New Song: Wouldn’t It Be Nice

Let’s play this iconic 60s love song! As you listen, you’ll notice that alongside the super-catchy vocal hooks, it’s actually quite an unusual song, with lots of highly creative musical ideas. For example, it features some striking key changes, unusual instrumentation (including harp, bells, trumpet, saxophone, and more), and sections of slowing down and speeding up (known as ritardando and accelerando respectively). The album that this song is on – Pet Sounds – is a treasure-trove of creative songwriting and recording, and definitely worth checking out.

“Wouldn’t It Be Nice”, made famous by The Beach Boys, is now available in Yousician for Guitar, Piano, Ukulele, Bass, and Singing.

Wouldn’t It Be Nice for Guitar
by: James Neilson, Music Education Designer for Guitar

In the basic riff exercise (level 4) you’ll play a simplified version of the main riff using single notes and power chords. It’s great practice for moving between power chords fairly quickly, so start slow and build speed as you gain control.

In the melody exercise (level 6) you’ll play the main vocal and instrumental melodies, arranged for guitar. Watch out for the frequent string-skips, and start slow to get it under your fingers.

In the barre chords exercise (level 8) you’ll play the original rhythm guitar part, using a range of barre chords. There are major, minor, and various 7th-chords in both root-6 and root-5 positions, so take your time to review and memorize the shapes as you go.

Wouldn’t It Be Nice for Piano
by: Sunny Choi, Music Education Designer for Piano

Accompaniment (short) exercise (level 5)
This accompaniment version has a simple rhythm, so it’s especially good if you want to sing as you play. You can start by practicing the right hand first!

Accompaniment exercise (level 7)
Try singing or humming this song a bit before you play it to get a feel of the rhythm of it. You can also try moving to the music as you play!

Melody exercise (level 8)
Like many songs written in the 60s, this song has a really beautiful singing melody with a lot of movement. This makes it fun to practice with the piano. It offers a nice amount of challenge too!

Solo piano exercise (level 9)
The melody of this song has a large range and there is a lot of movement. Pay special attention to the fingerings! Getting them right will make everything feel a lot easier.

Wouldn’t It Be Nice for Ukulele
by: Joona Hasan, Music Education Designer for Ukulele

In the chords exercise (level 5) you’ll be playing the deceptively simple-sounding but surprisingly tricky chord accompaniment. Watch out for the tempo change at the end of the Bridge!

In the melody exercise (level 7) you’ll mainly be playing along with Brian Wilsons’ vocal melody. There’s a lot of syncopation in addition to the swing-feel, so try to relax and focus on the groove.

Wouldn’t It Be Nice for Bass
by: Antti Halmetoja, Bass content specialist

In the basic bassline exercise (level 2) you’ll get to play a simplified version of this fun 60’s song. There are a couple of string skips during the Bridge, so keep eye on them.

The full bassline exercise (level 6) includes the originally recorded bassline, as played by iconic bass player Carol Kaye. The main focus here is to keep it grooving.

Wouldn’t It Be Nice for Singing
by: Sonja Patrikainen, Music Education Designer for Singing

Like many songs written in the 60s, this classic has a beautiful melody with a lot of movement. This song is great for practicing accuracy and agility, as there are a lot of larger intervals and phrases that have quite a large range. Try slowing down the tempo in practice mode and sing every note as accurately in tune as you can.