Let It Be  The Beatles

Time signature: 2/4

Tempo: Quarter note equals about 70-80 bpm

Key: C Major

Intro: I think it works best if one plays all the chords as bar chords with the exception of the last C chord which works best in 1st position for voice leading and playability. That goes for the verses and chorus also.

All chords in the verses are held for 2 beats, just as they are in the intro (if you feel it in a slow ?2?. If you feel the song in a faster ?4? then each chord is held for 4 full beats). Either way, each chord is held for a full bar, so if you change chords on each downbeat, or ?1? then you should be fine. The words ?When I? come as a pickup to the first verse (they come on the ?and? of beat 2) and are sung over the last Cmaj chord of the intro. This pickup pretty much happens in all the verses. The little descending figure that you hear at the end of each verse is a result of passing tone motion in the bass, and is NOT the result of new chords being played as some people have posted on this site. The best way to achieve this in a band without a piano is to have the bassist play the passing tones (F, E, D, C) while the guitar holds the simple F and C chords. The F, E, and D happen over the F chord while the final C in the bass should coincide with the C chord in the treble. Of course if you have keyboards then there is no problem. The solo I will transcribe and add later. Where I did not write in the chords I CAPITALIZED each word that coincides with a downbeat/chord change.

Intro: (2 beats each chord)

C(bar form) G Am F

C G F C(first position)

When I

And WHEN the broken HEARTED people,

LIVING in the WORLD agree

THERE will be an ANSWER, let it BE____________*

But THOUGH they may be PARTED,

There is STILL a chance that THEY may see

THERE will be an ANSWER, let it BE____________*

CHORUS:

Let it BE, let it BE, let it BE, let it BE

WHISPER words of WISDOM, let it BE___________*

LEAD

And WHEN the night is CLOUDY,

There is STILL a light that SHINES on me

SHINE on till to-MORROW, let it BE____________*

I WAKE up to the SOUND of music,

MOTHER Mary COMES to me

SPEAKING words of WISDOM, let it BE___________*

CHORUS