Learn to Play

November 3, 2023

Song Lesson: The Beatles And I Love Her

By the summer of 1964 The Beatles were going strong! They had made their American appearance on Ed Sullivan the winter before and Beatlemania was at its peak. This was a year before their music began to branch out with new instruments and even drug experimentation. At this point they were still playing standard rock tunes and ballads like “And I Love Her.” Here is a guitar lesson on how to play this song with its great chord changes and percussive rhythm.

Don’t expect to immediately be able to play that fast, it will take some time.

Try to avoid looking up the specific tabs on the solo, it is not hard to play and figure out by ear

Song Background

“And I Love Her” came from The Hard Day’s Night album which had also been turned into a hit movie. During this time John, Paul, and even George were all still creating together regularly as the fame had yet to start driving them apart. One of the hallmarks of their early songs is the slow change of the music that was pop friendly. By 1965 their songs became more unique and socially charged.

Most of this song was written by Paul, but John claimed to have written the bridge section. Of course these two would go on to fight over it, and they left out the fact that George Martin suggested it in the first place! You can often tell the times that George Martin was involved as he had a knack for older jazz and pop standards. The lads were experts in Rock’n’Roll but they certainly needed some help from their producer to create some of the prettier tunes like “And I Love Her.”

How to Play “And I Love Her” on Guitar

While this is not an overly difficult song to play, it’s even perfect as a beginner guitar lesson, it does require some barre chords that can be a hassle. In fact this tune is great practice for those who need to practice placing their index finger across the strings for barre chords. And if you play the song on a classical guitar the fretboard is a little bigger so it may be a bit of a struggle at first.

Also remember that John and George share a lead and rhythm guitar section, so do not expect to be able to do it all by yourself. The best way to play it alone is to follow the basic chord progression of the song and play it alone. As you get better you can add in more licks within the guitar chords.

Remember to play the song as you practice, be prepared to stop, and go over it again and again so it sticks in your memory! Don’t expect to immediately be able to play that fast, it will take some time.

Intro

The song is in the key of E at first and the opening riff is the 2^nd fret of the A string followed by the 2^nd of the D string and then down to the 1^st fret of that same string. You are essentially riffing from an E chord and then you go two frets up to an F#m. That shape is the main chord pattern you will need along the fretboard. Play that note riff again and move to an E6 (022120)

Verse

The verse is mostly moving back and forth from the F#m to the C#m, which can be done on different parts of the guitar. We can use the 2^nd fret F#m and the 4^th fret C#m to start and play back and forth each a measure a piece. After 6 measures we move to an A major chord, to a B7 and then we end on an E6 again instead of an E.

Now George is playing arpeggios higher up the neck, the C#m and F#m can be easily found at the 9^th fret. Partially barre the treble strings of that fret and play each string individually from top to bottom and back up. This is an arpeggio and gives the song it’s pretty sound. The partial chords will look like this.

F#m 11109

C#m 999

A 9109

B7 111011

And we end on the 999 again, because the C#m is the relative minor of E so they sound good together!

Middle 8 or Bridge

We repeat the first part twice before moving to the middle section which starts with an C#m. The 8 bars have this chord progression C#m-B-C#m-G#m-C#m-G#m-B. The final measure is a space where just the B major is strummed. Before we go back into the verse chords above.

George doesn’t play any arpeggios in this part so it is easiest to strum this section as full chords. You can use the B at the 2^nd or 7^th fret depending on your preference, the latter is easier for beginners.

Solo and Key Change

After that repeat verse we change keys to Gm briefly as George plays his solo. The chord structure is Gm-Dm-Gm-Dm-Gm-Dm-Bb-C-F and the solo is mostly played on the D and G strings starting at the 5^th fret on D. We move to the 7, 8 and then to the 9 of the G string, stay on the string and go back to the 7 and then up to the 10. Repeat that phrase but end on the 7 the next time.

Try to avoid looking up the specific tabs on the solo, it is not hard to play and figure out by ear as it follows the Dm and Gm chords. After riffing on these notes he moves down to the 3^rd fret of the A string and even on the E string before going back into the same Gm-Dm chord movement. As they begin to sing after the solo the chords are Gm-Dm-Gm-Dm-Gm-Dm-Bb-C7-F6. And these can be played as regular chords or higher arpeggios like above.

Gm 121110

Dm 101010

Bb 101110

C7 121112

F6 101010

Final Part

The ending has no vocals and a similar riff as the beginning but remember there was a key change so it’s different. The chords are Gm-F6-Gm and the song ends on the D chord. The riff in this section starts at the 3^rdfret of the A string to the 3^rd of the D string and back to the second, as you can see the riff has moved up one fret from the beginning.

Like the beginning, fill this riff between the appropriate chords until the final D strum. All together the song is roughly 2:30 second so it is all over rather quickly! Which is how early 60’s love ballads usually went!

Tricks to Playing The Beatles

As you can see The Beatles are fans of using sixth chords because this gives the song a pop and jazz vibe. It is also common for key changes in their music to provide a lift near the end. The rhythm of this tune also uses a clave beat so it is important to keep that in mind when doing your strums and arpeggios. This beat gives us a Latin vibe on top of all the other musical features, that’s one reason they were such a popular band, all the variety!

Their music is never really that difficult to play, nothing on the guitar, bass, or even drums is that technically amazing. Their brilliance is more in the songwriting and lyrics, which is great for students. First breakdown the chords of the song and once you have the basics, begin to add in riffs, licks, and solo notes.

It is not difficult to play “And I Love Her” on your guitar, initially it may seem a little fast for the single notes and arpeggios so take it slow. The more you learn by ear the better it will be in the long run, pay attention to the chords, notes, and rhythm of the song and after some practice it will all start to click. The Beatles are a great band with very accessible songs for guitarists, you just need to break the tune down and start chipping away at it!