Few bands in history could accomplish what the Beatles did. Selling over one billion records to date and revolutionizing the rock n roll scene, they are regarded as one of the greatest bands ever.
With many of their songs featuring some of the most unforgettable piano and guitar lines, Beatles songs are incredibly popular among pianists and guitarists. However, most Beatles sheet music books on the market are either inaccurate or too simplified, leaving more advanced players and Beatles fans frustrated.
In this article, we’re going to look at the best Beatles songbooks in terms of accuracy and completeness for both piano and guitar. We also didn’t forget the beginner players who want to play the Beatles and listed their best options.
Whether you’re an advanced or beginner player or a Beatles fan, we hope you find something here!
Best Overall: The Beatles: Complete Scores
If we were to recommend just one Beatles songbook regardless of your instrument, it would be this one without any doubt. It is an all-in-one reference book that allows you to play the songs exactly the way the Beatles played them.
The Beatles: Complete Scores is the most comprehensive and accurate songbook with full scores and lyrics of any Beatles song ever recorded. From drums to strings, it shows the accurate transcriptions of every instrument in a song. The guitar and bass parts feature both standard notation and tab.
The writers went as far as to include elements such as the footsteps in Blackbird or the reversed mellotron in Strawberry Fields.
As this book features the full discography of the Beatles with all transcriptions for all instruments and vocals, the print size is a bit small to keep everything in a single volume. I see most people photocopy and enlarge the score they want to play.
All in all, this complete collection is a must-have for any Beatles fan.
Best Beatles Piano Books
Best for Piano Accompaniment: The Beatles Sheet Music Collection – Piano, Vocal and Guitar Chords
Compiling over 100 Beatles hits with accurate transcriptions and professional presentation, this Beatles sheet music book is incredible value for money. The arrangements are for the piano, guitar, and vocal. However, the guitar parts only include chord diagrams. So, if you want a book that features more guitar notation types, this book most likely won’t satisfy you.
If you are a pianist though, this book will provide excellent value. It features both easy and advanced arrangements, so this book has something for any level of pianist. All arrangements are accurate to the last note, clear to read, and organized in alphabetical order to make finding a song easy.
Highly recommended!
Best for Solo Piano: The Beatles: arr. Phillip Keveren
If you’re an intermediate or above pianist, I bet you will fall in love with this book! Containing brilliant solo piano arrangements of favorite Beatles songs such as A Day in the Life and Michelle, it is one of the best Beatles piano books out there.
All songs are arranged by Phillip Keveren, a renowned keyboard artist and composer whose piano arrangements are many pianists’ favorites.
The arrangements are in classical style, featuring melodic expression and artistical elements like arpeggios and scale passages. While the arrangements are certainly challenging, they are also not overly difficult to play. Best of all, they are super fun to play and sound incredibly artistic.
Overall, this book is perfect for pianists who want to enjoy Beatles tunes on solo piano with a classical touch added.
Best for Piano Beginners: The Beatles – Super Easy Songbook
If you are a beginner pianist who can read notes at a basic level, you can enjoy the Beatles tunes with this super easy songbook! It features 60 Beatles favorites with right-hand melodies and simple left-hand chord diagrams. All notes are marked with letters to make sightreading easy for beginners.
Written in an easy-to-read format, this book is perfect for beginner players who can play with one hand and want to advance further by learning some Beatles hits.
Related: 13 Easy One-Hand Piano Songs Anyone Can Play
Best Beatles Guitar Books
Best Beatles Chord Book: The Beatles Complete Chord Songbook
If you are looking for a comprehensive Beatles chord book, look no further. This songbook features 194 Beatles songs in their original keys specifically arranged for strumming guitarists. All songs include chord symbols, diagrams, and lyrics without tabs or notation, so it’s a chords-only collection.
Overall, this chord book is perfect for learning Beatles tunes easily and quickly. Both beginners and advanced players can greatly benefit from this book as it features simple and more technical songs. It also contains a helpful playing guide.
Another thing I love about this book is its practicality. All songs are easy-to-read and arranged to fit into 2 pages to avoid page turning while playing. It is also great value for the money. For the same price you normally pay for an album book of 10 to 15 songs, you get a very comprehensive collection of songs with all the lyrics and chords.
All in all, this book is the best Beatles chord book and a must-own for Beatles-loving guitarists.
Best All-rounder: The Beatles Guitar
From beginners to advanced players, The Beatles Guitar is a fantastic book for any guitarist. It features 52 popular Beatles songs that are arranged specifically for the guitar.
Written in a hybrid format, every song shows chords, tabs, notations, and strum patterns. You may want to just strum or play the lead parts – this mixture of indications gives you a lot of freedom and opportunities to explore the songs the way you wish.
What makes this book unique is that instead of providing exact transcriptions of the guitars in the songs, it integrates all musical components from strings, keyboard, drums, and bass into one guitar line. This makes songs sound more complete because it allows you to replicate elements other than guitars.
The unique and complete arrangements in this book also make it a perfect songbook for those who want to sing along.
Best for Fingerstyle Guitar: Fingerpicking Beatles
If you want to learn Beatles songs in fingerpicking style, this is the only book you will need. It includes 30 songs with tabs and notations accompanied by a simplified melody line above each score.
It is best for players who are intermediate level or above with at least a basic understanding of fingerstyle, though beginners can also benefit from its introduction section to fingerstyle guitar. While the arrangements are easy enough to learn without too many technical difficulties, they are also challenging enough to impress your friends.
Overall, this book is perfect for those wishing to learn finger-picked Beatles songs or improve their fingerpicking style in a fun way with the help of the Beatles songs.
Best for Guitar Beginners: Beatles Complete Easy Guitar
Featuring easy arrangements of 155 Beatles songs, this comprehensive collection is perfect for beginner guitarists. All songs include notations and chord diagrams in an easy-to-read format. Since it doesn’t include tablature, you should be able to read music at least at a basic level to benefit from this book.
The best part is that this book will improve your guitar skills while making practicing fun and engaging.
