Blackbird tab by The Beatles

Guitar tabs

Title:     Blackbird
Composers: John Lennon and Paul McCartney
Group:     The Beatles

Note timing changes throughout.

  #1                          #2
  3/4 GG       Am7Am7     GG       4/4 GG
EE{|---------------------------|-----------------------------------|
BB{|---0-------1-------3-------|---12----12--12----12----12--12----|
GG{|-------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0-------0-------0---|
DD{|---------------------------|-----------------------------------|
AA{|-----------0-------2-------|---10------10------10------10------|
EE{|---3-----------------------|-----------------------------------|
      +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .

  3/4 GG       Am7Am7     GG       4/4 GG
E||---------------------------|-----------------------------------|
B||---0-------1-------3-------|---12----12--12----12----12--12----|
B||.------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0-------0-------0---|
B||.--------------------------|-----------------------------------|
B||-----------0-------2-------|---10------10------10------10------|
E||---3-----------------------|-----------------------------------|
      +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .
   1. Blackbird singing ...
   2. Blackbird singing ...


  #5
      CC       A7A7      D7D7      B7B7          EmEm              CmCm
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
BB |---5-------8-------7-------10------|---8-----8---8-----8-----8---8-----|
GG |-------0-------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0-------0-------0---|
DD |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
AA |---3-------4-------5-------6-------|---7-------7-------6-------6-------|
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
      +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .
      Take these broken ...
      Take these sunken ...

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  #7
  3/2 GG       A7A7      Am7Am7              CmCm
EE |----------------------------------------------------|
BB |---7-------8-------5-----5---5------4-----4---4-----|
GG |-------0-------0-------0-------0--------0-------0---|
DD |----------------------------------------------------|
AA |---5-------4-------3-------3--------3-------3-------|
EE |----------------------------------------------------|
      +       .       +       .        +       .
      All     your    ...
      All     your    ...


  #8
      GG               A7A7               Am7Am7     D7D7
EE |----------------------------------------------------|
BB |---3-----3---3-----2-----2---2------1-----1---1-----|
GG |-------0-------0-------0-------0--------0-------0---|
DD |------------------------------------0-------0-------|
AA |---2-------2-------0-------0------------------------|
EE |----------------------------------------------------|
      +       .       +       .        +       .
     You were only  ...
     You were only  ...


-----------------------------------------------------------------------...
  |  1.
  #9
  4/4 GG               CC       GG           A7A7              D7D7(Am7Am7)
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
BB |---0-----0---0-----5-------3-------|---2-----2---2-----1-----1---1-----|
GG |-------0-------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0-------0-------0---|
DD |-----------------------------------|-------------------0-------0-------|
AA |-------------------3-------2-------|---0-------0-----------------------|
EE |---3-------3-----------------------|-----------------------------------|
      +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .
      rise.

  ... -----------------  -------------------
                       ||  2.               |
  #11                  ||                   |
  2/2 GG
EE |--------------------||-------------------|
BB |---0-----0---0------||---0-----0---0-----|
GG |-------0-------0---.||-------0-------0---|
DD |-------------------.||-------------------|
AA |--------------------||-------------------|
EE |---3-------3--------||---3-------3-------|
      +   .   +   .         +   .   +   .
                             free.

  #13
  4/4 FF       EmEm      DmDm      CC           BbBb              CC
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
BB |---10------8-------6-------5-------|---3-----3---3-----5-----5---5-----|
GG |-------0-------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0-------0-------0---|
DD |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
AA |---8-------7-------5-------3-------|---1-------1-------3-------3-------|
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
      +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .
      Black     -     ...


  #15
  4/4 FF       EmEm      DmDm      CC           BbBb              A7A7
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
BB |---10------8-------6-------5-------|---3-----3---3-----2-----2---2-----|
GG |-------0-------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0-------0-------0---|
DD |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
AA |---8-------7-------5-------3-------|---1-------1-------0-------0-------|
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
      +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .
      Black     -     bird...

  #17
  2/4 D7D7(Am7Am7)
EE |----------------------|
BB |---1-----1---1----1---|
GG |-------0-------0------|
DD |---0-------0----------|
AA |----------------------|
EE |----------------------|
      +   .   +   .
      light ...

  #18
  3/4 GG       Am7Am7     GG       4/4 GG
EE |---------------------------|-----------------------------------|
BB |---0-------1-------3-------|---12----12--12----12----12--12----|
GG |-------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0-------0-------0---|
DD |---------------------------|-----------------------------------|
AA |-----------0-------2-------|---10------10------10------10------|
EE |---3-----------------------|-----------------------------------|
      +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .
      night.


  #20
      CC       A7A7      D7D7      B7B7          EmEm              CmCm
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
BB |---5-------8-------7-------10------|---8-----8---8-----8-----8---8-----|
GG |-------0-------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0-------0-------0---|
DD |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
AA |---3-------7-------5-------9-------|---7-------7-------6-------6-------|
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
      +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .


  #22
  3/2 GG       A7A7      Am7Am7              CmCm
EE |----------------------------------------------------|
BB |---7-------8-------5-----5---5------4-----4---4-----|
GG |-------0-------0-------0-------0--------0-------0---|
DD |----------------------------------------------------|
AA |---5-------4-------3-------3--------3-------3-------|
EE |----------------------------------------------------|
      +       .       +       .        +       .


  #23                                                  #24
      GG               A7A7               D7D7(Am7Am7)         2/4 GG
EE |----------------------------------------------------|---------------|
BB |---3-----3---3-----2-----2---2------1-----1---1-----|---0-----------|
GG |-------0-------0-------0-------0--------0-------0---|---0-----------|
DD |------------------------------------0-------0-------|---------------|
AA |---2-------2-------0-------0------------------------|---------------|
EE |----------------------------------------------------|---3-----------|
      +       .       +       .        +       .           +       .


  #25
  4/4 FF       EmEm      DmDm      CC           BbBb              CC
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
BB |---10------8-------6-------5-------|---3-----3---3-----5-----5---5-----|
GG |-------0-------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0-------0-------0---|
DD |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
AA |---8-------7-------5-------3-------|---1-------1-------3-------3-------|
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
      +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .
      Black     -     ...

  #27
  4/4 FF       EmEm      DmDm      CC           BbBb              A7A7
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
BB |---10------8-------6-------5-------|---3-----3---3-----2-----2---2-----|
GG |-------0-------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0-------0-------0---|
DD |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
AA |---8-------7-------5-------3-------|---1-------1-------0-------0-------|
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
      +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .
      Black     -     ...

  #29
  2/4 D7D7(Am7Am7)
EE |----------------------|
BB |---1-----1---1----1---|
GG |-------0-------0------|
DD |---0-------0----------|
AA |----------------------|
EE |----------------------|
      +   .   +   .
    light of a ...


  #30
  3/4 GG       Am7Am7     GG       4/4 GG
EE |---------------------------|-----------------------------------|
BB |---0-------1-------3-------|---12----12--12----12----12--12----|
GG |---------------------------|-------0-------0-------0-------0---|
DD |---------------------------|-----------------------------------|
AA |-----------0-------2-------|-----------------------------------|
EE |---3-----------------------|---10------10------10------10------|
      +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .
      night.


 #31
      GG
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
BB |---12----12--12----12----12--12----|---12----12--12----12--------------|
GG |-------0-------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0---0---------------|
DD |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
AA |---10------10------10------10------|---10------10------10--------------|
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
      +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .
                                molto rit.


  #34
  3/4    GG       Am7Am7     GG       3/4 CC       GG       A7A7
E||------------------------------|---------------------------|
B||------0-------1-------3-------|---5-------3-------2-------|
B||----------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0-------0---|
B||------------------------------|---------------------------|
B||--------------0-------2-------|---3-------2-------0-------|
E||---10\3-----------------------|---------------------------|
          +   .   +   .   +   .      +   .   +   .   +   .
 slide down
        a tempo


  #36
  2/4 Am7Am7/DD
EE |------------------|
BB |--1-----1---1-----|
GG |------0-------0---|
DD |--0-------0-------|
AA |------------------|
EE |------------------|
     +   .   +   .

  #37
  3/4 GG       Am7Am7     GG       4/4 GG
E||---------------------------|-----------------------------------|
B||---0-------1-------3-------|---12----12--12----12----12--12----|
B||.------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0-------0-------0---|
B||.--------------------------|-----------------------------------|
B||-----------0-------2-------|---10------10------10------10------|
E||---3-----------------------|-----------------------------------|
      +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .
    Blackbird singing ...
  #39
      CC       A7A7      D7D7      B7B7          EmEm              CmCm
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
BB |---5-------8-------7-------10------|---8-----8---8-----8-----8---8-----|
GG |-------0-------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0-------0-------0---|
DD |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
AA |---3-------7-------5-------9-------|---7-------7-------6-------6-------|
EE |-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
      +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .
      Take these ...


  #41
  3/2 GG       A7A7      Am7Am7              CmCm
EE |----------------------------------------------------|
BB |---7-------8-------5-----5---5------4-----4---4-----|
GG |-------0-------0-------0-------0--------0-------0---|
DD |----------------------------------------------------|
AA |---5-------4-------3-------3--------3-------3-------|
EE |----------------------------------------------------|
      +       .       +       .        +       .
      All     ...


  #42
  4/4 GG               A7A7                  Am7Am7             GG
E||-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------||
B||---3-----3---3-----2-----2---2-----|---1-----1---1-----0---------------||
B||.------0-------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0---0--------------.||
B||.----------------------------------|---0-------0----------------------.||
B||---2-------2-------0-------0-------|-----------------------------------||
E||-----------------------------------|-------------------3---------------||
      +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .
     You were only   ...

  #44
      CC       GG       A7A7                  Am7Am7     D7D7      GG
EE
|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------||}
BB
|---5-------3-------2-----2---2-----|---1-----1---1-----3---------------||}
GG
|-------0-------0-------0-------0---|-------0-------0---0---------------||}
DD
|-----------------------------------|---0-------0-------0---------------||}
AA
|---3-------2-------0-------0-------|-----------------------------------||}
EE
|-----------------------------------|-------------------3---------------||}
      +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .       +   .   +   .   +   .   +   .
     You were only   ...

Blackbird tab

Blackbird was recorded June 1968 in EMI Studios and is a solo performance by Paul McCartney. The song is in the G, with bass and guitar progressing mostly in parallel. You can see this is the Beatles Blackbird tabs below. McCartney used a Martin D 28 acoustic guitar for the song.

The song is a good finger exercise as it is played with a special McCartney combination of picking and finger-strumming The bass notes are always played by the thumb on the downbeat. Keep this in mind when playing these Beatles Blackbird guitar tabs. Paul wrote the song in 1968 while he was in Scotland. It is not about birds but about racial tensions escalating in USA at the time. Paul later told that the guitar accompaniment was inspired by J.S. Bach's Bourrée in E minor, a piece he and George Harrison learned as kids. The song was first released on their White album

Other versions of Blackbird