The Best Beatles and McCartney Songbooks for Guitar, Bass and Piano
From the Paul McCartney Bass Play-Along to The Beatles Complete Scores (1,136 pages, 210 recordings), the Hal Leonard Beatles and McCartney songbooks worth buying for bass, guitar and piano.
The most complete Beatles songbook is Hal Leonard's The Beatles Complete Scores: a 1,136-page hardcover with full transcriptions of all 210 recordings the Beatles released, listed at $99.99. Most players are better served by something smaller: The Beatles Easy Fake Book (101 songs, $39.99) for piano and singalongs, The Beatles Bass from the Signature Licks series (16 songs, $27.99) for Paul's bass style, and the Paul McCartney Bass Play-Along, Volume 43 ($24.99), which pairs tab with online backing tracks.
This list favors accurate transcriptions and books that show what Paul actually played over simplified approximations. Song counts, page counts and list prices come from Hal Leonard's catalog; street prices are often lower, and several titles go on back order for weeks at a time, when the digital editions are the quicker option.
If you are learning Paul's bass parts, pair any of these with our tutorial on playing melodic bass like Paul.
Top 8 for 2026
Paul McCartney Bass Play-Along, Volume 43
Part of Hal Leonard's Bass Play-Along series (HL 00703079), this book gives notation and tab for nine songs plus online audio with full demo tracks and backing tracks without bass. The songs are Band on the Run, Hey Bulldog, I Want You (She's So Heavy), Live and Let Die, Maybe I'm Amazed, Penny Lane, Rain, Silly Love Songs and With a Little Help from My Friends, a mix of Beatles and solo lines that runs from Rain's busy 1966 part to the sustained groove of Silly Love Songs. At $24.99, it is the best first book for a bassist, because playing along with a band teaches timing and feel better than reading alone.
The Beatles 1962-1966: Bass Recorded Versions
Hal Leonard's Bass Recorded Versions books give note-for-note transcriptions with tab, taken from the original recordings. This one (HL 00690556, $25.99) covers 26 songs from the early hits, including All My Loving, Drive My Car, Nowhere Man, Paperback Writer and Michelle. Its companion volume, 1967-1970 (HL 00690557), adds 28 later songs such as Come Together, Something, Hey Jude and Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Together they cover most of the lines players want to learn. If you want Paul's parts exactly as recorded rather than a lesson in style, start here.
The Beatles Bass (Signature Licks)
Rather than print whole songs, the Signature Licks book (HL 00695283) analyzes Paul's playing across 16 Beatles tracks, among them All My Loving, And Your Bird Can Sing, Taxman, Paperback Writer, Michelle, Something, Come Together, Polythene Pam and You Never Give Me Your Money. It runs to 48 pages with tab, and online audio through Hal Leonard's Playback+ player lets you slow tracks down without changing pitch and loop difficult passages. At $27.99, it is the book for players who want to understand why Paul's lines work, not just which notes they contain.
Paul McCartney Guitar Chord Songbook
The Guitar Chord Songbook series prints lyrics with chord symbols and diagrams above them in a 6 x 9 inch format that fits in a gig bag. This edition runs to 152 pages and 60 songs from the Beatles, Wings and solo years, from Band on the Run and Jet to Mull of Kintyre, Ebony and Ivory and Ballroom Dancing. It is the book for strummers and singers who want to play Paul's songs at an open mic rather than learn exact parts. At $29.99 list, and often less, it is also the most practical McCartney book for a beginner guitarist, because chord charts are faster to read than full notation.
Pure McCartney (Piano/Vocal/Guitar)
Based on the 2016 Pure McCartney career compilation, this 194-page songbook arranges 39 songs for piano and voice with guitar chord boxes. The list includes Another Day, Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey, Let Me Roll It, Listen to What the Man Said, Goodnight Tonight, No More Lonely Nights and Dance Tonight, which is exactly the solo and Wings material that general Beatles collections leave out. At $39.99, it is the best single book for pianists who love Paul's post-Beatles catalog.
The Beatles Easy Fake Book (2nd Edition)
This 224-page book has 101 Beatles songs in the key of C, with melody, lyrics and simplified chords, engraved in larger-than-usual notation that is easier to read than a standard fake book. It suits beginners, players returning to an instrument after years away, and family singalongs where someone needs to hold the tune on piano. At $39.99, it covers the hits from I Want to Hold Your Hand to Here Comes the Sun and Let It Be, though the key-of-C arrangements mean singers may need to transpose.
The Beatles Fake Book (C Edition)
The standard Beatles Fake Book (HL 00240069) doubles the song count to 200, with melody lines, lyrics and guitar chord frames in 176 pages. It is the working musician's reference: tribute bands, wedding bands and pub players use it to learn a song quickly or check a chord. At $49.99 in print, or $40.99 as a digital edition, it is the best value per song on this list. If you can already read a melody line, buy this rather than the Easy Fake Book.
The Beatles Complete Scores
The full reference: a boxed hardcover of 1,136 pages with transcriptions of all 210 Beatles recordings, covering lead and backing vocals, lead and rhythm guitar and bass in notation and tab, drums and other instruments used on each track, plus a discography. It first appeared in 1993, so it predates the recent remixes, but the parts reflect the original releases. At $99.99 list, and often less from retailers, it is expensive and heavy, yet for tribute bands and serious students it replaces a shelf of other books.
How We Chose These Songbooks
We focused on Hal Leonard titles because Hal Leonard is the main US publisher of licensed Beatles and McCartney print music, so the books are legitimate, widely stocked and kept in print. Song lists, page counts and prices were checked against the publisher's catalog.
The list is organized by what a player needs: a book to play along with, a book that explains a style, exact transcriptions, and a reference for learning songs fast. Most players end up owning one of each type rather than three books that do the same job.
We did not include free tab websites. They are useful for a quick look, but accuracy varies widely, and for Paul's bass parts in particular many online tabs miss the passing notes and rhythmic pushes that define the line.
Which Book for Which Instrument
Bass: start with the Bass Play-Along Volume 43 for its backing tracks, then move to The Beatles Bass (Signature Licks) to understand the style. When you want every note, buy the two Bass Recorded Versions books or go straight to Complete Scores.
Guitar: the Paul McCartney Guitar Chord Songbook covers strumming and singing. For exact parts, Complete Scores has lead and rhythm guitar in tab for all 210 recordings, and Hal Leonard also sells Guitar Recorded Versions editions of the 1962-1966 and 1967-1970 collections.
Piano and voice: the Easy Fake Book for beginners, the full Fake Book for confident readers, and Pure McCartney for the solo and Wings songs. Hal Leonard's two-volume The Beatles Complete piano/vocal/guitar set is the option if you want full piano arrangements of the Beatles catalog rather than lead sheets.
Print or Digital?
Many Hal Leonard books now come with online audio, and several are sold as digital editions that open in Hal Leonard's own library app. The Beatles Fake Book, for example, is $49.99 in print and $40.99 digital. Digital is lighter and cheaper, and a tablet on the music stand can hold every book you own.
Print still wins for big reference books. Complete Scores is easier to browse in print, and many players like to pencil fingerings into the margins. Large-format fake books also stay open on a piano stand better than some tablets.
A sensible split is to buy your main reference book in print and keep digital copies of the smaller books for rehearsals and travel.
Pairing a Songbook With the Right Gear
If you are learning Paul's bass lines, the instrument matters as much as the book. A short-scale violin bass with flatwound strings gets you close to the 1960s tone, and our guide to the best violin basses for every budget covers options from about $200.
For guitar, many early Beatles songs sound right on a basic acoustic or a clean electric, and a capo helps match the recorded key. For piano, a weighted-key digital piano will handle everything in these books.
Once you have the basics, our guide to Beatles songs written by Paul is a good way to pick what to learn next.
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The Fab Four Fans Team
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Written by the admins and longtime members of a 100,000-member Paul McCartney fan community. Collectors, concert-goers and people who will happily argue about the best Wings album.