BEATLES EXPERIMENT: What Happens When You Beatle-ify A Simple Song? (Feat Abbey Road Studios)
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- Опубликовано: 27 июн 2024
- What happens when you take a simple song with just 6 chords, throw a pile of Beatles songwriting techniques at it, and then have it mixed by Abbey Road Studios?
In 2024, a song with six chords in it no longer counts as a “simple song”. It’s sophisticated, avant-gard math-rock jazz fusion art pop.
Hahahahahahahahaha
You're not wrong
that's because of abuse of freedom and greed. and that is a bad thing.
Most pop stuff these days seems to be 3 or 4 chords played just once, and then a block "copy and paste" to fill out 4 minutes. The producer / engineer then walks through the track changing the channel mix / volumes to make it sound more varied than it is. By which time the singer (if it's not AI) has already gone home.
@@dave.F0X
That sounds a bit to generous to me.
@@dave.F0X and that's a bad thing! all money and greed, no authenticity and merit. I vote we wage war on this crap and make sure it will lose.
Wow! This is such a masterclass in song development and production. The end result is stunning. Brilliant.
Thanks so much :) Glad you like
Bloke has cracked the code
I loved this precious lesson, and the song did change from a cute caterpillar into a gorgeous butterfly, but I'm missing other things that made Beatles songs, like George's guitars and Ringo's drums.
I saw a documentary once by some famous Classical Conductor. I forget his name. But he broke down all the Beatles Songs and explained why every song was written so amazingly and how all the chords, chord progressions, harmonies etc. Were all super advanced and nothing like 99% of other song writers. They literally were a group of 4 guys all massively talented on another level & I'm sure Producers & the occasional musican friends who we all know helped too, but they had to all be that good themselves in the 1st place. What an amazing, lucky situation the Beatles were / are. Like a Super Group but were just a group of kids from the same area like millions of bands before or since & even with the knowledge of their abilities & other greats it's still so hard to make 1 hit song, let alone probably 100s of them by the Beatles & their Post Projects.
You're likely remembering Howard Goodall.
@@georgeryan3796Or Leonard Bernstein
Bernstein loved The Beatles and featured their music in one of his famous music lectures for children/students
George Martin deserves credit as well. He had advanced musical skills and training that impacted them.
This is better than 99% of songs that have charted in the last 20 years
It's shockingly bad.. come on
Thanks for this, James. Your own creativity is very impressive. Also, thanks for giving Martha My Dear the recognition it deserves.
Very informative, James, but Lennon and McCartney didn't overthink the thought process (or music theory) behind chord changes. For the most part -- and this is the important thing that most most modern songwriters do not grasp -- for the most part, John and Paul simply found whatever chords were necessary to follow the melody wherever it took them. Bacharach did the same thing. Instead of imposing their will on the song, they followed the Muse. That's why they ended up with unique chord changes and odd time signature changes that never felt forced (unlike the way most progressive rock changes sound like the musicians are just showing off their technical ability). Less gifted songwriters than the Beatles and Bacharach tend to create rigid 16-bar chord patterns and then force the melody to fit it. Like everything the Eagles ever did, and everything in today's boring pop and country markets.
Also, you make too big a deal out of "mixed at Abbey Road." So what. The name of the studio is nowhere near as important as the name of the people doing the mixing. Many of the local mix engineers here in Nashville could have done a better job in their home studio than the perfunctory mix you got from some unnamed people at "Abbey Road". Granted, they are probably not used to being stuck with only 4 tracks to work with. Loved your singing and guitar playing, but the song could really benefit from bass and drums, and more polished guitar textures and backing vocals. To my ears, it sounds like a demo. An unfinished production. Keep up the good work! I will tune in again to see how you are doing!
I totally agree with you!
How pompous, I thought, this person must have some great stuff on their channel.... But no, nothing at all. So obviously just a gob on a stick.
@mobsiesixsixsix9785 Ahhh, the world of RUclips commenters. How duuummb, to think intelligent people who make insightful and accurate comments on RUclips need their own channel to be legit.
@@BeatlesCentricUniverse Seems a bit odd that you both despise the Eagles..... Some might think you're actually defending your own sock puppet account.
@@mobsiesixsixsix9785 Hey RUclips "Genius:" I LOVE the Eagles. I'm quoting the famous line from The Big Lebowski because I got a copyright strike for posting an Eagles guitar solo. Calling my account a "sock puppet account" LOL. Another RUclips genius demonstrates he is actually unable to think on his own. Please go away Genius RUclips commenter. Bu-bye!
Fascinating analysis. I would say that a McCartney bass line is an essential component of a Beatles song with lots of 2nd inversions, descending scales and high obligatory bass fills. Even more backing vocals and a less overdriven lead guitar. I am currently preparing a Beatles showcase with Abbey Road style session orchestra and so am completely immersed in the sound world. Spot on with all the modulations and time changes. You are right about George Martin. Keep ‘em coming - great project.
Cheers - yeah if I was going for more than 4 tracks would definitely get some McCartney bass in there👍👍
Good luck with your showcase
@@JamesHargreavesGuitaractually paul and john would play together as one track. play back over another and tipple up a track thing they invented out of necessity are just a day in the office now.
Who in their right mind doesn't love the Beatles (along with ALL of music), and so your technique was a great idea, and resulted in a wonderful sounding song. Quite lovely and unique.
Nice breakdown on where and how to possibly drop in these beatley ideas 👍
No need to namedrop, but a studio musician friend once said that when music was in trouble, they'd turn to the Beatles. 60 years later and still relevant in so many ways.
Nice video. I'm not sure though Paul McCartney ever thought too deeply about that he was changing keys multiple times. It's was probably "hey that's sounds good". This creative use of chords and the bass note under it and the note you actually sing is the skill of a great song writer.
He's actually spoken about the early days where anytime he learned a new chord, he would try to find any way he knew how to try to work every chord he knew that would work, into a song. Likewise when he learned about keys and key changes, he would find any way he could to use it in his songs. What he lacked in technical knowledge, he would seek from people who knew.
Exactly. Nb this is not the way to go . James is a nice guy, I like it when he talks about bands/music. This is out of bounds, he's no singer to put it very very mildly.
@@Dehazer2112 this video will be of use to a lot of people, irrespective of how you feel about his singing
Luckily finding a good sound would take to long I think, considering the number and variety of songs he wrote. He has to know beforehand how it might sound. The formal terms and notation are just a convention for communicating that understanding to others, and not particularly important in the case of a small band.
@@Dehazer2112
Can’t disagree and it’s no hit lyric either. But, as a way to illustrate the tricks used at a time when very good song writers seem scarce, it’s fun and thought provoking.
I learned a lot from your video. The only area that I would say was lacking was the melodic invention that the Beatles had. This is very hard to imitate.
In 1993, master guitarist Phil Keaggy released “Everywhere I Look.” Being an avid Beatles fan, he delivered a very “Beatlesque” tribute to the style of the Fab Four. Give it a listen.
Great video James, I was on Spotify earlier today and realised you had released this on the 26th. Fun to see how it all came together.
cheers! yeah a few people noticed the new tune appearing on various platforms with no announcement… hopefully all makes sense now!
A 6 chord song is very complex for today's standards.
I discovered while watching this that I use several of these techniques myself in my own compositions without putting much thought into it - it just comes naturally to me. I am happy to see your analysis and application on how to make a good song even better (Beatle pun unintended). Thanks for sharing!
Love it. Great job explaining the chord changes and the application to your song. I guess your already aware of the step and half up change in , "Your gonna lose that girl" and the pivot chord being F then back down to E. I wanted to mention also the one in "Shes's a woman jumping up two steps from A to C# in the chorus and D to E getting back the Key of A. I do really love the way the beatles used those changes. This was so much fun to see this come to life!
Can you recommend a good book that is simple and explains chord theory. Also I can only read Tab , but I've been playing for years and only now am I starting to learn the all the positions of the major and minor pentatonic across the whole neck....I was stuck in a box before.
Cool video.
Lots of good thoughts and ideas here.
Brilliant.💪👍🥃🎸
I absolutely love this song James... Its got everything I love about songwriting and melody .. and some real Marshall Crenshaw/XTC vibes .. and being a fellow Baritone singer I love what you did with your voice! Oh and your use of open chord voicings remind me of another guy I worked with .. Emitt Rhodes
This whole process was a lot of fun to watch...and you simply can't go wrong by studying and applying the methods of The Beatles if you're a songwriter or composer...so interesting, yet accessible, and they never repeated themselves! I think the second version of your song is the best (and you could and should make a video about how you played lead over those changes), but I do think adding some drums at some point would take it to another level (Ringo's clever drum patterns could be yet another useful tool to talk about as well)...keep up the good work!!!
Well done!! Thanks for explaining what you were doing too, youre quickly becoming one of my favorite channels. Tastefully artistic songwriting seems like its disappearing. It had a bit of an Oasis vibe as well (obviously, they were massive beatles fans). Any band would be lucky to have u.
What a process. And what a finished work! Thanks.☺️
Glad you enjoyed it :)
Absolutely STUNNING! I am in awe. Thank you for sharing this!!! Fabulous 👍🏼 Do another one!!!
Wow! That was amazing. You made it come to life! Your guitar playing is just perfection!
It's great to see these ideas put into practice. This is a really inspiring video!
Many thanks, as always,
Ryan
Fascinating and educational! I'll need to study what you've done here. Thank you! 🙂
Brilliant liked the finished version best. Thank you for this I learned a lot.
Awesome lesson in various songwriting techniques with the Beatles as a perfect example of interesting progressions with how melody note selection ties it all together. Subbed. And now I'm motivated to finally put something together of my own!🥰
Well done, James! That is a very thorough mini-class in specific songwriting techniques. And, you didn't too caught up in a lot of music theory! I appreciate being reminded that The Beatles learned from earlier music "masters." Music seems to be a lot like science where new tunes or compositions are based on what came before in a new musical expression. Cheers, mate!
Thanks now I am gonna be hearing that song in my head for the next week non stop. It was brilliant!
Love this!! Well done and keep it completely "Beatle-fied" it's perfect!
Thanks so much!
I’m not sure I fully heard the simpler version but I do really love this end product. I love the key changes which honestly weren’t super noticeable which is exactly what you were going to. This video did inspire me and I did learn something key about music.
The final mix is awesome- fantastic!
Awesome and illuminating demonstration.
Bravo, thanks for the great ideas in creating interest. Much appreciated!
Sounds better than anything I've heard on the radio that's for sure. Nicely done
Loved this video James! You made it look so easy even if it's not. Really cool song aswell, already saved it on Spotify. More videos like this one please!
Love the tune and I'm really impressed with how you evolved it into a much more interesting listen.
Thanks for this practical example! You're helping us develop very important skills to bring great art into the world.
Lots of great ideas here. Some particularly sweet moments. Thanks.
I have learned from your lesson, I, an eternal and inept beginner. But just as important is to say how moved I am by your kindness and generosity, as through your effort in these lessons, you are helping people you don't even know. This shows a great and generous spirit!
That was excellent! Lot's of great techniques to which one could apply to the songwriting process.
Another excellent video. I'm glad I found your channel.
Great James. And fully loaded with XTC vibes! You need to interview Andy Partridge.
I love what you did to the Beatles-like version. I know you didn't want to add keyboard into it, but I think it would have been cool to have some keyboard replicating a string section or just a good organ sound. Not trying to be critical in the least. I've watched 2 of your videos and have learned so much! Besides this one, I watched your video on the secret scale that the greats like Clapton and Page used to approach their lead theory. It simply never occurred to me that when playing lead in a chord progression to deviate from playing pentatonic scales that work for whatever key the chord progression is in that you could play the scales of the key over each chord change of the song. Thanks so much! You're a brilliant and cool guy 😎
Interesting experiment. Sounds more 70's than 60's to me.... minor quibble. Thanks! and... Beatles 4ever 🎶
Brilliant idea and presentation! James
Very fine. I learned a whole lot. Kudos to you.
Thnx
Interesting view and good examples showing the techniques.
Loved your "explanations" of Sgt Pepper and Magical Mystery Tour too BTW.
Thank you, very well done and informal!
Awesome, nice break down. Cool song too.
Wow! What an amazing learning experience
Very thoughtful, practical and a great illustration of the power of creativity in music. 😃
Excellent changes. Wow. Thanks for this from a huge lifelong Beatles fan.
Very very good mate. Thanks for sharing
What I love is that it doesn't sound like it was done by another rabid beatles fan, you used the techniques but still got your own modern sound,,,,not that theres anything wrong with rabid Beatles fans...i've just heard so much, could be the AI fakers in udio....i joined a group on facebook with 32k members called "post your original song here"...i think you might attract some more subs over there, Well done...and I'm putting these tips into my songs haha
love the harmony
The result is great and improves the song much. At looking at chords for beatles songs they did make some interesting chords changes that make the songs more exciting.
Really good stuff - the song is great and the mix is great too - well done, fantastic videos on cracking the code! You deserve good success from this. In the same mode you might like to look at and de-construct a couple of albums that are a connaisseur's take on the whole psychadelic era ('66-'68) by XTC, although they decided to use a different bandname for the albums and pretended it wasn't them! - the albums are 25 O'Clock and Psonic Psunspot and the group name is The Dukes of Stratosphear. You can hear the most amazing pastiche of effects and styles from the late 60s, brilliantly observed - lots of Beatlification too. They are such an enjoyable listen.
I will be applying the ii V turnaround. Top tip, thanks 👍
Brilliant video. So interesting (as a non-musician) to learn about these songwriting tricks. Also great to be shown the logic behind why songs "feel" the way they do - e.g. by the use of key changes.
Thanks! You're right about the connection between the key changes and the feelings they evoke. There's a famous quote by Charles-Henri Blainville that without the key changes there is 'little music' because the true feelings come via the key changes. Pop Music today has none of these... is it any surprise then that it just doesn't move people as it once did?
@@JamesHargreavesGuitar Great quote. I'm also amazed by how the sound/feel of a chord can change so much just by changing one note in that chord!
A very interesting exercise. Well done.
This was really fun and I learned a thing or two. With these skills, I'd like to see you turn a Beatles song into a Beach Boys song and vice versa.
Intresting video... I like your lead guitar bits...
Wonderful!
Boss vid and really informative as always.
Oh, did we ever need this! 💐re. your comment about the Beatles having picked up these composition techniques from others before them makes a lot of sense. I’ve become intrigued by the "flip-side" of the 1960’s counterculture, meaning that despite the avalanche of exciting and fun new music there was also something lost. Perhaps the Beatles were one of the few who preserved some of the harmonic language of past music in their songs while many others were content with the simpler basic 3- or 4-chord songs. I’m of course oversimplifying things, but there is such a harmonic richness and depth in some of the music that got washed away in the excitement of the moment. I’m glad that people like you take up the challenge to bring back what we lost.
Great vid. Beatles used so many borrowed chords from other keys. Yesterday is such an interesting song using the 2 5 back to the relative minor . When I analysed it years ago I realised that both the melody and the em7 to a7 are all in the D melodic minor scale. Also they used this same trick on Here there and everywhere
The advice in this video is pure gold to me as I have a number of songs I wrote back in the late 80's that could do with this treatment. Thanks for the enlightenment. Oh and your song sounds more Sumner/Marr than Beatles.
Definitely an improvement. Sounds like some happy Steely Dan with special guests the beach boys gleaming some good ole Beatles vibes.
I'm not a musician, however I did enjoy this as an exercise in learning how to listen to music and think about how they went about creating the songs I hear. I will say the first version in the second version were very different and it was fascinating to see how you got from point A to point b
Brilliant lesson.
I’m never sure if Macca thinks too deeply about his harmony. I think he probably does, but not in music theory. Same with John.
Love it. Although the lead guitar early on didn't really work for me... But such a fantastic example of a real, practical songwriting approach. Amazing!
For your viewers, “Yesterday” is in the Key of F. Paul tuned down a whole step so you could use G form chords. So the G is really an F. You have great vocals, perfectly in tune. You are blessed with that unique talent.
Love it.
Very cool . Great study ❤
Great song! The solo is sick!!
That was fun.
Black and white video also important if it’s early-Beatlefication.
Thanks for the education about the chord changes and the structure of the song. I also thought the time change worked well. With the mix I though the electric guitar pop to much and was distracting, not really mixing. Sounded good in the solo, also I like your description of what you did in the solo to signal the time change. The video was well worth my time; Thank You
i love this
OK...I'm impressed. Well done.
Very interesting and very well made video! You obviously spent a lot of time preparing and making this video, so I hope it'll get you a lot of views. One thing that I would have appreciated are chapters though. It allows more easily to go back to parts that one didn't fully get the first time or re-watch later when trying to apply these techniques. Or if you want to hear the result of each step first and then go back to the theory later. Would also be cool for before/after comparisons.
BOTH yes definitely BOTH are good, ugh, I mean Great it's great every which way, do both. Dude you are brilliant and gifted. Would be nice to here how you did the words and first chord choices and melody as well. Great song.
Loved it
Great job❤
Beautiful Lowden.
GREAT video!!! Thank you very much. God bless :)
Also the use of 7th chords.
Top tune & the changes definately improved it. Unexpected/ interesting parts are so important
Great vid!
Cheers 😎
Honestly, I liked the second version a lot, but I liked the 1st version more. Sounds more straightforward to me. The 2nd sounds like the ending song of an epic movie with a teenager as a main character (which I love).
Very interesting video!! Certainly a big improvement on your original idea!!
good effort! i think much of the Beatles' magic was in the vocal harmonies, interesting chord progressions and a smattering of different instruments, the lyrics weren't amazing until their middle period but appealed by their simplicity, also mixing major and minor chords added to the magic.
Martha My Dear, as well as other compositions by The Beatles include Bach's "Counterpoint" along with these chord changes.
Perhaps a deep dive into Counterpoint found in various Beatles songs would be another fun adventure!
Yes, the song is highly improved by adding these creative chord changes. In reality, a completely different song, altogether!
Thanks for the refreshment!!!
Makes me wonder whether a Beatles song might be "Bachified ". Bet old JS would have been ready to have a go. Especially with Martha my Dear, say.
I have no knowledge of music theory, but I can tell you beatlified it very well. Also, I'm shocked you can just send songs to Abbey Road.
Wow❤, this is the 1st modern song I’ve liked,
Good stuff!
A very interesting video. I liked all of the demonstrations of the techniques. To my ears it may be a bit busy. The goal of demonstrating the techniques was met beautifully. If I were to try this I might do as you have and thrown all the tricks in, but then as I moved into the producing I’d add and subtract techniques perhaps eliminating a trick or two to avoid the impression that I’m going overboard or getting too cute with the techniques. “Yesterday” is really subliminally. Over use could have your audience looking for the tricks rather than investing in the song. Good job!!!
Another great video James. Did you use these techniques in any of your songs?
Also, cracking gig in Edinburgh last week!