Blackbird | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| 3/4 G Am7 G/B | 4/4 G |
Verse 1
| 3/4 G Am7 G/B | 4/4 G |
Blackbird singing in the dead of night.
| C C#dim Dadd4 D#b5 | Em Eb |
Take these broken wings and learn to fly.
| Dadd4 C#dim C | Cm G/B | A7 D7sus4 | 2/4 G | C G/B A7 | D7sus4 G |
All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise.
Verse 2
| 3/4 G Am7 G/B | 4/4 G |
Blackbird singing in the dead of night.
| C C#dim Dadd4 D#b5 | Em Eb |
Take these sunken eyes and learn to see.
| Dadd4 C#dim C | Cm G/B | A7 D7sus4 | 2/4 G |
All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to be free.
Chorus 1
| Fadd9 Em Dmadd4 C | Bb6 C |
Blackbird fly,
| Fadd9 Em Dmadd4 C | Bb6 A7 | 2/4 D7sus4 |
blackbird fly, into the light of the dark black night.
Instrumental 1
| 3/4 G Am7 G/B | 4/4 G |
| C C#dim Dadd4 D#b5 | Em Eb |
| Dadd4 C#dim C | Cm G/B | A7 D7sus4 | 2/4 G |
Chorus 2
| Fadd9 Em Dmadd4 C | Bb6 C |
Blackbird fly,
| Fadd9 Em Dmadd4 C | Bb6 A7 | 2/4 D7sus4 |
blackbird fly, into the light of the dark black night.
Instrumental 2
| 3/4 G Am7 G/B | 4/4 G | G | G | 5/4 G |
| G Am7 G/B C | G/B A7 D7sus4 |
Verse 3
| 3/4 G Am7 G/B | 4/4 G |
Blackbird singing in the dead of night.
| C C#dim Dadd4 D#b5 | Em Eb |
Take these broken wings and learn to fly.
| Dadd4 C#dim C | Cm G/B | A7 D7sus4 |
All your life, you were only waiting for this moment to arise.
| G C G/B | A7 D7sus4 |
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
| G C G/B | A7 D7sus4 | G |
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.
You can learn how to play Blackbird!
Blackbird was written by Paul McCartney after he was woken up by a bird at six o’clock in the morning, in India.
Released on The White Album (used as slang, it was simply called The Beatles, printed on a white cover), in 1968, it instantly became yet another classic to add to their immense legacy.
As a follow-up to the legendary Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band a year earlier, and John Lennon claiming The Beatles to be “bigger than Jesus”, they had by now become the most respected band in the industry.
The White Album sold a staggering nineteen times platinum in the U.S. alone and charted at #1 in six countries.
The Beatles responded by making fun of everything. For example, they would give journalists new answers to the same questions, constantly pushing the boundaries of what they would print.
To this day, some of these stories have managed to stick.
At one point, in Wikipedia, Blackbird is said to be a song that Paul wrote after seeing racial tension escalate in America, he sang “blackbird fly”, referring to the idea that black women should get out of there.
Lennon would have been in stitches if he knew!
Learning to play Blackbird
There are a few things you need to focus on if you want to learn how to play Blackbird.
- A constant open G string binds the chords together.
- A unique index finger strumming technique.
- Variations in the chord progression like IV – IVm.
- A key change for the chorus.
- Odd time signatures for a bar only.
There are seemingly two Am-shaped dim7 chords in Blackbird, although, upon closer inspection, only a fraction of a C#dim is actually used.
The second suspected dim7 chord, starting on a D# is not even minor, it’s a D#(b5), an altered chord.
Unique to Blackbird is the strange index finger strumming technique. This is a homemade technique I’ve never seen before or since, which is strange as it’s so brilliant!
Combining the thumb plucking and strumming strings using a downward motion, the index finger strums the upper part of the chord.
Apparently, Paul learned how to play like this from Donovan, a Scottish folk artist who hang around The Beatles and Bob Dylan in the 60s.
Speaking of Bob, the rhythm of Blackbird’s strumming is actually the same as that of Blowin’ In The Wind.
Anyway, you probably want to get on and learn how to play Blackbird, exactly, note for note, as Paul played it back in 1968 so let’s scrap the history lesson and get on with it!
Blackbird guitar lesson with TAB
Let’s play Blackbird in small sections of just a few bars each. By starting off slowly and sticking with it, you’ll build great muscle memory.
This is essential in order to play Blackbird well at the correct tempo a few days from now.
Here’s the first example, this is the intro and the first part of the verse. we start in 3/4, then go to 4/4.
Next up we have some variations on this concept. This is what we play later down the arrangement when this theme comes back. Let’s call this example 2.
Ensure you stay at this low tempo today, do not go faster, as it will only do you harm. Be patient.
Here’s example 3, now we start moving chromatically.
Blackbird’s 8 guitar lessons in the course
Next in this step is example 4-7. Seven loops like this are all you need to play Blackbird. We also practice scale exercises in these lessons.
After sandwiching scale practice with Blackbird loops, we play the complete song before we finally build a 2nd guitar part.
Learn the 2nd guitar part and you, I, and the singer can play Blackbird together, like a folk trio!
In total, there are 8 step-by-step lessons for Blackbird available. Here are links to each lesson in the course (members only):
- Step 1 – Major scale in 3rds, E and D shape + all chords
- Step 2 – Blackbirds arrangement chopped up into seven loops at 74 BPM
- Step 3 – Major scale in 3rds, C and A shape + all chords
- Step 4 – Blackbirds arrangement chopped up into seven loops at 84 BPM
- Step 5 – Major scale in 3rds, G shape + all chords
- Step 6 – The complete song, with full TAB
- Step 7 – 2nd guitar, seven loops at 84 BPM
- Step 8 – 2nd guitar complete song, full TAB
Blackbird chords | Related pages
Five similar tunes
- Close To You chords
- Dream A Little Dream chords
- Over The Rainbow chords
- Scarborough Fair chords
- Tears In Heaven chords
The Beatles
The Beatles are the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed band in the history of popular music.
As the leaders of the so-called British Invasion, their catchy Rock & Roll infused pop songs took America by storm, creating hysteria everywhere they went.
The Beatles on the web
Advanced Acoustic Songs
These songs use big chord extensions and sometimes, unique and complex chords that incorporate open strings.
Study these in-depth and you will gain a complete understanding of the guitar fretboard, including how to build any scale, arpeggio, or chord.
