“Beginners start with In My Life, while advanced players choose Hey Jude”: New data reveals which Beatles songs musicians want to learn the most

As obsessive Beatle-nerds, the idea of an official ‘Global Beatles Day’ leaves us a little bemused. Surely every day is a Beatle-day? It is in our gaff at least.

But for the wider world, reminding everyday folk of the importance of what John, Paul, George and Ringo did for music, and for popular culture more broadly, gets our enthusiastic thumbs-up.

Not that musicians need to be reminded of course, with many novice guitar players immediately reaching for the Fab Four’s songbook when first getting to grips with their instrument. But, just what are the songs that people try and tackle first?

Latest Videos From

Watch full video here:

That’s the question posed by Muse Group - the company behind Ultimate Guitar (aka the world’s largest guitar tab platform and app) when analysing their own user data. The results are actually quite surprising.

First and foremost, a smile-inducing finding reveals that in the UK and the US, The Beatles are still the biggest act in terms of overall tab views. With 40 million on Ultimate Guitar - ahead of every other artist on the platform. That’s pretty gear, we're sure the lads would agree.

In terms of songs then, and it’s the towering Let It Be that is king - with 4 million views in the last 12 months. That’s followed by Paul’s intricate acoustic masterwork Blackbird, shoulder-to-shoulder with that anthem-of-anthems Hey Jude, both of which have 3.2 million views.

“In 13 of the 19 countries analysed, The Beatles rank as the most-viewed artist on the platform,” Muse Group say. “The pattern is consistent across North America, Western Europe, Latin America, and Japan. In the US, they drew 8.7 million views, nearly 60% more than second-place Zach Bryan; in the UK they led with 3.1 million, well ahead of Oasis; in Germany and Australia they hit the 1 million mark.”

When drilled down to the differing ability levels of players, the lists change quite a bit.

It’s John Lennon’s 1965 gem In My Life that is the runaway favourite for beginners, with its 1.1 million views outpacing any other song in that entry-level tier by double. It’s followed by Let It Be (489k) and Here Comes the Sun (441k - and the band’s biggest song across streaming platforms, we might add).

Interestingly, the rest of the beginner top ten includes songs that don’t appear at all in the advanced chart, such as I Want to Hold Your Hand, Love Me Do, Yellow Submarine, Get Back, and All You Need Is Love.

What about the pros then? They can’t get enough of Hey Jude it seems, with 1.5 million views. That’s followed up by Blackbird (1 million) and Something (810k). More complexity is evident in the rest of the top ten, which includes Sgt Pepper’s closing epic A Day in the Life, Penny Lane, Michelle, and Till There Was You.

The Beatles - The Beatles - Hey Jude (Official Music Video) [Remastered 2015] - YouTube

Watch On

The only song that appears on both lists is Blackbird, a staple acoustic guitar exercise that is very hard to get exactly right.

When the Muse Group analysed Ultimate Guitar’s Practice Mode (an in-app feature), Blackbird was also king. And by quite some distance. Its 1.16 million practice sessions dwarfed the second entry on the list - Here Comes The Sun - which sits at 596,225.

Here’s the top five of practice mode songs:

1. Blackbird – 1,160,936 views
2. Here Comes The Sun – 596,225 views
3. Let It Be – 532,579 views
4. Hey Jude – 471,503 views
5. Yesterday – 447,930 views

Despite its name, Ultimate Guitar also provides bass tabs, and ukulele tabs too, which make for interesting comparisons. Let it Be sits pretty at the top of the guitarist’s list (3.9 million), while Come Together tops the bassist’s choices (88k), and on uke, it’s Here Comes the Sun (116k).

There were some interesting new data trends when compared to last year’s data, Blackbird climbed 26% YoY, while Come Together dropped out of the guitarist’s top ten entirely. Let it Be on ukulele surged 65% YoY, with Blackbird and Something being more sought-after too (jumping up by 48 and 38% respectively.)

“Bass players are the most consistent audience,” Muse Group state. “Come Together leads again [when compared with last year’s stats], and most of the top ten is the same as last year. The one new entry is I Want You (She's So Heavy) (10th place): nearly eight minutes long and built on a hypnotic, repetitive groove. Six of the ten bass songs appear in neither the guitar nor ukulele charts, confirming that bass players navigate a different corner of the Beatles catalog.”

Here’s the instrument tailored top fives:

Guitar:

1. Let It Be – 3,934,667 views
2. Blackbird – 3,118,282 views
3. Yesterday – 3,117,334 views
4. Hey Jude – 3,108,255 views
5. Here Comes The Sun – 1,907,073 views

Bass:

1. Come Together – 88,055 views
2. Let It Be – 25,592 views
3. Something – 24,022 views
4. All My Loving – 19,997 views
5. Day Tripper – 17,379 views

Ukulele:

1. Here Comes The Sun – 116,411 views
2. Let It Be – 97,618 views
3. Blackbird – 73,775 views
4. Hey Jude – 72,408 views
5. Something – 70,288 views

“The Beatles' catalog spans generations, skill levels, and instruments,” Muse Group say. “Whatever the entry point, the destination is the same: The Beatles remain the most-learned artist on Ultimate Guitar, year after year.”