, you\u2019re just going to be playing straight 8th note octaves in this sequence<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>F &#8211; Bb &#8211; A &#8211; G &#8211; F &#8211; E &#8211; C &#8211; F<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Try to think less about the individual notes in the bass and more about the bass<\/span><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">line <\/span><\/em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">of notes, it becomes much easier to digest that way. The bassline starts on the root note before jumping up to the 4th (<\/span><strong>Bb<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) and then walks down the <\/span><strong>F<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> major scale back to the root and past it, landing on <\/span><strong>E <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and making one final jump down to <\/span><strong>C<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, before leaping back up to the root again. Think of this all as one fluid motion rather than disparate notes, you\u2019ll thank me later!<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>That Bluesy Riff<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The chorus ends with a really unique musical feature. It\u2019s a total blast to play, and a perfect example of the genius of The Beatles songwriting. &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the second repetition of the chorus progression, there\u2019s this moment where you shift from the simple <\/span><strong>F <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chord to a blues riff, jumping from <\/span><strong>F <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to <\/span><strong>Bb <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to <\/span><strong>F7. <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The motion then shifts up to <\/span><strong>C<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, shifting to play <\/span><strong>C-E, C-F, C-G<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, before moving up a final time, play <\/span><strong>E-G, F-A, G-Bb<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<center><div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color:#fff;display:inline-block;font-family:Roboto,sans-serif;color:#a7a7a7;font-size:11px;width:100%;max-width:594px;\"><div style=\"padding:0;margin:0;text-align:left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.ca\/detail\/931413168\" target=\"_blank\" style=\"color:#a7a7a7;text-decoration:none;font-weight:normal !important;border:none;display:inline-block;\" rel=\"noopener\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div><div style=\"overflow:hidden;position:relative;height:0;padding:67.34007% 0 0 0;width:100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/931413168?et=koLrcdqIRPBxkvcJh716Sw&amp;tld=ca&amp;sig=TJ2JqFO6_2rJxxT5vYVjzXYzZzYDGBTWlNKwktMgYcE=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"594\" height=\"400\" style=\"display:inline-block;position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;margin:0;\"><\/iframe><\/div><\/div><\/center>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Don&#8217;t you EVER leave us again, Ringo!<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>The Outro<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The outro to Hey Jude is one of the most fun chord progressions to play. It\u2019s probably the easiest part of the song, but also has the most potential for making it your own. Here\u2019s the chord progression:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>F &#8211; Eb &#8211; Bb &#8211; F<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This progression is known as the <\/span><strong>bVII &#8211; IV &#8211; I progression<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. The <\/span><strong>Eb <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is the <strong>b<\/strong><\/span><strong>VII, <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">the <\/span><strong>Bb <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">is the <\/span><strong>IV, <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">and the <\/span><strong>F <\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">chord is, naturally, the <\/span><strong>I<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. You can either play this progression with the same quarter note pulse that you\u2019ve been using throughout the song, or you can take the opportunity to do some creative work on this part, like messing with the rhythms, aping the vocal melody, or throwing in some pentatonic blues playing. It\u2019s up to you! &nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"font-size:28px\"><strong>Wrapping It Up<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So there you are. There\u2019s plenty to practice here, from developing your rhythmic skills, to strengthening your hand coordination, to boosting your soloing ability. As you\u2019re practicing, take the time to listen for the bass movements in the left hand as that\u2019s a great opportunity to train your ear to learn some creative, subtle harmony techniques. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\"><strong>Want more Beatles tutorials? Check out our <a href=\"\/blog\/how-to-play-let-it-be-piano\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">&#8220;Let It Be&#8221; piano tutorial<\/a> here.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<iframe class=\"email-form-include-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/weekly-email\" frameborder=\"none\"><\/iframe>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:10px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Hey Jude&#8221; by the Beatles is a must-play classic pop\/rock song for the piano with very simple chords. Perfect for beginners!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":10680,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1105,508],"tags":[1086],"class_list":["post-66","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop-rock","category-song-tutorials","tag-l3s"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10682,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions\/10682"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pianote.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}