In My Life Guitar Lesson (Beatles)

A fan on Reddit said this about today's song:

"Those opening lines, 'There are places I'll remember/All my life, though some have changed' - they just take you right back to your childhood." 

I would agree with that.

I’ve played this song at:

Weddings…

Anniversaries…

Private events… 

I’ve played it all over. And it always seems to hit an emotional note with the crowd. 

Today I want to break it down for you step-by-step. We’ll look at the signature guitar parts, the chords and progressions, and even an unexpected twist at the end. 

I’ll dive deep into how George Martin recorded and played the piano solo in this In My Life guitar lesson.

Who wrote In My Life?

The iconic song "In My Life" is credited to the legendary songwriting duo Lennon-McCartney. But its origins are a bit murkier than that.  

While John Lennon wrote the lyrics and is considered the primary author, there's been debate about the extent of Paul McCartney's contribution to the melody. 

Regardless, the song remains a masterpiece, widely considered one of the greatest ever written. 

Lennon himself called "In My Life" his "first real major piece of work" and described it as a reflection on his own life experiences. 

The Beatles recorded "In My Life" in April 1965 at EMI Studios in London. George Martin, the band's producer, contributed the beautiful piano solo bridge, which added a classical style to it and further elevated the song's emotional impact. 

"In My Life" appears on the Beatles' 1965 album Rubber Soul. It has received numerous credits over the years, including: 

• Ranked #1 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time"
• Named "Song of the Decade" by Mojo magazine in 2000
• Inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1996

The song's emotional lyrics and melody resonate with listeners across generations. 

I think it is because it's a deeply personal reflection on life, love, and memory. It captures the bittersweet beauty of looking back on the past while embracing the present. 

What key is In My Life in?

“In My Life” is in the key of A major. The A section uses chords from the A major diatonic scale. While the B section has a nice change. The chords move more to emphasize the relative minor F#m. 

In My Life Guitar Chords

There are 10 shapes we’ll be using to play this song. The intro starts off being based on just two of those chords A, and E7.

For A, we are going to use a one-finger bar in second position. And then reach up with the pinky to the 5th fret like this:

Then we’ll play an E7 like this:

These chords are used to play the chord melody bit at the top of the song. This interlude comes back throughout the tune.

From there, the song goes to the…

A Section

The A Section uses 6 chords, A, E, F#m, A7/G, D, and Dm.

For A here, I don’t use the pinky finger like I did in the intro. Instead, I pull back to a standard open position A chord like this:

Then for E, I use all 6 strings like this:

F#m is played as a bar chord in second position like this:

Then we have an interesting chord. It’s A7/G. 

While John probably just played A7 and then Paul played the G in the bass line. If you’re playing this alone. I like to add that slash chord in and combine the parts. So play the G from the bass as the lowest note on the guitar. So I’d play the A7/G like this:

Quick tip: A slash chord is a chord where the bass note (the lowest note) is different from the root note of the traditional chord form. 

Then we have a quick change from D major to D minor. This creates a melancholic sound to the progression. Since the song is in the key of A major. D major would be the typical IV chord in the key of A. But here we have a D major, followed by a D minor. This creates a subtle and specific sound the Beatles used extensively in many of their hit songs. Here’s how I would play each chord.

The A Section chord progression is a 4-bar chord progression repeated twice for a total of 8 bars.

The first three bars have two chords per bar like this:

A, E (1 bar)

F#m, A7/G (1 bar)

D, Dm (1 bar)

Then the final fourth bar is just an A chord.

A (1 bar)

So the entire progression for the A Section goes:

A, E (1 bar)

F#m, A7/G (1 bar)

D, Dm (1 bar)

A (1 bar)

Then that is repeated twice before moving on to the…

B Section

The B Section is an 8-bar progression that begins on the F#m chord. F#m is the relative minor chord in the key of A major. So right away, when you transition to the B Section you have a stark contrast to the A Section chord progression.  

Just simple tweaks like these added to your progressions can have a powerful effect on the overall musical composition.

There are 2 more new chords you’ll need to learn for this section. Those two chords are G and B7. 

G is played using all 6 strings like this:

And finally, B7 is played from the 5th string down like this:

The chords in the B Section are played one bar per chord. The first 4 bars go like this:

F#m (1 bar)

D (1 bar)

G (1 bar)

A (1 bar)

Then the second half of the B Section goes like this:

F#m (1 bar)

B7 (1 bar)

Dm (1 bar)

A (1 bar)

Notice again the use of the Dm chord returning back to the A chord. In music theory, the IV chord going back to the I chord is called a plagal cadence.

It is also known as the Amen cadence because of its frequent setting to the text "Amen" in hymns.

But notice here how the Beatles used the minor iv chord. Instead of D to A, it’s Dm to A.

This is a must-know move for singer-songwriters.

This then brings us to…

George Martin's Piano Solo

How the iconic piano solo in the Beatles' tune "In My Life" came about is an interesting story.

The solo was played by their producer George Martin. 

It all started with John Lennon requesting a "Baroque-sounding" section to break up the song and provide contrast. 

With this vague instruction, Martin went off and came up with a beautiful counterpoint-style solo inspired by Bach.  

It was perfect, but there was a hitch...

The solo was too hard for Martin to play at the speed of “In My Life”.

What he did next was genius. 

Martin recorded the solo at half the speed of the tempo of the song on a regular piano. 

And then he used the tape machine to double the speed 

The original solo actually was played at half speed and sounds like this: 

When Martin played the tape machine back at a higher speed, it doubled the solo's tempo and raised its pitch.  

This created the unique, harpsichord-like sound that nails the "Baroque-sounding" vibe Lennon was searching for 

Conclusion:

"In My Life" is a song that everyone can relate to. Learning it on guitar will give you a great song to add to your set list. It's about looking back on our lives and remembering all the important people and experiences that have made us who we are.

So remember to take it slow, and have fun practicing. And for more great Beatles style lessons check out this Yer Blues guitar lesson, or this While My Guitar Gently Weeps guitar lesson next!