Song chords
Hey Jude chords
The Beatles
Written in F, which puts a barre chord in bar one, and then it keeps going for seven minutes. The outro is the famous part and it is only four chords — F–Eb–Bb–F, a flat-VII borrowed straight from the blues.
Before you start
The chords you need.
7 shapes covers the whole song. Tap any diagram’s play button to hear it, or open its page for every voicing on six instruments.
The chart
Section by section.
Key of F, no capo. The bridge uses an F7 to pull toward the Bb — a secondary dominant, and the one moment of real harmonic motion in the song. Hit play on any section to hear it walk through at 74 bpm.
Verse
8 barsBridge
9 barsThe F7 is a secondary dominant — it exists only to make the Bb land.
Outro
4 barsThe ♭VII (Eb) is borrowed from outside the key — the whole coda rides on it.
Need it in a different key, or without the capo? Run it through the transposer — move every chord by the same interval and the song is unchanged.
Playing it
What actually trips people up.
F and Bb are both barres. If they are new, capo 5 and play the whole thing with C shapes (C–G–G7–C–F) — it sounds in a different key but the shapes are all open.
The chart above is the commonly played arrangement — the version a competent player would hand you, not a bar-for-bar transcription of a specific master. Section labels are there to orient you; live and studio versions repeat, extend and drop sections freely, and none of that changes which chords you need.
About this page
Chord names and song structure are facts; for lyrics and official notation, support the artist. This page carries no lyrics on purpose — Hey Jude was written and recorded by The Beatles, and the words belong to them. What you get here is the harmony: the key, the capo, the tempo, and which chord goes where.
Next
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FAQ
Questions people actually ask.
What key is Hey Jude in?
Hey Jude is in F Major, and it is played in that key with no capo — the chords you read here are the chords you hear.
Do I need a capo for Hey Jude?
No. Hey Jude is played open in F Major. A capo will only move it out of the recorded key, which matters if you are playing along with the record.
What chords are in Hey Jude?
F, C, C7, Bb, F7, Gm and Eb — 7 chords across 3 sections. Key of F, no capo. The bridge uses an F7 to pull toward the Bb — a secondary dominant, and the one moment of real harmonic motion in the song.
What is the easiest way to play Hey Jude?
Intermediate overall. F and Bb are both barres. If they are new, capo 5 and play the whole thing with C shapes (C–G–G7–C–F) — it sounds in a different key but the shapes are all open.
How fast is Hey Jude?
About 74 bpm. Every section on this page plays back at that tempo, so you can hear how long each chord is meant to be held before you try it yourself.
Can I play Hey Jude in a different key?
Yes — the progression is the song, not the letters. Move every chord by the same number of semitones and it still works. The transposer will do the arithmetic, or you can move the capo and keep these shapes.