John Lennon's HARDEST Guitar Part? | Beatles Riffs Unlocked | Episode 4

It took me 17 years to figure out how John Lennon played this guitar part. I first tried to recreate John’s rhythm guitar on “I’m Happy Just to Dance With You” back in 2009. I tried again in 2011. And 2021. And 2024. In 2026, armed with isolated tracks, Beatles footage, the right Rickenbacker—and probably an unreasonable amount of determination—I think I finally got it. In this video, we break down one of the most deceptively difficult rhythm guitar performances in the Beatles catalog: the relentless strumming, the rapid-fire chord changes, 18 different chord shapes and inversions, John’s unusual left-hand “bounce,” and even a tiny backward sweep that helped unlock the whole thing. And then I created tabs for you guys - and you get the entire dang song. For the final reconstruction, I removed the original guitars from the Beatles recording and rebuilt them from scratch. Sam Popkin recreates George Harrison’s lead guitar, while I tackle John’s rhythm part on a Rickenbacker 325c64. John Lennon once described his guitar playing this way: “I’m not technically very good, but I can make it fucking howl.” After spending 17 years chasing this part…I think he was selling himself a little short. 0:00 Intro 0:54 Banjo Strumming! 2:30 Naughty Chords 4:19 Get a Smaller Guitar! 5:02 Tips & Tricks 8:10 Full Reconstruction (with tab) 10:04 Final Thoughts