The Beatles WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS

WITHIN YOU WITHOUT YOU

GCSE AQA Set Work Analysis

Revision Guide

Recording Techniques

Recording techniques in the 1960’s were very different from those found in today’s studios. The Abbey

Road Studios recorded the Beatles using four tracks, although eight tracks were used at the time in the

USA.

Use of Mellatron – an early type of synthesiser, allowing different types of timbres to be played via a music

keyboard. Demo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUcfB5Whp4I

Use of the Leslie Speaker – a combination of an amplifier and speaker, where the guitarist can control

effects with a foot switch. History of the Leslie speaker –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quE0ElIAwZE Demo -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHtekYmtnv0&feature=youtu.be

RM (reduction mixing) – because they only had four tracks available, they could record four tracks and then

mix them and dub them onto a single track , making more tracks available.

Amplification – this is general term for making a sound louder. In pop music it is an electrical sound that is

made stronger through a machine called an amplifier.

Distortion – this is a genera term for something that is bent, changed or twisted. In pop music it is an

alteration as well as a manipulation of the sound, making it rough, harsh etc. Distortion and overdrive are

often achieved through the use of a foot pedal. Watch the difference -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yj53Q-pisbw

Overdubbing and automatic double tracking (ADT) – simultaneous doubling of sound, eliminating the need

to record the track twice. Tutorial - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMD0mcdngwA

Varispeeding – the ability to change tape speeds.

DIT (digital input transformer) – transformer that allowed electrical instruments to record directly, rather

than through a mic. (Using a lead).

Close Micing – placing a mic very close to an instrument or voice, helping to separate sound. Close micing a

piano – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJzZ2XCPwRM Close micing a drum kit -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnysYN0XBAM

Signal processing – compression, reverb and signal limiting. This are processes that can be done throughout

or after recording.

Compression –commonly used in sound recording and reproduction, broadcasting, live sound reinforcement

at music concerts and in some instrument amplifiers (usually bass amps and some keyboard amps).

Reverb – the acoustic environment that surrounds a sound. Natural reverb exists everywhere. Reverb is

composed of a series of tightly-spaced echoes.

Signal limiting – applying a limit during the record process to stop extreme frequencies of sound.

Sonority (Timbre):

The Beatles had a unique sound. This is partly due to the combination of timbres of their voices and the way

they harmonised together, but it also involved the instrumental technique they used.

Palm mute – a muting technique where the side of the palm of the right hand is placed across the strings

near the bridge, and the strings are then plucked. Demo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcIL7K58zhU

Pitch bend – a pitching technique where the left hand breaks or stretches the string within the fret, either

raising or lowering the pitch of the note. It can be done suddenly or gradually. Demo -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoHmzhDq-LE

Hammer on – a playing technique where the left hand brings a finger firmly down onto the string, causing

the note to sound with a percussive effect. The opposite is a pull off. Demo -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aS1O0vIjAPU

Slide guitar (bottleneck) – a playing technique where a metal tube fitted around the finger slides along the

string creating a smooth change of pitch. Demo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGp48NJ-oQs

Slap bass – a bass guitar technique where the string is pulled away from the fingerboard and allowed to

‘snap’ back, creating a percussive effect. Demo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwUD7LHH4CM

Biography and Background: The Beatles play a crucial role in the developments of British pop and rock music. Their 1964 album, A hard

Days Night, marked a new phase for pop music, heralding (a) a change in attention from singles to albums,

(b) quieter more melodic songs, (c) the transition from live performances to a studio group. In 1966 they

stopped touring and started leading more individual lives. Their songs reflected moods of experience and

personal awareness, starting with their album, Revolver, and continuing into the rich expansive sounds of

their 1967 recordings.

The story of the Beatles rise to success is a long one. We need to concentrate on the Sgt Peppers Album.

In 1966 the Beatles had become tired of travelling and live shows, because of their fame and popularity

they had encountered security issues and even threats on their lives. After an exhausting tour in mid 1966,

they took an extended break, during which Paul travelled to the USA and George went to India. Paul was

thinking of creating a fictional band where the group could be more anonymous and have freedom to

experiment. The salt and pepper containers on the plane are said to have led him to the name. This led to

the idea of it being a military band from the Edwardian era.

The songs on the album were designed for recording rather than performing due to the techniques used.

The recording process took much longer than any other of their albums. It started on 24th November 1966

and was completed on the 21st April 967 – a total of around 700 hours. It was recorded at Abbey Road.

The public though the Beatles era was over, but when the album was released on 1st June 1967, it was an

immediate success achieving the following:

o For 27 weeks it was the top album in the UK.

o For 15 weeks it was the top album in the USA.

o It sold more than 30 millions copies.

o It was album of the year 1968.

o It won four Grammy awards in 1968.

Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band Album: The album has an interesting cover. The Beatles stand in army style uniforms in front of celebrities. Some

of the celebrities included are Marlon Brando, Fred Astaire, Tony Curtis, Shirley Temple and some Indian

gurus. They didn’t include Mahatma Ghandi.

This album was the Beatles 8th studio album, released in 1967. The band had reached a flamboyant peak,

they had become tired and bored of touring and performing live. They wanted to concentrate on recording.

The sound was distinctive, with the combination of voices, as well as their band sound and their harmonies.

This is what the world expected from the album, but they didn’t get it.

They created a fictional band – they felt comfortable to let go of their former public image and identify as

this fake group. It gave them the freedom to experiment. The album also gave the impression of live

performance and so there are no gaps on the recording and the technique of cross-fading allows the songs

to flow.

The album consists mainly of genres of rock and pop, but you can also hear: Rock and roll, big band, jazz,

blues, circus and Indian music.

This was a concept album. It pushed the boundaries of pop. The songs use sounds and textures not usually

heard in pop. They use a number of additional instruments such as grand piano, Lowrey organ, Hohner piano

harpsichord, harmonium and a number of Indian instruments. The Times called the album an ‘historic

departure in the progress of music’

There was often a suggestion of drug use. Later they openly admitted their music was inspired by their

recreational use of drugs.

These references to drugs can be found in these phrases:

o I get high

o Take some tea (slag for cannabis)

o Digging the weeds

o Lucy in the sky with diamonds (standing for LSD).

Some of these songs were banned by the BBC.

The 1960s is linked to the flower power movement. This was a reaction to the Vietnam war and promoted

peace and love. This later progressed to the hippie movement and the open use of drugs and moral

permissiveness. Music born of this era is called psychedelic.

They created a fictional band – they felt comfortable to let go of their former public image and identify as

this fake group. It gave them the freedom to experiment. The album also gave the impression of live

performance and so there are no gaps on the recording and the technique of cross-fading allows the songs

to flow.

Firstly – you will need to listen to the whole Sgt Peppers Album at some point – it’s a concept album so you

need to hear how the 3 set pieces fit into the album as a whole.

With A Little Help From My Friends

With a Little Help from My Friends is the second songs and the album and flows continuously on from the

title song – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Words and music were written by Lennon and McCartney

– lead singer was Ringo Starr. The album was produced by George Martin.

It is an example or Pop Rock – a genre that features pop instruments and catchy and memorable melodies.

The song was originally titles ‘Bad Finger Boogie’ as John had hurt his finger when they were writing the

song in it’s early stages. By the time of recording it had healed.

The song asks questions about the meaning of friendship and stressed the importance of community.

In the original recording Paul played piano, George played electric guitar, John played cowbell and Ringo

played drums. George Martin played Hammond Organ in the introduction. In successive overdubs the

following were added: tambourine, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass, extra lyrics and vocal harmonies.

The melody is notated an octave higher to avoid excessive use of ledger lines.

The guitar and piano play mainly straight crotchets.

The bass emphasises the 1st and 3d beats of the bar, mainly using crotchets.

The quavers are to be swung, this is notated in the tempo marking at the start. (2 equal quavers are to be

played with a triplet feel, the first note is longer than the second.)

Introduction: The fictional character Billy Shears is introduced on the first track of the album and the intro of this song

features his name sung in harmony. The crowd noise is taken from a live Beatles concert at Hollywood Bowl.

The tempo indication is marked Moderately, which is around 110 crotchets per minute .

The first 4 bars

of the intro are in

the key of G

major, whilst the

song is in E major.

Normally an

introduction sets

the key of the

song. On the word

‘Shears’ the key

changes to E

major, mark this

on your score at

bar 4.

There is a 2 bar

guitar solo fill

also.

The Billy Shears

section has 3

major chords,

rising a tone each

time. (Bass notes)

Verse 1:

The lyrics of the first verse as the first of two of many questions in the song. The lyrics reflect a lack of

confidence in himself as a singer, something that Ringo felt. The original lyrics were: what would you do if I

sang out of tune? Would you stand up and throw tomatoes at me? Ringo worried about a bad reception for

audiences, so changed the lyrics so it didn’t encourage them.

The melody (tune) moves up and down of on the first 5 notes of the E major scale (E F# G# A and B) and

only three chords are used. Only 2 different note values are used, quavers and crotchets. There is

syncopation in the melody.

Here is the first half of the melody with chord symbols and roman numerals. The second half follows the

same chord sequence.

The first four bar phrase ends on a perfect cadence, chord V to Chord I (B7 to E), mark this cadence on

your score.

Although the melody is syncopated, the accompaniment is very regular, chord changes happen on the 1st or

3rd beat of the bar. The only instruments heard in verse 1 are piano, guitar, bass and drums.

Chorus:

The chorus is the most well known part of the song, it contains the Hook – this is a phrase designed to

catch the ear of the listening and is memorable.

The chorus is 8 bars long, with the last 2 bars consisting of a guitar fill and drum solo.

The lyrics have 3 lines:

o Oh I get by with a little help from my friends

o Mmm I get high and Mmm gonna try

o There are possible references to drugs, but it could just mean their happy!

The first 2 lines are very similar, look:

Key things to note:

• The key is still E major (4 sharps).

• Only 3 chords are used: E, D and A.

• The chord D (DF#A) uses a note outside of the key (D natural), This chords is built on the flattened 7th

of the key. In classical music we would call it chromatic.

• The melody emphasises notes on important beats of the bar (‘by’ and ‘high’).

• There are acciaccaturas – crushed notes. A type of ornamentation.

The chord progression is also known as a double plagal cadence (D-A-E) A normal plagal cadence is IV – I (A

– E). Note this on your score.

o D is IV in A major, so the plagal cadence in A is D to A.

o So, D – A – E is IV of IV – IV – I.

Only 2 different chords are used this time – not 3.

o The words ‘with a little help’ are sung on an F# - they were sung on an E in the first 2 lines of the

chorus.

o These words are also sung against an A chorus this creates an added 6th.

o There is a chromatic slide on the harmonies to ‘friends’ G natural to G#

o The chorus ends on a normal plagal cadence IV-I A-E.

The chorus ends with a short guitar fill, then a drum solo, the only one in the song. Mark this on your score.

Verse 2:

The lyrics for verse 2 carry on with questions from Ringo, but there are interspersed questions from John

and Paul. This creates a call and response effect. Ringo: What do I do when my love is away? (Call)

John/Paul: Does it worry you to be alone? (Response)

The tone changes from insecurity to questions about personal loneliness in the second verse.

The chord progression is the same as verse 1 and the melody follows the same shape, with minor rhythmic

alterations to the fit to the lyrics.

In verse 1 the

first line started G#AB

and G#BB in the second

line. In verse 2 it’s the

other way around.

There are 2 notes

sung on the words ‘lone’

and ‘own’. This is called a

melisma.

Chorus 2:

The second chorus is slightly different from the first. In each line the first few notes are sung by Ringo

and then John and Paul join him, singing in harmony above his notes in the third line of the chorus.

The first chorus started ‘Oh, I get by…’ and the second chorus starts ‘No I get by…’ suggesting that Ringo

is answering NO to the question, Are you sad because you’re on your own?’

The second chorus also has the overdubbed tambourine and cowbell. Although the same harmonies are

played in the accompaniment, the vocal lines are more complex, with chromatic sliding in the vocal

harmonies. This works to build interest and momentum in the song.

Bridge:

The purpose of the bridge in a song is to create variety, without becoming too repetitive.

The bridge in ‘With a little help from my friends’ continues with the question/answer/call and response

format, but this time with John and Paul asking the questions in a higher register and Ringo responding in

his own register.

Harmonically, 2 new chords are introduced:

o C#m11, which is C#minor with an added 11th (=F#). In the song there is also an added 7th , making

the chord C# E G# B F#

o F# which is the major chords F# A# C#

The note values in the bridge are longer, giving the effect of the music broadening and the range/register

of the notes is larger, giving the effect of the music rising to a new level.

The accompaniment returns to guitar, piano and drums.

Verse 3:

The third verse continues with the call and response, Ringo provides the answers.

The harmony in the Beatles questions is simply a 3rd above the melody notes:

The drum kit accompaniment changes in this verse from hi-hat to ride cymbal.

Chorus:

The chorus following verse 3 is identical to the chorus after verse 2.

Bridge:

The same music and lyrics are used for the second bridge, with one small change. The opening notes for

each question in the first bridge:

In the second bridge the opening notes are slightly adjusted:

Final Chorus:

The melody and lyrics for the final chorus are the same as before, although the order is slightly changed,

with lines 2 and 3 swapped around. This was a mistake from Ringo, but it stayed in the final mix.

After the usual 3 line chorus, there is 6 bar conclusion to the song, using repeats of the final lyrics.

Note these aspects:

o The sustained chords on the piano, guitar and bass in bars 2 and 3 below.

o The repeated melody notes in bars 2 and 3 below.

o The last E sung by Ringo – out of his normal range and sung falsetto.

o The descending melody sung by the other Beatles and Ringo holds the E.

o Chord symbols showing different notes in the bass.

o The final cadence is a type of alternative perfect cadence (bV – I); (D is the flattened 7th in E

major) and E is the tonic chord.

o On the last tonic chord, a cymbal is struck.

Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds

‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ follows ‘With a little help from my friends’ on the Sgt Peppers Album. It

was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and is also sung by them.

It has some unusual features which we’ll go into more detail on later:

o It’s written in 3 different keys, A major for verses, Bb for pre chorus, G for chorus. It doesn’t end

in the same key as the beginning.

o The verses and pre chorus are written in a triple metre (3/4) and the chorus is quadruple metre

(4/4). Triple metre isn’t common in pop music.

o It uses unconventional instruments (Lowrey organ, tambura and maracas).

o Odd lyrics.

o It was described by The Beatles as experimental song writing.

The song provoked discussion over The Beatles drug use. John Lennon was open about their use of drugs at

times and admitted some of their songs were inspired by drug use. In 2004, Paul McCartney publicly

confirmed that the band uses drugs including LSD. The title of this song is said to represent LSD.

The song is classified as Psychedelic Pop. This is music which attempts to convey the way the brain is

affected by mind altering drugs. Many of these songs were written in the 1960’s.

The song is said to be inspired by a picture (a girl flying a kite, his friend Lucy) drawn by Julian, John’s son.

The lyrics are also inspired by Alice in Wonderland and the ‘Wool and Water’ chapter of Through the

looking glass.

Instrumentation:

John played acoustic guitar and sang most of the lyrics – some of these were doubled tracked.

Paul sang part of the song, added harmonies, played bass and Lowrey DSO Heritage organ, using celeste or

bell like sound.

o Lowrey Organ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZb_0brD71o

o Modern day Lowrey Organ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gi1Hos7N6Hk

o Listen to the Celeste sound: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSP_HorKQMc

Ringo played drums (as usual) and George Martin played piano.

George Harrison played distorted lead electric guitar (through a Leslie speaker) and also maracas (shakers)

and a drone on the tambura, an Indian instrument. Tambura Drone:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BncdMEMkxDI

An echo effect was added during recording, adding to the ‘spacey’ feel on the song.

Verse 1:

Verse 1 is made up of two almost identical melodies. It is sung by John, against the ostinato from the organ

and chord progression, but on the word ‘skies’ the organ melody changes, the chord is F major instead of D

minor.

The hi-hat and kick drum are heard, the bass has a short fill and the tambura drone is heard for the first

time.

Musically the melody is limited. In 8 bars the note C# is sung 10 times, the notes C#BA are sung 4 times

consecutively and the whole range is only 5 notes.

The notes C#-B on ‘river’ are quavers, but in the third line, on the word ‘slowly’ they are crotchets. This is

an example of tone painting.

Tone Painting: a musical device where the words of the song are depicted literally in the music. Here the

word slowly is sung on slower note values. It is sometimes called word painting or text painting.

For the 2nd half of the verse the accompaniment reverts to the organ ostinato. The bass guitar starts to

pick up pace. The last line of the verse is also double tracked. This helps to build momentum with the

addition of another voice.

Pre Chorus:

There is now a change of key from A major to Bb major. The tonic has shifted up semitone. This makes the

music feel as if it’s rising and getting more intense.

The pre chorus is thee to link the verse and chorus. Preparing the listener for the hook of the song. It

frequently changes key, the pre chorus can also vary in length.

The melody has a limited range, more so that the verse. Most of this is sung on a single note. The dynamic is

mp and the time signature is still 3/4. the chord changes every 2nd ar. The 2 halves are almost identical.

In the recording John sings single tracked again, the organ and tambura are silent and the cymbal and kick

drum play throughout the pre chorus. The echo effect stands out more here.

There is a bend, of a full tone in the guitar part. This is held for 5 beats and then released. This 4 bar

guitar pattern is head 4 times altogether in the pre chorus.

The last note of the pre-chorus is A on the word ‘gone’, where a number of musical elements change

suddenly:

The key changes again this time to G major.

The metre changes sharply to 4/4.

The dynamics change to forte.

The tempo is given as h=q – meaning that the tempo of a minim in the verse and pre chorus becomes the

tempo of a crochet in the chorus.

Chorus:

The energy of the song rises here. Changes to metre drive the song forward (quadruple metre). The key

changes again to G major. Paul sings the opening 2 lines of the chorus and john joins in by the 3rd. Lyrics are

based on the song title.

The first 2 lines are identical. When John joins in for the 3rd line, he sings a harmony a 3rd above the

melody:

The rate of chord change is also faster, so the harmonic rhythm has increased.

Remember that a single capital letter shows a major chord that is used in the harmony.

G – GBD, C = CEG, D = DF#A, C2 = CEGD.

While the chorus melody is being sung, there

is also a countermelody on the electric guitar played

through a Leslie speaker. This is a combination of an

amp and loudspeaker. The guitarist can control it

with a foot pedal.

The countermelody, also heard 3 times, is

made up of an ascending scalic passage followed by

repeated D’s. It’s heard a register below the vocals.

The countermelody is below. It’s heard 3

times with the second bar varies each time.

On the last bar of the chorus, on the word

‘Ah’, the organ sound returns, playing a D major

chord leading into the second verse and back to the

key of A major.

Verse 2:

Verse 2 follows the same format as verse 1, with 4 small changes:

o John’s singing is double tracked throughout the verse.

o The organ plays chords on the 3rd beat of each bar.

o The melody played previously on the organ is now played on the electric guitar.

o The tambura drone is heard throughout the verse.

The bass continues to play on the first beat of each bar and the lyrics are more obscure. Rocking horse

people eating marshmallow pies????

Pre Chorus:

This follows the same format as the first pre chorus. The only change is the lyrics. The last word, as

before, is ‘gone’ and again the song changes key, metre, tempo, dynamics as it builds for the chorus.

Chorus:

The chorus has the harmony in 3rd throughout, as seen in the 3rd line of the first chorus, and it is sung by

Paul and John.

Verse 3:

This verse follow the style and format of the first 2. The organ plays the same ostinato and the phrase

‘kaleidoscope eyes’ is used again. After verse 3 there is no pre chorus and the music goes straight from A

major to G major.

Chorus:

The final chorus has the usual 3 lines and the ‘Ah’. The first line is sung as a solo and the second and third lines

have the harmony in 3rds. The lead guitar plays the same countermelody as before.

Outro/Chorus:

The music of the chorus is used as an outro. Serving to end with familiar material. The 3 lines and the ‘Ah’ of the

chorus are repeated all in harmony and with the same countermelody. During the 3rd line the music starts to

fade.

The song ends with the 3 lines of the chorus sung for a final time getting continually softer.

The song ends on a D chord, which is the dominant of G major, creating an unfinished feel.

The lead guitar countermelody has an improvisatory bar towards the end:

Within You Without You

‘Within You Without You’ is the first song on the B side of LP and is the longest song on the album. Lyrics

and music by George Harrison.

There are lots of unusual features of this track:

o Combination of Western and Indian timbres.

o Use of Indian instruments: dilruba, sitar, tambura, swarmandal,table.

o Western instruments: violins and cellos.

o Some acoustic guitar.

o Written in a mode, rather than a major or minor key.

o Meaning reflects Hindu/Indian philosophy.

o Completely different to other Beatles tracks.

o Changing time signatures, including a significant number of bars in 5/4.

The tempo is describes as tempo rubato, which means to be played with flexibility of tempo and without a

strict beat.

Structure:

o Intro

o Verse 1

o Verse 2 (variation of verse 1)

o Chorus

o Instrumental section

o Verse 3 (similar to verse 2)

o Chorus

This is George Harrisons second song in the Indian Classical Style. The first was ‘Love to You’ in 1966. In

September 1966 George visited India for 6 weeks, he had sitar lessons with Ravi Shankar, studied yoga,

and immersed himself in Eastern/Hindu culture, philosophy and religion.

He returned in 1967 and a conversation at a party led to him sitting at a harmonium. He experimented with

the instruments and the melody of the song here. George later commented that the tone of a song is

determined by the instrument used when composing, and the harmoniums droning tone has similarities to

Indian instruments.

He finished the song at home and recorded it in March 1967. It loosely based on a 30 minute song by Ravi

Shankar using similar timbres.

This song is not influenced by drugs but by the message of ‘truth’ communicated from George’s Eastern

experience. The song received mixed reviews.

Harmonium – a type of organ where the wind is generated by means of hand pumped or foot pumped bellows.

It has a manual keyboard.

Instrumentation:

Sitar – Ravi Shankar (pictured) is world famous for playing this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOxv08CgK9A

Tambura https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BncdMEMkxDI

Tabla https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtRPB8xHP8M

Dilruba https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDRRrSYieU8

Swarmandal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzsSxfLKWdA

Indian Music:

RAGA: Raga means ‘colour’ and is the melodic basis of Indian music, which consists of 6 different modes

representing different mood. A raga is more than just a melody or mode.

o Swar – the actual notes or pitches of the melody, usually 5-9 notes.

o Alap – the slow introduction to the raga, ofter no strong rhythm.

o That – the structure of the mode.

o Jati – the number of notes in the raga.

o Pakad – the ascending and descending structure of the raga.

o Vadi – the more important notes of the raga.

The mood and the way the raga is played is more important than the notes. Different ragas are used for

different times of the day or season.

Within you Without You is written in the Khamaj that, similar to our mixolydian mode notated below. It is

like a major scale with a flattened 7th.

TALA: the tala is a repetitive rhythm heard in Indian music. It is usually played on the table. A talas length

is usually between 6 and 16 beats, with smaller groupings within the tala. The first beat of the tala is called

sam. The most common tala is called the tintal which has 16 beats and made up of four group (4+4+4+4).

The tintal is used in ‘Within You Without You’.

Introduction:

The intro starts with the alap, this is a drone on the tambura which lasts 99 bars! The pitch is notated as

middle C, but when the song was recorded it was played back a little faster and sounds as C#. On the

recording a fade in is used.

In bar 2 the dilruba enters with the melody below. The slurred notes represent swoops between notes and

set the mood for the song.

As the dilruba melody ends,

the swarmandal enters with a rising

glissando.

As the swarmandal ends, the

tabla enters with its 16 beat tintal, against a drone on the tambura and dilruba. It’s medium tempo is called

Madhya laya.

The tala continues with tiny variations right through the first verse and most of the second verse.

Verse 1:

The music for the verse is slow paced in reflective style, relating conversations between people. It starts

like this:

Note the interval from E to Bb, marked a tritone, this is 3 whole tones (E-Gb-Ab-Bb) although notated here

as a diminished 5th. This interval has an unstable aural effect. Its hard to tell the tonality. This was

considered the devil’s interval in medieval times!

The dilruba plays exactly the same melody as the vocal line throughout the song, and the voice imitates the

embellishment of the dilruba. This is a traditional feature of Indian music and is know as the bandish or the

gat.

Towards the end of verse 1 there is a change in the time signature (to 5/4) for one bar to accommodate the

natural emphasis of the vocals.

On the one and a half bars between the 2 verses the cellos are heard for the first time playing a short riff:

Verse 2:

The first 12 bars of the melody for verse 2 are exactly the same as verse 1. the lyrics in verse 1 are about

the ‘space’ between people, and verse 2 is about ‘the love we could share’. As before the dilruba doubles the

vocal line and the table continues with the same tala.

There is one important instrumental change in verse 2. The violins and cellos are heard playing a simple

melody in octaves alongside the vocals:

The melody changes at the end of verse 2. there is the highest register heard on the words ‘if they only

knew’ and the tala ends here too.

This phrase is similar to

the opening dilruba phrase

in the intro:

Between verse 2 and the

chorus there is a 3 bar instrumental fill on the dilruba and strings, ending with a pause. The tabla then has a

two beat fill. (in a single 2/4 bar) to lead to the chorus.

Chorus:

The chorus in this song isn’t as powerful as other Beatles songs, it carries on being reflective.

Note the following:

o Rhythmically it is very simple, in crotchet beats throughout.

o The crotchets are heard in 4/4 metre, with 2 changes to 5/4 to fit the lyrics in.

o The dilruba doubles the vocal line again.

o The tabla resumes the tintal tala.

o The violins play a short riff in the middle, similar to the cello riff between verse 1 and 2.

o The drone on the tambura continues on the note C.

o The cello joins the drone, also in C.

o The hook (the songs title) is only heard at the end of the chorus.

o There is no modulation – common in Indian music.

Instrumental:

This is unusually long. And is heard after the first chorus. It’s 35 bars long, with 27 bars in 5/4 metre and

8 bars in 4/4 metre. It’s introduced by a new tala called the jhaptal, which has 10 beats and continues in

the 5/4 section.

Final Chorus:

The tabla again has a two beat lead into the final chorus and then reverts to the tintal played earlier. The

tabla end abruptly on the word ‘you’.

The final chorus is similar to the first. The lyrics are different though. But it does end with the title of the

song. There are 2 5/4 metre bars again to fit in the lyrics and short violin riff.

The song ends on unresolved harmony.

The sighing motif is heard at the end. The pause creates a gentler end.

Because so many instruments were used in the song, as well as overdubbing, this piece isn’t often performed

live.

Recording Notes:

Floor mats were brought in and Indian instruments are traditionally played seated on the floor.

Incense was burned and Indian musicians recruited from the Asian music circle, some of whose names were

not recorded.

The first track recorded was the drone.

o Then the song in sections

o verse 1 2 and first chorus

o Instrumental

o Verse 3 and final chorus

The original recording was 6’25” this was later cut down to 5’03” and George later commented it should have

been even shorter.