Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night makes its appearance and is another superb and famous song. Here we are in standard tuning but doing some finger style plucking and strumming with our index finger. This looks intimidating with some string pinching and other intimacies. At this point we reach for our pamphlet and there isn't one. No digital .PDF either. Not Sporting! Grotty that!
Rocky Raccoon is the easiest song on the lesson menu according to Andrew and it appears to be true. It has the same recurring chord progression. Its in standard tuning too and sounds great. Could be the Stones' Sister Morphine almost. Am7, D7us4, D7 etc. This should be the first song attempted I think. Give yourself some confidence to start with.
Dear Prudence is an amazing song. Drop D tuning where you change your low E string to D and only that string. The rest of the strings you don't change. Its uses Travis Picking: 5th-4th, 6th-4th Bass line with thumb. This isn't as easy as I would like it to be with the finger picking technique needing some time to develop to where its comfortable and sounding good.
Julia written by John for his Mom. Such a sad, pretty song. Capo 2nd fret, using C position chord shapes and Travis Picking. Andrew shows us a couple of approaches to Travis picking but a TAB chart finger picking visualization thingy would be most handy! Detailed hoop jumping and squinting at the screen here with both hands. Tough one.
Across the Universe is the best song of all in my book and we are in slack tuning requiring we tune down each string one half step. This song has some must know use of 6th shape intervals or minor thirds and diads.
So if you grew up with the Beatles and want to learn the songs you know and love then I think this is pretty darn good Lennon McCartney showcase. Its also a good show case of playing in these tuning. Personally I have a huge Beatles song book and another one not so huge one and all those songs are taught in standard tuning. If you didn't grow up with the songs well - many still deserve study and you are bound to be familiar with some Beatles songs like it or not. Thank God they didn't write Christmas music.
Acoustic Lennon & McCartney Page One | Page Two | Page Three | Page Four
I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse. –Florence Nightingale