suddenly it's not half the note it used to be

My sister has perfect pitch and has pointed this out forever. Thanks for the analysis. She'll enjoy seeing this.

The point you make at 3:33 nails it - people trust the sheet music more than their own ears... there are countless transcriptions out there that are obviously incorrect, yet every piano cover you see seems to play them as the sheet, not as the song - Bohemian Rhapsody is a classic example, there's at least two parts of that song that are not right in the sheet, yet everyone plays the incorrect transcription instead of trusting their ears...

I have literally NEVER thought "Yes" was a different note than "-ter-day" at the top of the song. AND, it makes perfect sense for it to change over the course of the song the way it does.

literally only like a minute and a half in and “yesterday” doesn’t even sound like a word anymore

When you realise you made a whole movie called “Yesterday” but you didn’t even play the song correctly

Forgive me if someone's pointed this out, but the reason he's doing the higher notes on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th times is because he's coming down from a higher note in the bit before those ones, and it's natural to do that. Thank you for the post.

"What would you do if I sang out of tune..." indeed

i dont know about you guys but im starting to think that david likes the beatles a little bit

it's quite possible that paul was just flat when he sang it.

Him: Did you hear it? Me not really hearing any difference: sure

Back in the early 90s, a bunch of little mini-studios popped up where for a nominal fee you could get a quasi-professional-sounding recording of your voice on cassette performing a popular tune. It was like karaoke, only instead of an audience there was just a guy in a booth recording you. My cousin and I did a rendition of "Yesterday," and it turns out that I sang the beginning note with the slightly sharp F just like Paul originally did, without even realizing it.

I prefer the F-F-F version because it has a sadder feeling, more akin to the song's theme.

Paul was (is) a master at making slight variations in repeated lines. My personal favorite is at the end of Blackbird when he sings "you were only waiting for this moment to arise" three times and each time is slightly different. That subtlety adds so much to the song. Genius.

Couldn't it just be that Paul sang a flat G on the recording as it is the opening bar and not necessarily the easiest note to hit?

Hip details! Being one of these transcribers I‘d like to point out that notation choices and how the sheet music appears in the end is rather informed by who you’re writing for and what the music publisher asks for, e.g. easy arrangements or exact transcriptions - vs. being lazy or making mistakes (also there’s proofreading) Especially when it comes to vocals there’s more pitch variety and variation than it would be practical to reflect in the notation. Any notation, or graphic depiction of sound is always just a very rough translation. Naturally music fits the notation grid only to a degree so always use the original recording in conjunction with sheet music.

He sang it in a more "spoken" style, that's why the pitch is not perfect but the fact that Melodyne recognizes two different notes shows that it's not the same note, he is flat, that's why everyone transcribed it as a G because F# would have been a Minor Second and if you play it in a piano it clashes more, it's an appoggiatura that happens so fast that your brain automatically tunes the note altough it's not perfectly in tune, to me it's just a "false note", a note that does not match any of the twelve pitches in equal temperament tuning but adds emotion to a Performance...Good Video

Yesterday doesn’t sound like a real word anymore

I love your videos, David. Keep up the excellent work!

Yes, great job! As soon as I saw the frame to the video, I thought could it be? Indeed, now I feel even more in the groove when I slide up to the F and bend a bit on my guitar. Thank you.

Was not expecting this to veer off into “Paul is Dead” territory there... 🤣🤣🤣

Moreover, the title is actually "Yes To Day (And No To Night)".

I love your channel and hard hard you work at this. I've learned a LOT of music theory from you. Thanks.

A few years ago I spent ages trying to suss this very point out and it remained a confusion until this excellent video. Thank you Mr Bennett.

Paul : "Sings out of tune a bit" Him : THIS IS CONSPIRACY!!!!!!!

I’ve heard “ yesterday” too many times today

As someone who has always learned and played better by ear and used sheet music as more of a "reminder" of the notes, seeing the thumbnail really confused me because I've always known it to be the same note in the first verse. Good video. I've been getting a lot your videos recommended lately and they're always interesting to watch.

Great analysis! Finally a confirmation of my gut feeling, which was always laughed at in the past. Thank you sooooo much!

It's just Paul's casual, semi-parlando intonation.

I always thought something was off. Glad you're the one to clear it up.

always awesome content man, great job!

I’ve noticed this since forever, THANK YOU!!!

How do you even come up with topics like this!? Do you get tips about stuff like this? Very well made and very nerdy. Brilliant.

A little bit of wobbly pitch is what gives common non-classical music it’s humanity. Same with the bent notes in “Can’t buy me love”. I’ll BUY you diamond rings my friend...

I work at a piano shop and my coworker has been singing Yesterday wrong for numerous years. This shall now be my little secret

I'm not a musician, I'm just an amateur player. I listened to "Yesterday" many times. I was a small kid when it was first published back in the '60s so it's like it's part of my memory ever since. I feel the original version is still unsurpassed: that F# is in tune with the general sorrowful and dolente tone of the song. It could be accidental when it was recorded, but it witnesses the vibrant artistic mood McCarthy was living at the time

News Alert: the beatles were sometimes flat

Literally never thought it was anything but F F F

“Paul” sang G instead of F#, he is obviously a clone

Gotten to really like your channel. The way you do it is great. Keep it up!

❗️EXTRA DISCUSSION: A lot of commenters have suggested that Paul just sang flat, hence the “wrong” note. However, I think it more likely that he sang sharp! Paul sang a slightly sharp “F”, so it’s more likely that he was aiming for the “F” and sang a little bit sharp. If Paul was aiming for “G” then he would be almost a whole tone flat which is quite significantly out. Also, as I addressed in the video, he also sings verse 3 with a “A”, so to suggest he was a tone flat on the first verse, you would also have to suggest he was a tone sharp on the third verse. Of course, perhaps Paul's intention was to sing the motif the same way all 4 times that it appears in the song. But even if that was his intention, surely the original studio recording of the song should be considered the ultimate, canon version of the melody? That, after all, is the version that The Beatles officially released. Thanks for watching 🙏🎵

I am not a schooled musician. My, "I'm going to be a musician when I grow up" journey began in 1976. I was 8. I learned how to play several different instruments by "ear" alone, and practiced for (underestimating) thousands of hours (F U Maths!) I still practice a minimum of 2 hours per day. That being said, the first "mistake" note simply sounds like a scoop on "ye", but it's such a small and inconsequential "note" in an otherwise brilliant accidental masterpiece. We could take practically every single pre-autotune era song and find these slightly off notes. Jazz and blues musicians utilize these seemingly micro tonal scoops/slides/bends as a way to put a feeling into a composition. Pianos may be limited when it comes to this, but it's still possible to create tension or feeling by playing "blue" notes. I'm sorry if I'm blathering on but, I would rather hear a "mistake" note over a perfectly pitched one. It's more honest and natural, and, well, human. The live performance of "Je Suis Malade" featuring the talented Lara Fabian has, almost imperceptible moments of these notes, and it kicks me in the soul. It makes the melody so honest and pure. Check it out Anyway, Great video!

I never learned music theory, just okay by ear but watching at your videos has made me understand it more and enjoy music even more. Thank you!

Super interesting, thanks for sharing!

If you’re listening late at night, you may think the band are not quite right, but they are. They just play it like that.

yesterday yes today just today yes, teddy jester day Jess the day ye, study

Great stuff David! You even mentioned PID! I have been arranging a lot of Beatles songs for two guitars for busking (guitar and looper) and the big problem I am having is that on certain songs it is really hard to tell if you are hearing minor or major thirds, something in between, or both. This is particularly hard on Helter Selter, Fool on the Hill, and Fixing a Hole.

As a huge Beatles-fan, I bought myself guitars and learned to play them. My ambition was to learn my favorite Beatles-tunes. So I bought the complete Beatles scores sheet music. But even those contains errors. And talented people on KZfaq with lessons do it differently. And as pointed out in this video, even McCartney himself performs the classics differently now compared to before. This is perhaps why music is such a special and almost mystical art form. It lives in the now, just when it is performed. Unless you record it...

Take a shot every time you hear yesterday

he recorded Yesterday in the same day he recorded I'm Down, a totally different song he gets a pass for been a bit out of tune also, both F# and G works

In music theory/ear training class we learned to hear a descending major 2nd using the opening of Yesterday. This was how I was taught by my theory instructor. It's fascinating to know we were technically taught wrong. That being said I often have trouble transcribing music because the singer or musicians, especially acoustic bass, play and sing notes slightly out of tune as compared to what I play at the piano. Ultimately I just have to pick the note I think fits best.

for someone so young, its mind-blowing your musical knowledge, espc the range.. from classical to recent pop

The "ter" has a slight downward warble in pitch so the effect is heightened.

As a songwriter myself, albeit virtually unknown, I rarely sing my own compositions the same way twice.

Oh dear, now we'll never be able to unhear this detail.. good work, by the way.

Thanks for this, I am going to think about this every tiime I hear Yesterday.

Obvious solution: get two of your friends and sing it as an FGA cluster chord

all of your videos are so eye opening i love itt

This might be an over-analysis of what could be no more than artistic license. Not only Paul does this, but every singer puts they own spin on every song.

Genius observation. Well done!

This is the kind of detail we want! Excellent video. Thank you for all of your hard work. :)

A pretty amazing detail to have recognised there, David. And your video is extremely well-presented! Such a keen ear you have. Enjoyed that immensely!! :-)

Or, My Theory: This guy has thought about this ALOT more than Paul McCartney ever did or any sane person ever should

There was a similar story going around with people wondering why Cold Chisel and Crowded House sheet music was so complex. Don Walker of cold chisel said it shouldn’t be and the sheet music was transcribed by the lead singer of Icehouse who only had a portable record player which played records slightly slower than the real tempo.

The amount of work that went into the analysis of this song is astounding

This has driven me crazy in covers for years. The strange shift in that note adds so much to the song but is rarely replicated. Thanks for pointing it out!

The three melodic variations are something I always thought curious, particularly because they occur on the lyric 'Yesterday', the title of the song. Paul sang it in a way that was natural to him, but the ensuing sheet music provided a consistency that supports the song title.

Amazing analysis. Thank you so much. And, yes, during my last year of piano lessons in college years my teacher often would tell me to "stop being so literal" and we're talking classical studies! He wanted me to put my own influence into my performance. Additionally, a decade later when I began to work with guitar players in "worship band" I saw the printed music in a whole new light. At that point I looked at the notes and, yes, I could easily play it as written, however, it all became just a suggestion. I would add piano notes to the band in the way I thought best added to the song using the music only as a basic plan of where we were going. It would be funny after a service when someone would ask me what arrangement that was.

Really interesting stuff! For me, the F-F-F version sounds definitely more "correct" than the "G-F-F", at least at the beginning of the song, as a "cold start" so to say. It would be nice if Paul McCartney would give a statement of how he really "meant" the note ... if he actually knows himself!

Very interesting David, thanks. I'm so glad to see young musicians, like you are, enjoying the Beatles so much.

Wow, this proves that I am not tone deaf all along.

Here is one I've always noticed. On the first occurrence of the lyric "Now I long for yesterday", Paul holds the F note for four beats. On the second occurrence of that lyric, Paul drops from F to C-Bb-A. Most other versions I've heard, do the F-C-Bb-A drop both times.

That's what I LOVE about this channel! Being able to analyze and study the affect and relationship of ONE NOTE, and it's placement in a song! And of course The Beatles are a cornucopia of excellent examples.

Given that Paul isn't a trained singer, isn't it more likely he was just flat a couple of times during the recording?

Yes! Yes! Yes! This has always bothered me and I, being (formally) untrained, always thought that the problem was with my ear. But it isn't! Thanks for another excellent video!

So great thanks

I really enjoy all your videos David, I'm not a real musician (I'm a drummer LOL) but I love to discover new things about music and music theory. Your videos are well researched, well presented, and extremely informative. Thank you and keep up the good work

Thank you David... I've been trying to play it and felt that something is going wrong with the melody... but I wasen't able to detect the problem.. now you solved it.

I like your videos. Always sensible. Good on yer.

Love how desultory the half sharps sound, it makes the singer sound very introverted, perfect for the sentiment. I wish you'd also played us an f sharp version

0:38 windows error sound effect has me cackling

Thanx, mate. Confirmed my suspicions. You are awesome, as usual.

Got a good laugh out of me with the "Faul" 😂

Interesting video! I never knew this

Didn't know this! I think your videos are very informative! I'm a piano player and I'm very happy you can make something as boring as music theory really interesting!

Another excellent video, thank you David.

I think it's an ornamentation and that he begins on f and there's a slight ripple and then he's back on f. It's just a natural thing to avoid the monotonous (literally) repetition of f's. Just couldn't be bothered to make it up to the g.

I've analysed this so many times over the years and it has always frustrated me. Thanks for clearing it all up.

Such a rich content everytime David! Thanks

I love stuff like this!! Proves that you’re not imagining things!!

So good.. thanks a lot

Hello David. Love your videos! Could you please tell me wich mode does McArtney use in Yesterday? I thought it was in F Lydian, but you made a video about songs that use the Lydian scale and didn't mention this song. Thank you and keep making this amazing content!

all i know is i looked up the chords once and then immediately clicked out after seeing all the chords i don't know how to play.

Oh thank god, as a singer I always hear the “f” and everyone thinks I’m nuts

Students: Is the presentation today? Teacher: 🎶Yes! Today 🎶 sorry if it's corny XD

This is very interesting. I've been playing this song on guitar for years and I've always played the opening note as an F. However, I have always played the F in every instance and didn't realise that it changed over the course of the song.

That's interesting. As soon as I read the title, I thought "oh you're right, it's an F!"

When the singer makes a recording mistake and causes this video years later

Very interesting and detailed! Good use of audio software, and graphic display. Grammatically, it would be better titled as HOW (the what)everyone plays Yesterday wrong. You haven't addressed WHY (the motivation), except that they hear it that way.

I would suggest the reason we hear the G is because of what happens at the end of the line (when he sings "far away") - another three note pattern, but this one does go from a higher note to a lower note. So we hear that motif, and we fill in the motif at the beginning of the phrase. And it happens again "here to stay" etc. Great video