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Attentive Beatles fans who purchased Let It Be when it came out in May 1970 noticed something very different about the album version of the title track: The guitar solo was markedly changed from what they'd heard on the "Let It Be" single released two months earlier.

The reason was down to the producers: the 45-rpm version was produced by George Martin; the album version was produced by Phil Spector. The track began life at Apple Studios on January 31, 1969, the last day of the Get Back sessions.

It originally featured McCartney on piano and lead vocals, Harrison playing his Stratocaster through his Leslie cabinet, Lennon on Fender Bass VI, Billy Preston on organ and Ringo on drums. Lennon and Harrison provided backing vocals. On April 30, Harrison wiped his Stratocaster part, recording over it using his rosewood Telecaster, also played through his Leslie.

Nothing more was done with the track until January 4, 1970. With Let It Be finally slated for release, McCartney, Harrison and Starr began to select tracks and fix numerous problems with the performances. On this day, George Martin had McCartney replace Lennon's clumsy bass work with a new bass track. He also added new harmony vocals from Harrison and McCartney, brass, cellos, additional drums and percussion, and a new and cutting guitar solo from Harrison, played on his Les Paul, nicknamed Lucy.

This new solo and the solo from April 30, 1969, existed side by side on the eight-track master tape. When Martin mixed the song for the single, he favored the April 30 solo (although the original Strat solo from January 31, while erased on April 30, can be heard buried in the mix, perhaps from having leaked onto the track of another instrument).

Martin also placed the cello and brass overdubs lower in his mix. His version of the song clocked in at 3:52. Phil Spector did precisely the opposite for the album version, raising the cello and brass in his mix and placing Harrison's Les Paul solo from January 4, 1970, in the spotlight. (The original Strat solo can again be heard, as on the Martin mix.) Spector also extended the song's length by splicing in a third chorus of the "Let it be, let it be ... " refrain, bringing his version of the song to 4:03.

RECORDED: January 31,1969, Apple Studios; April 30, 1969, Abbey Road Studio Three; January 4, 1970, Abbey Road Studio Two

In this lesson we’re going to dive into the Let It Be guitar solo by The Beatles. Let It Be is on the 1970 album of the same name. Performed by George Harrison, this is a great solo for the beginner-intermediate guitar player to learn. It’s also an excellent example of chord tone targeting.

Let It Be Guitar Chords

As always, before we get to the solo itself we need to take a look at the chord progression over which the solo is played. You can’t gained a full understanding, and appreciation, for a guitar solo without understanding what’s taking place behind the solo.

Let It Be Key

Let It Be is in the key of C major, which contains the following notes.

C – D – E – F – G – A – B

In the diagram below, you see the notes of the C major scale along with the corresponding interval for each note.

Diatonic chords for a given key come straight from the scale, so the chords for the key of C major are derived from the C major scale. Many times you’ll see chords outside of the scale (non-diatonic) used as well, but all of the chords in Let It Be come straight from the key of C major.

Key of CIiiiiiIVVvivii°CDmEmFGAmBdim

Now that we know the chords, let’s take a look at the actual chord progression for Let It Be during the guitar solo.

Let It Be Chord Progression

The first part of the chord progression is the common I – V – vi – IV progression used in numerous popular songs through the years: C – G – Am – F

If you’re not familiar with chord numbers, check out the guitar number system lesson.

The second part of the progression changes up a little bit. It removes the vi chord and moves from the V to the IV and back to the I, which is another common progression: I – V -IV – I

Putting it all together, the full chord progression for Let It Be is shown in the table below:

Chord ProgressionIVviIVIVIVICGAmFCGFC

The progression is played two times in full throughout the guitar solo.

Let It Be Guitar Solo

Now that we know the backing chord progression, we can dive into the solo.

We’ll take a look at the scales from which the solo is derived, including the scale positions used.

We’ll also break down the guitar tab to see what’s being played over each chord in the progression and see how George Harrison effectively targets chord tones throughout.

However, it’s always a good idea to listen to the solo first before getting started so it’s fresh in your mind. Obviously, refer back to it as frequently as you need.

Listen: The Beatles – Let It Be guitar solo

Guitar Scales for Let It Be

In the Let It Be guitar solo, George Harrison uses exclusively notes from the C major pentatonic scale. If you recall, the major pentatonic scale is a 5-note scale built on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th intervals of the major scale.

In the key of C major, this gives us the following notes: C – D – E – G – A

Pentatonic Scale Positions

The Let It Be guitar solo utilizes 4 of the 5 major pentatonic scale positions, with the bulk of the solo being played in the 5th position.

In the diagram below I’ve highlighted the notes used in the guitar solo along with the corresponding scale positions.

Let It Be Solo Tab

Couple of quick notes before we go through the guitar solo.

In the tab, you’ll notice the scale positions are noted on top. These correspond to the position of the C major pentatonic scale being used in that section of the guitar solo.

On the bottom of the tab are gray note markers. These indicate the chords being played by the backing rhythm section.

The orange letters on top of the tab indicate the name of the landing note being played.

Labeling the tab in this way makes it easier to see how scale positions and chord tones are used throughout the solo.

Part 1

The solo starts with a double-stop lick in the 5th position of the C major pentatonic scale and lands on the C note on the third fret of the 5th string. Note that this C note is the root of the C major chord being played by the backing rhythm section.

Part 2

The solo stays in position 5 and targets the G note on the 5th fret of string 4 on the chord change to the G chord. This is perfect example of chord tone targeting. In this case its the root note, but it doesn’t have to be…as we’ll see next.

When the rhythm changes to the Am chord, note the bend on the 7th fret of the 3rd string. Here a D note is bent a full-step up to the E note, which is the 5th in the Am chord. This section ends by landing on the key center note of C, which is the 5th of the F major chord over which it is played.

Part 3

This section of the solo again stays mostly in position 5 of the C major pentatonic scale before transitioning to position 4 with a slide from the 7th fret to the 5th fret on string 5. Again you see the root note C being targeted over the C chord.

Part 4

This section again starts in position 5 before moving up into position 1 of the C major pentatonic scale for the first time. Notice the landing note again targets a root note, this time the root A of the Am chord on the 10th fret of string 2. It’s at this point you get the sense the of building toward the climax.

Part 5

Picking up from the A note it landed on in the previous section, the solo continues to build.The solo continues in position 1, landing on the root C of the C major chord on the 8th fret of string 1. It then moves up to position 3 for the final licks, targeting the root G note of the G major scale on the 15th fret of the 1st string and the final lick landing on the key center root C of the C major chord as the final note.

Full Tab

Below is the full tab for the Let It Be guitar solo, with the chords and chord tones labeled.

Wrap up

In this lesson we broke down the Let It Be guitar solo to see how George Harrison used the C major pentatonic scale to create a classic solo. You can see throughout how he used it to effectively target chord tones. Learning solos like these can be a great teaching device and just having a basic understanding of what you’re playing and where you are on the guitar will improve your playing immensely.