Yesterday Once Moreby Carpenters, The

Yesterday Once More, written by Richard Carpenter and John Bettis, is a hit song by The Carpenters, who sure don’t need an elaborate introduction.

It is their biggest-selling record worldwide, and appears on their 1973 album ‘Now & Then’. Richard stated (in a Japanese documentary) that it was his favorite of all the songs that he had written. 

This lesson teaches a fingerstyle/strumming arrangement with chord shapes in the key of D. The original recording is in the absolute key of E, so for that capo the guitar on the 2nd fret.

The progression features many chords, including several inversions, chords out of the key, a few m7b5-chords and more.

This is another one of those songs which should come out a little different each time you play it. That said, to get you started we do take a look at a few picking examples as well as how to strum through it, in particular the last 4 measures of the verse and the chorus.

The strumming could be done in both double time as well as single time, aka the speed of 16th’s and 8th’s. Personally I move into one or the other all the time.

All in all, keep in mind that the song is doable for most guitar students, but probably not for beginners.