Learn How To Play "Hide Your Love Away" by The Beatles On Guitar!

In this lesson, we'll learn how to play You've Got To Hide Your Love Away by The Beatles on the acoustic guitar. A beautiful acoustic number by Mccartney, and lots of fun to play! This tune is campfire classic, and great practice for Grade 3+ advancing beginner guitar players.

You have some tricky chord changes there, but I’ll show you some cheats that’ll make things a bit easier! Let’s start by looking at the rhythm and accents, which is crucial to playing this song correctly.

Rhythm & Accents

If you check out the Beatle's Help! movie, you’ll notice John Lennon playing this song on his 12-string guitar, which is also present in the original record.

There are also all sorts of guitars playing the riff and melody line, including a nylon guitar. This acoustic version sums all of them up so you can sound great playing this solo. :)

You’ll be playing it 6/8 times with rhythmic pulses. The stronger accents happen on Beats 1 and 4. Mute your fretting hand and go through the chords. It'll help you focus, and understand the rhythmic aspects. It’s essential to get this right! When you start adding the chord sequence, practicing the rhythm first will help keep things from getting too tricky.

Chords & Fingering

The fingering for this some of the grips you'll play is a bit unusual. We’re starting with a regular G chord, but you leave off the finger. The underneath of your second finger is muting the fifth string. You don’t need that second finger down if you’re not used to it, but it helps to transition from the F to D.

At some point, you’re dealing with a D with a C bass, which changes into a D with B bass, then a D with C bass. This is a challenging chord sequence, which some tricky transitions and fingering. If you’re struggling with that, here’s a little cheat: Play a regular D, to a Sus2 chord, then back to a D chord. It doesn’t sound as tasty as the original chords, but it gets the job done!

💡 Use the video chapters to check out the close up of the chord sequence. You'll get a better idea on how you can approach these tricky grips. :)

Want chords, tabs, and lyrics to follow along with Hide Your Love Away? Try out the JustinGuitarTabs website feature!