How do you usually go about writing chord progressions for your songs? Do you ever get bored or frustrated with the results? Well, The Beatles did too. They once took a bus across Liverpool to find the person who knew how to play a B7 chord.

Sometimes it’s actually harder to feel confident in your chord choices when you’ve already written a few songs, because the novelty of putting together chords and enjoying that they don’t sound unpleasant has worn off.

But 'not unpleasant' isn’t where you want to stay for all the songs you ever write.

You might feel like there’s a gulf between your songwriting and The Beatles. But many of the approaches used in the chord progressions in Beatles songs are just small adjustments from the kinds of 'not unpleasant' chord progressions that you might have written or heard already.

Once you know how to use them, you can level up your songwriting without having to learn a lot of complex ideas. Here are two! Or go straight to the video.

1. More brightness: Turn Your ii Chord Major

Normally in a major key,the ii chord is minor. In C major, that would be Dm. But the Beatles frequently flipped this to a major chord, creating an unexpected lift that brightens the entire progression.

You can hear this clearly in "Yesterday.'When Paul sings "I believe in yesterday,'the progression moves from F to G major—not the G minor you'd expect to find in the key of F. That single change adds nuance and increases the sense of bittersweet nostalgia.

Try this in your own songs: Take any progression where you're using the iim chord and swap it for the major version. The difference will be immediate and striking.

2. Nostalgia: Make Your IV Chord Minor

Normally the IV chord in a key is major (like F in the key of C). But turning it minor creates a wistful quality.

Listen to "In My Life'' and you'll hear it clearly: "There are places I'll remember, all my life though some have changed.'' The progression moves from D major to D minor in the key of A, the major IV to the minor iv. That quality in the chords perfectly complements the inherently nostalgic lyric.

This technique works well in bridges, final choruses, or any time you want to add emotional weight without changing the overall mood of your song.

Watch the video for examples of five techniques you can apply to chord progressions:

Now that you’ve got five Beatles-style chord tricks to play with, you can start turning those progressions into actual songs.

To help you with that, I’ve put together a free guide called 21 Ways To Create Great Chord Progressions

It’s packed with simple but powerful ways to break writer’s block and get your lyrics and ideas flowing — even if you’re stuck.

It’s free!