Fourth bar: The “He-ey Jude” phrase starts in on the tail end of the third bar, and the word “Jude” anticipates the downbeat of the fourth bar by a sixteenth note.

G and F are the sixth and fifth of the B♭ chord, and the stable-sounding fifth is the one that gets held out. The melody in the third bar is exactly the same as the melody in the second bar, but the chord is different.

Third bar: Here’s where the real beauty part is.

It turns the E-flat chord into E♭(add2), a richly jazzy sound. And yet, the F is is the note that gets held out for most of the bar. F is more surprising it’s the second of the E-flat chord, not part of the basic triad. The chord contains G as its third, so it’s a perfectly logical melody note.

Second bar: Alternating G and F on top of the E-flat chord.

First bar: a straightforward arpeggio starting on F, outlining a major triad.

The chord starting on B-flat is B-flat, D, F. The chord starting on E-flat is E-flat, G, B-flat. The chord starting on F is F, A, C, E-flat. To make a chord, start on a note, then go around clockwise, skipping every other scale tone. To understand how you make the various chords from F Mixolydian, take a look at this diagram. Each one occupies more or less one bar, and each one comes with a chord: F7, E♭, B♭, and F7 again.

The “Hey Jude” loop is built from four phrases. The blue arrows show the roots of the I-♭VII-IV-I chord progression.

The right diagram shows it on the circle of fifths. The left diagram below shows F Mixolydian on the chromatic circle. If you play I, ♭VII, and IV, you’re going to recognize many iconic rock and pop songs. B-flat is the fourth note in F Mixolydian, so the chord built on it is called the IV chord.E-flat is the seventh note in F Mixolydian, so the chord built on it is called the ♭VII (the flat is there to distinguish E-flat from the “natural” seventh you’d get in the major scale, which here would be E natural.).F is the first note in F Mixolydian, so the chord built from it is called the I chord.The chord structure is the old classic rock standby, I-♭VII-IV-I. The progression comes from the Mixolydian mode, which is as defining for rock as diatonic major is for classical.

Hey jude chords and lyrics in c