How to Play A Day in the Life by The Beatles on Guitar

Learning how to play "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles on guitar can be accomplished in a few steps. Even though "A Day in the Life" is one of the longest and most orchestral Beatles songs from their Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, it can be played on the guitar as a solo, or withpartners to accompany the music.

The Beatles are a British rock band from Liverpool, England. Rolling Stone magazine listed "A Day in the Life" as the No. 28 Beatles song of all time. The song "A Day in the Life" comes from The Beatles' 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which includes songs such as "With a Little Help from My Friends," "Lovely Rita" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." "A Day in the Life" consists of two main parts, the first of which is about news pieces (written by John Lennon), the second is about waking up in the morning (written by Paul McCartney). 

Play the intro to the song by strumming straight down. The chords go in the following order: G major, B minor,  E minor,  E minor 7, and C major. The verse begins with the first few chords of the intro, G major, to B minor, to E minor, to E minor 7 to C major, followed by C/B, A9,
F major, E minor, E minor 7. When you sing "I saw the photograph," go to C instead of E minor 7.

The "I saw a film today" part ends on 12 repetitions of the C to B, which can be achieved with a "hammer-on" technique. This section of the song includes the lines "I love to turn you on," as well as vocal "ahhh" sounds that coincide with the oscillation between C to B.

Play the third section of the song after the orchestral part, which is detailed in How to Play "A Day in the Life" by The Beatles on Guitar (Orchestra Part). Paul's section is similar to John's in that the chords needed include: E, E major, D, B9 and B major. Strum the guitar down and mute with your palm. The sequence of chords goes: E to D, to B9, to E, to B9, to E, to D, to E, to B9, to E, to B9, and the part ends on a quick down-up strum. This section of the song switches between 4-4 time and 2-4 time.

Play Lennon's dream part with the following chords: C, G major, D, A major. The strumming switches between up and down in this sequence: down, down, down up, up, down, down. The dream part is played by going from G, to D, to A, to E major, to C, to G, to D, to A. To finish the song, play either the E major chord, or play the octaves: E octave, to D octave, to C octave, to D octave, to G octave. The final orchestra part is explained in another Mahalo.com video.