He played come together the way Paul played I know because I have a book called: The Beatles, Complete scores which features a quick history of the band and all the songs they ever made with each instruments parts written exactly as the band played them, quick thing: I am not trying to be a dick here
He's my favorite bass player...so many Beatles songs are driven by his bass lines, so melodic and inventive. Just listen to the isolated tracks, and you can tell he's having fun. He said he would record his bass lines last, so he could focus on them, and it shows. If all he'd ever done was play bass for the Beatles, he'd still be a genius.
Rob Clarke to make it a tad easier, couldn’t you just use the bridge foam and flats with a pick playing right before the end of the fretboard? That’s what I usually do when playing my p bass and it usually gets a good Beatles era sound.
My favourite Hofner setup is; bridge pickup on, "solo" on, treble up a bit on the amp, gain up a bit on amp, palm mute, pick near bridge. Edit: oh, and yeah. Flatwounds are a must.
Wonderful. Paul, I think, deserves more credit for his work as a bassist. His bass lines were always so innovative, and served the Beatles' repertoire so well. Truly remarkable.
Yep. There are some good videos on how to play it. Come Together has always been one of my all time favorite Beatles song and it’s that bass that really makes this song great.
buckbumble Obviously, come together is missing the iconic slide. Taxman does have that extra note, however. Listen to the left channel of the stereo mix closely. It’s there, it’s always been there, it’s just very fast and very slight.
Just about all of them are. They're played straight with no inflection or feel either, like somebody reading from a book aloud in monotone. Reverb could have done so much better with this video, which is supposed to be about Paul's technique.
For Come Together, it's obvious how it's played from the isolated bass track elsewhere on youtube. The title of this video is "McCartney's bass techniques", and one of his most unique, identifiable techniques was the slide, Come Together being the most FAMOUS example. I mean, you have to be purposely trying to screw up to misplay one of the most iconic basslines (and incidentally the source for Flea's line on "Give It Away") in the history of rock. Except for that, I thought the video was helpful. I had shut post "Band on the Run" McCartney out of my mind, but he did do some good stuff later on.
03 Surfer Yes, and by omitting the final slide off the C in the fast Taxman riff, he doesn't realize that he's playing the whole thing (after the beginning D-A-D) wrong. As far as I can tell, Paul actually plays it by sliding (not hammering on) from the G to the A with his index finger, hitting the C (15th fret the A string) with his pinkie, and coming back to that C after hitting the high D on the 12th fret, then sliding back to repeat the figure. It's the only easy way to get that last slide in.
eddythelol I can confirm that the extra note is there in the start of the song, at the very least. Listen to the stereo mix and isolate the left channel on a nice set of headphones (using Audiotechnica ATH-M50 myself and I can hear it) and you’ll hear him hit it twice as a fast 16th (almost 32nd) note, its slightly faster than as played here. In the clip he plays right after he plays the example you can hear it, by the way.
I saw The Beatles in 1963 at my local dance hall(yes I am that old!)and what struck me was how loud and powerful his bass was, much more up front than on record. My schoolmate had just bought their first album which we raved about but seeing them play live was ten times better.
C'mon dude, you didn't do "She's So Heavy" one of not just McCartney's greatest basslines but also one of The Beatles greatest/heaviest songs and the first Doom metal song to exist.
Such a great video! As a guitar player who’s always appreciated the many amazing riffs from the Beatles, it’s great to see Paul’s bass lines broken down like this. The man is a true legend and a genius. As always, another fantastic video, Reverb!
I just ran across this great video, but Paul's style of playing hadn't escaped me. In fact, just the opposite, it was what caught my attention from early Beatles recordings forward. The reason is that I played lead guitar in a band, quite a few years ago now, and then switched to bass. When I did that, I was playing bass and improvising more melodically, such as a lead guitar player would, rather than largely just playing the basic "foundation beat" typically heard on many songs. I didn't even realize it myself, until someone brought it to my attention. Maybe I was subconsciously influenced by Paul on Beatles and Wings songs, or maybe it was because I had played lead before, so my brain was wired that way. When I listened to the examples in this video, Paul's way of playing bass seem a lot more like playing the instrument "lead style" than what the bass more typically does within a song, and that helps the song to stand apart from many others, which is what originally caught my attention listening to them. I suppose it was one of the so called "secrets" of The The Beatles sound.
When I first got into listening to music (and playing guitar) I wasn't aware of the bass. I never listened closely till I started using headphones and then I was really blown away by Paul's craftsmanship. He played bass almost like it was lead guitar. Take Lovely Rita: it just really propels the song. It's bouncy and has this nice flow that acts hmm...I dunno...perhaps a counter-melody...but it works. I could give many more examples, but then this would become an essay. Listen w/ headphones or turn up the subwoofer to get it going. After I became more aware of the bass, I listened to Entwistle, Jones (Led Zep), Lee of Rush and many others to realize the bass REALLY adds a lot. I played the bass in a classic rock cover band. After getting bored w/ playing roots of chords, I started to develop more flow and improvasation. Don't get me wrong, anchoring the chord structure is fine to begin w/ but once you start figuring more out, you can come up w/ some interesting ways to make songs and music in general more interesting....🎸✌️
The amount of criticisms in the comments are well-justified. Reverb should have a higher standard for research, especially when it comes to a band as well-documented as The Beatles. I'm not even sure where you got "Taxman" being one of "George's first songs with The Beatles." That's just flat out wrong. Listen to Sheik of Araby, or Three Cool Cats. Or even "In Spite Of All The Danger" which was co-written by Paul and George in 1958 when they were 14-15 years old.
Braclo93 I think by the time he mentions Taxman, most of us had already given up on the presenter. One of George's earliest compositions was the instrumental "Cry for a Shadow", which he wrote with John Lennon. It is interesting from the bass point of view, too. It shows that Maca's influence on bass and melodic bass lines was/is Jet Harris. But this had gone sailing over the presenter's head.
You were doing so well at picking out Paul bass lines, but then you had to put Helter Skelter at the end. That song was actually played by John on a Fender Bass VI.
I have a Harley Benton Bass VI, it is extremely fun to play. I run it through a bass amp and a guitar amp and do a wet dry kind of thing. I am not good, but I have a good time.
@@matsgoalkeeping2448He used Rotosound Tapewounds I’m for Let it Be and Abbey Road, he used Labella’s for awhile, but he switched back to pyramids recently, which are the original strings he used on the early Beatles records.
What amazed me about Paul is his being able to sing while playing bass without losing a beat and some of the bass lines you hear, don't sound easy... basically I'm a rhythm guitarist and vocalist brought up on 60's music, Beatles being the #1, they were definitely well above the ordinary. I envied how Paul was able to sing and play bass at the same time, same goes for George with his guitar playing in "If I Needed Someone" But then again there were many artists who had that ability... another being John Fogerty.
Great video and I LOVED the acknowledgement of his Wings stuff. I wish you would have covered the live version of "Coming Up" from Wings, as I think it's criminally underrated.
Man... any bass players out there that can nail Rain and Paperback Writer? High five for you. I never even attempted. Screw it. I went straight to A Day In The Life. Love that bass walking during the transition.
I like these kind of videos because they remember me to sometimes take a look back at musicians from earlier times and listen to the influences of the ones the influenced me to play
Very, very instructive and giving credit that many of us, though we already knew enough to appreciate some of the more audible bass lines, learned how really little we had heard or knew how to appreciate. Thank you.
This gave me a new appreciation for the Beatles, thanks! And all the haters in the comments section, I can’t wait to hear your perfect versions! *eye roll*
I''m not a bass player (or even a guitarist at all) but I rather enjoyed this video - and then I read the comments. I am really amazed at the consistently negative critiques of the video. So consistent that it must be true that this guy's interpretations and/or transcriptions are quite off the mark. The question is, how can a player that is seemingly quite skilled get it all so wrong? Any thoughts?
Yeah i already had the urge to click off when i heard that you played Come Together and Taxman wrong. And then you played Helter Skelter at the end, while that's a line played by John on the Fender VI. I even think that George plays bass on Taxman, not sure though.
Elliott T -Paul plays bass as well as the guitar solo on Taxman. -The extra note is there. Listen to the start of the song again with some nice headphones. Find the stereo mix (2009 remaster will do but there are many options) and isolate the left channel. It’s there.
MrSamsky I just listened to Taxman with my Mixing Headphones. He indeeds plays the low D twice, but at the end of the riff he brings it back to the high D. Alot of people do that while covering the song, but it isn't correct in any way shape or form.
Funny as a HUGE lifelong Beatles fan I never really loved Sgt Peppers they way I should until a day in 1997 when i listened to it while tripping on LSD. It was like hearing it for the first time, and the whole experince was like riding a roller coaster and that roller coaster was Paul's bass playing. It was an amazing moment of awe that i relive every time i listen to any Beatles now.
Jack Roberts oh dude! Have you heard the totally stereo-remixed 2017 version yet? I listened to it while tripping on acid about 2 weeks ago and it was the most enjoyable thing I've ever heard. My dad and I sat there tripping and listened to Rubber Soul, Revolver, and then Sgt. Pepper's in a row.
yes but Spice Girls sounds good on LSD. The Osmund's sound good on LSD. Good Charlotte sound good on LSD. My late grandfather farting into antique biscuit tin sounds good on LSD.
IMO digitally-produced music sounds like shit on acid. DAWs are an amazing tool, but modern production techniques are too "perfect;" every drumbeat is exactly on time to the ms, every vocal is precisely tuned, etc. It makes the music sound flat and lifeless. If you like it that's fine, but I can tell you that I would not find it enjoyable, sober or otherwise.
@@Frst2nxt I'm a pretty far muso and I tried and tried and tied to do that. Ditto with playing (up high) and singing the harmony to Day Tripper. SO damn difficult yet the Liverpool Maestro makes it looks so damn easy and natural to me - which to him perhaps it is. This alone(!) makes him a genius in my eyes. As if acknowledging the challenge, the utterly beyond brilliant guitarist Tommy Emmanuel used to do a version of Day Tripper instrumentally quite early in his career where he'd start the riff the play the melody on top, no vocal. I think it was recorded and might be available on the Net if anyone wants to chase it. He also did Michelle, all parts on one guitar. Post-2000 others have risen to the challenge I saw a seriously mind-blowing sol version of Strawberry Fields a little while back! All goes to show that over 50 years on, the boys still inspire many, many musicians.
Almost impossible to replicate though. Paul was definitely improvising throughout most of the song. Especially on the subtle runs that he throws in before landing on the "1" towards the middle of the song.
I really think your playing is excellent and disagree with many of the comments... yes, there is a slide in come together and that should probably have made it into this video.. Still, I think you did an excellent job... “Something” sounds wonderful and Taxman is stellar... I really love Paul’s playing on “While my guitar gently weeps”... double-stop 5ths strummed like a guitar .. beautiful.. would love to see that sometime in the future..
I had a Hofner violin bass in the early seventies. I thought black plastic covered strings sounded best and made the bass look a million dollars, which is about what cost nowadays.
secretagntman242 - What’d be the right strings? Really asking, genuine curiosity, not snark. I learned to play bass guitar as a first instrument, owing to my love of funk and of interesting rhythms and grooves generally (I think that’s the opposite journey from what a lot of people take: folks play guitar but then somehow “default” to bass), then four years later I picked up a guitar out of curiosity and kinda stuck with that. But electric bass guitar is still my first love, I noodle on an old Rick for fun all the time. What strings would you recommend, and why, if I were to add a Höfner to my arsenal? 🙂
Good Morning, Good Morning has an excellent bass line that carries the whole song and another Paul guitar solo. I Want You (She's So Heavy) John is playing guitar in unison with his singing and Paul is playing another melody to round out the song. There are too many to list here. A lot of Beatle bass lines after the touring years are very good.
Good try but not quite. Come Together is a slide up part, the D is played back on the 5th fret and slid up. Also the 8th notes on Hello Goodbye are mostly downstrokes. All ya gotta do is watch how Paul plays it, they’re not straight 8ths they’re swung. Taxman is wrong. I stopped after Hello Goodbye. I’d delete this video and do more research first
Pepijn seriously? Go listen to the recording. There’s no “double d” in the main line. This guy read some tab book and didn’t use his ears. That’s not what Paul Plays. Sometimes the kick drum and bass are off and it sounds that way but that’s not what’s played. Also the 2nd part is all wrong. Paul played quicker notes in that section. And not the same every time
This has motivated to finally figure out exactly what Paul is doing in the fast riff. It all comes down to understanding how he slides off the C at the end of the riff. My theory is that after the D-A-D beginning, Paul slides up (not hammering on) from the G to the A with his index finger, hitting the C (15th fret the A string) with his pinkie, and coming back to that C after hitting the high D on the 12th fret, then sliding back to repeat the figure. It's a lot of position shifting, but the only way to get that last slide in, uh, "flowingly". It's somewhat similar to what he did on Come Together three years later (just a lot faster).
The hardest thing for a bass player is to have his own distinctive style and sound, and Paul McCartney definitely had both, that's what made him such a unique and innovator bass player.
Mrs. Featherbottom They’re keepin it classic with his first signature lol. But yeah it would’ve been cool if he used that Rickenbacher tho because that too was his bass
As a fan of the ric and hofner... this isn't true. you can tell that by him not getting the ric till halfway through(65) and STILL using the hofner on some songs.
Toxic Potato really fast neck, short scale, doesn’t weigh 40 lbs like a MTD or one of your fancy pants active basses with the $3000 Bartolini handwound pickups lol
would have been great to hear these on a rickenbacker but still, great vid! i love that you included Goodnight Tonight, in most videos people stop at Silly Love Songs, even though there are many badass basslines Paul has done after '76. some songs that i would have loved to see (hear): Think for Yourself's fuzz bass, Rain, Hey Bulldog, I Want You, the live version of Coming Up... there are so many to choose from.
The "instructor" is probably the stiffest bass player I've ever heard. No nuance, the slides & palm muting that McCartney used to such great effect is nowhere to be found. It's almost like a MIDI "ElecBass" tone fed the sheet music of the lines... horrible. If you want to cop any of McCartney's TONE play flatwounds or tapewounds and learn how to palm mute & play with a pick. He used a pick 90% of the time by his own admission. But trying to play exactly like the man is senseless & lame. Take bits of his technique and add it to your personal approach...but try to develop your own identity on any instrument you play. Because bottom line bass players all sound the same to non musicians, what makes the bassist an integral part of a band is his/her sympathy to the song and other players in the band. That's a McCartney technique everyone should cop...
You asked for McCartney songs you didn't get to that have cool bass lines: Rain, With a Little Luck, Mrs Vandebilt, See Your Sunshine, Band on the Run, and about a thousand others!
"This one of the first songs that George Harrison had with the Beatles on record." Excuse me, but they had already recorded a several Harrison songs by that point. On "With the Beatles", "Help" and "Rubber Soul." Some light research might help here.
I really like this Paul McCartney Bass Guitar technique video. What I would really love to know is: are you using a pick between your thumb and index finger? It looks like, when you raise your right hand, you don't have a pick. Just like when I watch Paul McCartney play, I can't tell if he is using a pick.
One of most effective bass lines is on Don't Let Me Down... "I'm in love for the first time" etc. The descending bass completely transforms the feeling of the melody and makes the song. Imagine it with a simple root note - yuck
You're playing the wrong Hofner. That's a 1965 or later Hofner, not a '61 or '62 that Paul used. And when you make a video about Paul's bass playing techniques, play those techniques right. Your playing both bass lines wrong
@@maxlove8894 no he had a 'cavern' 61 hofner with the tighter string placement, which was stolen. He then got a 63 model which he still has today. Hope this helps.
@@paulakapablo1749 Na I don't care if you look like Paul but if you can play like Paul, that's impressive. The guys at Reverb clearly can't do that. You are exaggerating a lot. I'm just annoyed how they make a video talking about Paul's Bass techniques, yet they don't even play Come Together right.
real quick insignificant correction: the come together bassline actually starts on the 5th fret of the A string, THEN slides up to the 12th fret. the remainder is played the same way you did in this video :)
Sgt Pepper album was his explosion. Fundamental to that whole sound. But it's often not realised how Paul's bass lines were key to the magic of other Beatles' songs. Something already covered. But where would Don't Let Me Down be without that wonderful tripping descending line that accompanies "I'm in love for the first time.... It's a love that's gonna last". And how about Ballad of John and Yoko. It gives the whole song a groove which lifts it from gentle singalong to a statement.
@@WELLBRAN Jack Bruce influenced me after Roger Waters. Roger Waters was my gateway into becoming a bass player. From there I learned to appreciate other bass players. I have a poster of Jack Bruce and Clapton side by side in my room I do not have a poster of Roger Waters
Yeah I’m not even a bass player and I know it’s wrong, plus I had to laugh a bit at you saying taxman was one of George’s first songs on records or something like that. Tryy don’t bother me mate, might want to know a few basics about the fab 4 before you try making a video on Paul’s playing
I believe basslines can be interpreted in different ways and still be right but you can't not slide on come together
this
Totally agree, got to slide up on the D string and back down on the G string, somewhat.
@@FiremanSam60 that
the 11th commandment:
_thou shall not _*_not_*_ slide when playing bass on Come Together_
Video title: *Paul Mccartney bass techniques*
*proceeds to fuck up his most iconic bassline in the first 2 seconds of the video*
I love Paul's bass playing on "Don't Let Me Down".
Pure flowing groove one that track. Has James Jamerson written all over it.
Yeah and also the something bass line is good
I love to play the song. The end is super cool
@@bernardosantos8020 yeh pauls more a bassline guy rather than a solo or slap bass player.
Yes! Way cool!
In this ever changing world, one thing remains constant: the people at Reverb don't know how to play Beatles songs.
He played come together the way Paul played I know because I have a book called: The Beatles, Complete scores which features a quick history of the band and all the songs they ever made with each instruments parts written exactly as the band played them, quick thing: I am not trying to be a dick here
I’ve heard the complete scores book has a lot of inaccuracies
@@ManWithNoExpression I know this is random but i like your channel.
Thanks man I appreciate it! Let me know if you've got any song requests.
@@ManWithNoExpression "Little Miss Strange" i guess
He's my favorite bass player...so many Beatles songs are driven by his bass lines, so melodic and inventive. Just listen to the isolated tracks, and you can tell he's having fun. He said he would record his bass lines last, so he could focus on them, and it shows. If all he'd ever done was play bass for the Beatles, he'd still be a genius.
1 Use Flatwound strings.
2 Palm mute using a pick.
3 high tone and treble.
Rob Clarke to make it a tad easier, couldn’t you just use the bridge foam and flats with a pick playing right before the end of the fretboard? That’s what I usually do when playing my p bass and it usually gets a good Beatles era sound.
McCartney almost always rolled his tone/treble down - especially during the Beatles years.
My favourite Hofner setup is; bridge pickup on, "solo" on, treble up a bit on the amp, gain up a bit on amp, palm mute, pick near bridge.
Edit: oh, and yeah. Flatwounds are a must.
@@absolving I used to play my dad's 63 500/1 he bought as a teen. That's spot on the formula for the tone. Still one of my favorite bass sounds ever.
@@jpollackauthorHe couldn’t really roll down his tone in the early years with his Hofner. No tone knob.
McCartney is without a doubt one of the most influential bass players ever and he's just considered one of the greatest musicians ever in general
Sausa X yeah
I think J S Bach might disagree
You meant James Jamerson, I'm sure ;) The Hook!
Paul McCartney and Pete Townshend are 2 of the most well round musicians, singer/songwriters. Talent. They can play any instrument well.
@@trajan6927 They’re both mostly self taught on those instruments too.
Wonderful. Paul, I think, deserves more credit for his work as a bassist. His bass lines were always so innovative, and served the Beatles' repertoire so well. Truly remarkable.
In fairness, he's universally hailed as a great bassist. Just Google it. ;-)
I doubt he could get more credit than he does
He's considered one of the best, if not the best, bassists in rock history. That's pretty good credit for his work, dontcha think?
"Learn to play" plays come together wrong
And Taxman
Yep. There are some good videos on how to play it. Come Together has always been one of my all time favorite Beatles song and it’s that bass that really makes this song great.
There is multiple ways to play it though I agree taxman was wrong
Squid Team! No he played taxman right, there is a double note in the actual song. Paul thought it would be something new.
Parka Monkey1205 he missed a lot of nuance in the chorus though
The first two bass lines are played incorrectly.
buckbumble Obviously, come together is missing the iconic slide.
Taxman does have that extra note, however. Listen to the left channel of the stereo mix closely. It’s there, it’s always been there, it’s just very fast and very slight.
no, with Taxman I think he's referring to 1:20 where he misses the final slide of the phase..really deflates it
Just about all of them are. They're played straight with no inflection or feel either, like somebody reading from a book aloud in monotone. Reverb could have done so much better with this video, which is supposed to be about Paul's technique.
For Come Together, it's obvious how it's played from the isolated bass track elsewhere on youtube. The title of this video is "McCartney's bass techniques", and one of his most unique, identifiable techniques was the slide, Come Together being the most FAMOUS example. I mean, you have to be purposely trying to screw up to misplay one of the most iconic basslines (and incidentally the source for Flea's line on "Give It Away") in the history of rock.
Except for that, I thought the video was helpful. I had shut post "Band on the Run" McCartney out of my mind, but he did do some good stuff later on.
03 Surfer Yes, and by omitting the final slide off the C in the fast Taxman riff, he doesn't realize that he's playing the whole thing (after the beginning D-A-D) wrong. As far as I can tell, Paul actually plays it by sliding (not hammering on) from the G to the A with his index finger, hitting the C (15th fret the A string) with his pinkie, and coming back to that C after hitting the high D on the 12th fret, then sliding back to repeat the figure. It's the only easy way to get that last slide in.
Could everyone stop saying he played the songs wrong and appreciate Paul with him please
That's not how you play Come Together.
Stevesk0011 I know! Where's the slide?
Nathan Retherford right! Slide in and slide out
Exactamundo!
eddythelol I think that extra note is there. It's just not very noticeable
eddythelol I can confirm that the extra note is there in the start of the song, at the very least. Listen to the stereo mix and isolate the left channel on a nice set of headphones (using Audiotechnica ATH-M50 myself and I can hear it) and you’ll hear him hit it twice as a fast 16th (almost 32nd) note, its slightly faster than as played here. In the clip he plays right after he plays the example you can hear it, by the way.
The most impressive thing about Paul for me is he does this pretty intricate stuff while singing, much Like Geddy Lee.
I saw The Beatles in 1963 at my local dance hall(yes I am that old!)and what struck me was how loud and powerful his bass was, much more up front than on record. My schoolmate had just bought their first album which we raved about but seeing them play live was ten times better.
C'mon dude, you didn't do "She's So Heavy" one of not just McCartney's greatest basslines but also one of The Beatles greatest/heaviest songs and the first Doom metal song to exist.
You think so? I've always found his glisses in the outro obnoxious.
Mrs. Featherbottom the excessive groove turns me on
+ Mrs. Featherbottom Actually Paul admittedly stole the muted glissando idea from Brian Wilson on Pet Sounds. So it isn't even a "Paul" technique.
Indeed, Paul may have gotten it from Pablo Casals on one of Bach's cello pieces.
Mr.Pastorius 100% agreed
Great video man, the best lines!
No esperaba encontrarte aquí , adoro tu canal man ,👋✌️
Wacho que hacés aquí?
Falta la de “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”
Que haces aquí fred? XD
Such a great video! As a guitar player who’s always appreciated the many amazing riffs from the Beatles, it’s great to see Paul’s bass lines broken down like this. The man is a true legend and a genius. As always, another fantastic video, Reverb!
All of that super memorable bass, while SINGING great at the same time too!
I just ran across this great video, but Paul's style of playing hadn't escaped me. In fact, just the opposite, it was what caught my attention from early Beatles recordings forward. The reason is that I played lead guitar in a band, quite a few years ago now, and then switched to bass. When I did that, I was playing bass and improvising more melodically, such as a lead guitar player would, rather than largely just playing the basic "foundation beat" typically heard on many songs. I didn't even realize it myself, until someone brought it to my attention. Maybe I was subconsciously influenced by Paul on Beatles and Wings songs, or maybe it was because I had played lead before, so my brain was wired that way. When I listened to the examples in this video, Paul's way of playing bass seem a lot more like playing the instrument "lead style" than what the bass more typically does within a song, and that helps the song to stand apart from many others, which is what originally caught my attention listening to them. I suppose it was one of the so called "secrets" of The The Beatles sound.
Dude, you missed the bass materpiece of them all. RAIN
Agree
When I first got into listening to music (and playing guitar) I wasn't aware of the bass. I never listened closely till I started using headphones and then I was really blown away by Paul's craftsmanship.
He played bass almost like it was lead guitar. Take Lovely Rita: it just really propels the song. It's bouncy and has this nice flow that acts hmm...I dunno...perhaps a counter-melody...but it works.
I could give many more examples, but then this would become an essay. Listen w/ headphones or turn up the subwoofer to get it going.
After I became more aware of the bass, I listened to Entwistle, Jones (Led Zep), Lee of Rush and many others to realize the bass REALLY adds a lot.
I played the bass in a classic rock cover band. After getting bored w/ playing roots of chords, I started to develop more flow and improvasation. Don't get me wrong, anchoring the chord structure is fine to begin w/ but once you start figuring more out, you can come up w/ some interesting ways to make songs and music in general more interesting....🎸✌️
The amount of criticisms in the comments are well-justified. Reverb should have a higher standard for research, especially when it comes to a band as well-documented as The Beatles.
I'm not even sure where you got "Taxman" being one of "George's first songs with The Beatles." That's just flat out wrong. Listen to Sheik of Araby, or Three Cool Cats. Or even "In Spite Of All The Danger" which was co-written by Paul and George in 1958 when they were 14-15 years old.
braclo93 or Do You Want to Know a Secret?
@@exquisitearc8498 Nah, man, it was a Lennon-McCartney song.
George's first song he wrote for the Beatles that ended up on a Beatles album was Don't Bother Me if i'm not mistaken
@@chriservin5949 Correct!
Braclo93 I think by the time he mentions Taxman, most of us had already given up on the presenter. One of George's earliest compositions was the instrumental "Cry for a Shadow", which he wrote with John Lennon. It is interesting from the bass point of view, too. It shows that Maca's influence on bass and melodic bass lines was/is Jet Harris. But this had gone sailing over the presenter's head.
Paul - best bass player more often than many.
You were doing so well at picking out Paul bass lines, but then you had to put Helter Skelter at the end. That song was actually played by John on a Fender Bass VI.
I have a Harley Benton Bass VI, it is extremely fun to play. I run it through a bass amp and a guitar amp and do a wet dry kind of thing. I am not good, but I have a good time.
Where did you get this information?
Carlos Blank It's generally common knowledge
gloob I've seen John playing that fender bass but I didn't know he played it on Helter skelter.
John plays
What a so clever and awesome technical demo about Paul Mac Cartney his sound style and everything !!!
Damn playing Beatles with roundwonds is blasphemy
Really? do we know what kind of strings they play with?
@@arturecords flat wounds
The Beatles used heavy Flatwound strings for their guitars, Paul used Labellas Flats it tapewounds 39-95
@@matsgoalkeeping2448He used Rotosound Tapewounds I’m for Let it Be and Abbey Road, he used Labella’s for awhile, but he switched back to pyramids recently, which are the original strings he used on the early Beatles records.
Paul is the bass man... So many incredible bass lines... All my loving's bass line is amazing.
Andy rourke from the smiths!
YES! a much overlooked bassist
Need
My favourite, very underappreciated bassist
Barbarism begins at Home ❤️
Even Tina Weymouth and Colin Greenwood are overlooked..
It would be great, señor troll de yutubi
Great video. So many classic lines to choose from: Rain, With a little help..., Sun King, Mrs. Vanderbuilt, Reception, Coming Up, etc...
A very underrated bass song by Paul was Cry Baby Cry. He does some crazy shit that fits well with the song.
What amazed me about Paul is his being able to sing while playing bass without losing a beat and some of the bass lines you hear, don't sound easy... basically I'm a rhythm guitarist and vocalist brought up on 60's music, Beatles being the #1, they were definitely well above the ordinary.
I envied how Paul was able to sing and play bass at the same time, same goes for George with his guitar playing in "If I Needed Someone"
But then again there were many artists who had that ability... another being John Fogerty.
Especially I Saw Her Standing There. That bassline is one of the hardest Beatles basslines ever and he's able to play it perfectly and sing.
Two favorites: All My Loving with its great descending bass line. The other, one of the first things I try when I pick up a bass: Silly Love Songs.
David Fell yeah all my loving is a walking bassline, how he managed to play it while singing lead i dont know
McCartney had the sweetest melodic baselines.
Great video and I LOVED the acknowledgement of his Wings stuff. I wish you would have covered the live version of "Coming Up" from Wings, as I think it's criminally underrated.
Man... any bass players out there that can nail Rain and Paperback Writer? High five for you. I never even attempted. Screw it. I went straight to A Day In The Life. Love that bass walking during the transition.
You play bass like its computer generated.
Why don't you put up your BETTER version and show us how to do it Mr. troll
Randy Penn shut the up randy
What a troll for sure get a life idiot@@umk5135
it is pretty amazing how different and flat it sounds when he plays the bassline and then the studio version plays right after.
good way of wording stuff
I like these kind of videos because they remember me to sometimes take a look back at musicians from earlier times and listen to the influences of the ones the influenced me to play
Great stuff. The bass is an underappreciated part of Beatles songs. So many cool lines.
Loved him with Wings
Am I the only Brit here annoyed at the fact that the sticker says England even tho the flag is the Union Jack?
Chronicle calm down lad
that's how it goes mate.. some people think Scotland is a part of England. ha
Kieran Robinson I know it’s bullocks, I’m Scottish as well so that’s a reason it pisses me off XD
+Chronicle exactly mate.. it's worth moaning about it for sure!
Get a life, mist dweller. No one cares.
Sir Paul doesn't SLAPP yet he's a legend!
and he uses a pick most of the time. Two demerits but still a legendary player.
Great video. Surprised Rain or Hey Bulldog weren't mentioned though.
If he couldn't play Come Together, Taxman or Hello Goodbye correctly what makes you think he could play those?
Boulevard Recording he played Hello Goodbye fine, just faster
Hey Bulldog bassline is what I show everyone who says McCartney played basic.
Or getting better
Joshua Lavan hey bulldog has a great bass line
Very, very instructive and giving credit that many of us, though we already knew enough to appreciate some of the more audible bass lines, learned how really little we had heard or knew how to appreciate. Thank you.
Would love a John McVie vid, very overlooked
Jamie Dickson Yeah as long as they don't play the easiest basslines that anyone could pick out
This man is why I just make up my own bassline.
hahhahahahha everytime!
Come Together was played on his Rickenbacker JUST! for the long neck for the long slide.
Not much enthusiasm on the playing but kudos giving cred to one of the best bassists in the planet. The bass lines from RAM are just incredible.
You should tune your bass dude
@@RateOfChange why
I always love to cover Paul McCartney bass they were all cleverly crafted songs that’s why the Beatles were great
"Hey Bulldog" may be the best Macca bass line IMO. Of course Dear Prudence is in the top 5 as well.
The bass line of "It's Only a Northern Song" is pretty sick, too. Not to mention the line from "Lovely Rita".
This gave me a new appreciation for the Beatles, thanks! And all the haters in the comments section, I can’t wait to hear your perfect versions! *eye roll*
How to inaccurately play Maccas bass lines with zero energy or inspiration. Sigh...
yeah thats correct, he knows every note but it doesnt feel the music ... i dont know its like he's playing without a soul
@@Sony-yv2rf eg the bass line for Something should be played with delicacy. He plinky plunks the whole thing ham fistedly
I''m not a bass player (or even a guitarist at all) but I rather enjoyed this video - and then I read the comments. I am really amazed at the consistently negative critiques of the video. So consistent that it must be true that this guy's interpretations and/or transcriptions are quite off the mark. The question is, how can a player that is seemingly quite skilled get it all so wrong? Any thoughts?
Yeah i already had the urge to click off when i heard that you played Come Together and Taxman wrong. And then you played Helter Skelter at the end, while that's a line played by John on the Fender VI. I even think that George plays bass on Taxman, not sure though.
Taxman wiki says (with sources) that Paul played the bass as well as the famous guitar solo.
Elliott T
-Paul plays bass as well as the guitar solo on Taxman.
-The extra note is there. Listen to the start of the song again with some nice headphones. Find the stereo mix (2009 remaster will do but there are many options) and isolate the left channel. It’s there.
but he still fucks up the phrase at 1:20 - it's missing the note that completes the phrase
MrSamsky I just listened to Taxman with my Mixing Headphones. He indeeds plays the low D twice, but at the end of the riff he brings it back to the high D. Alot of people do that while covering the song, but it isn't correct in any way shape or form.
Elliott T You're kind of missing the point...
I could watch this all day
Funny as a HUGE lifelong Beatles fan I never really loved Sgt Peppers they way I should until a day in 1997 when i listened to it while tripping on LSD. It was like hearing it for the first time, and the whole experince was like riding a roller coaster and that roller coaster was Paul's bass playing. It was an amazing moment of awe that i relive every time i listen to any Beatles now.
Jack Roberts oh dude! Have you heard the totally stereo-remixed 2017 version yet? I listened to it while tripping on acid about 2 weeks ago and it was the most enjoyable thing I've ever heard. My dad and I sat there tripping and listened to Rubber Soul, Revolver, and then Sgt. Pepper's in a row.
yes but Spice Girls sounds good on LSD. The Osmund's sound good on LSD. Good Charlotte sound good on LSD. My late grandfather farting into antique biscuit tin sounds good on LSD.
IMO digitally-produced music sounds like shit on acid. DAWs are an amazing tool, but modern production techniques are too "perfect;" every drumbeat is exactly on time to the ms, every vocal is precisely tuned, etc. It makes the music sound flat and lifeless. If you like it that's fine, but I can tell you that I would not find it enjoyable, sober or otherwise.
Excellently done, my dude!
Too sing these silly love songs and to play the bass parts at the same time when he played live!?!? Mind blowing!
Love your Vids dude!
I thought that too. He was working completely different timings at once.
@@Frst2nxt I'm a pretty far muso and I tried and tried and tied to do that. Ditto with playing (up high) and singing the harmony to Day Tripper. SO damn difficult yet the Liverpool Maestro makes it looks so damn easy and natural to me - which to him perhaps it is. This alone(!) makes him a genius in my eyes. As if acknowledging the challenge, the utterly beyond brilliant guitarist Tommy Emmanuel used to do a version of Day Tripper instrumentally quite early in his career where he'd start the riff the play the melody on top, no vocal. I think it was recorded and might be available on the Net if anyone wants to chase it. He also did Michelle, all parts on one guitar. Post-2000 others have risen to the challenge I saw a seriously mind-blowing sol version of Strawberry Fields a little while back! All goes to show that over 50 years on, the boys still inspire many, many musicians.
@@ianbartle456
Nazareth Hair of the Dog sounds like it plagiarizes the daytripper riff
Macca, awesome. Get his statue up on the empty plinth in Trafalgar Square. He's given the world so much and made Britain cool.
“I want you (she’s so heavy” has some incredible bass lines
Almost impossible to replicate though. Paul was definitely improvising throughout most of the song. Especially on the subtle runs that he throws in before landing on the "1" towards the middle of the song.
That bass line is so heavy
I really think your playing is excellent and disagree with many of the comments... yes, there is a slide in come together and that should probably have made it into this video.. Still, I think you did an excellent job... “Something” sounds wonderful and Taxman is stellar... I really love Paul’s playing on “While my guitar gently weeps”... double-stop 5ths strummed like a guitar .. beautiful.. would love to see that sometime in the future..
Taxman was played wrong!!
Roundwouds on the hofner...really?
secretagntman242 i use rounds on mine, sounds pretty good
I'm sure they do! But you didn't make a video with thousands of views trying to show how to play and sound like Paul McCartney.
secretagntman242. Fair point, i can't argue with that
I had a Hofner violin bass in the early seventies. I thought black plastic covered strings sounded best and made the bass look a million dollars, which is about what cost nowadays.
secretagntman242 - What’d be the right strings? Really asking, genuine curiosity, not snark. I learned to play bass guitar as a first instrument, owing to my love of funk and of interesting rhythms and grooves generally (I think that’s the opposite journey from what a lot of people take: folks play guitar but then somehow “default” to bass), then four years later I picked up a guitar out of curiosity and kinda stuck with that. But electric bass guitar is still my first love, I noodle on an old Rick for fun all the time. What strings would you recommend, and why, if I were to add a Höfner to my arsenal? 🙂
Good Morning, Good Morning has an excellent bass line that carries the whole song and another Paul guitar solo.
I Want You (She's So Heavy) John is playing guitar in unison with his singing and Paul is playing another melody to round out the song.
There are too many to list here. A lot of Beatle bass lines after the touring years are very good.
All the bass lines in this video are wrong!!!
A few of mine are rita, my brave face, take it away. That's just a few. Paul's the best
Would love a look at Rick Danko's bass playing
Excellent job man .i never appreciated Sir.Paul as a bassist until i got older.He took on the role of bassist not just guitarist with a bass
Good try but not quite. Come Together is a slide up part, the D is played back on the 5th fret and slid up. Also the 8th notes on Hello Goodbye are mostly downstrokes. All ya gotta do is watch how Paul plays it, they’re not straight 8ths they’re swung. Taxman is wrong. I stopped after Hello Goodbye. I’d delete this video and do more research first
Pepijn seriously? Go listen to the recording. There’s no “double d” in the main line. This guy read some tab book and didn’t use his ears. That’s not what Paul Plays. Sometimes the kick drum and bass are off and it sounds that way but that’s not what’s played. Also the 2nd part is all wrong. Paul played quicker notes in that section. And not the same every time
This has motivated to finally figure out exactly what Paul is doing in the fast riff. It all comes down to understanding how he slides off the C at the end of the riff. My theory is that after the D-A-D beginning, Paul slides up (not hammering on) from the G to the A with his index finger, hitting the C (15th fret the A string) with his pinkie, and coming back to that C after hitting the high D on the 12th fret, then sliding back to repeat the figure. It's a lot of position shifting, but the only way to get that last slide in, uh, "flowingly". It's somewhat similar to what he did on Come Together three years later (just a lot faster).
The hardest thing for a bass player is to have his own distinctive style and sound, and Paul McCartney definitely had both, that's what made him such a unique and innovator bass player.
I would love to hear the bass parts for Rain, Fixing A Hole, Shes So Heavy, My Love and Penny Lane.
Rain's bassline was played by George. Just saying.
This tone is fantastic.
Oh, no rickenbacker? That's a shame.
Mrs. Featherbottom They’re keepin it classic with his first signature lol. But yeah it would’ve been cool if he used that Rickenbacher tho because that too was his bass
Exactly. Enough with that Hofner. Paul used a Rickenbacker for recording most of the Beatles catalog, and that's according to George Martin.
David RF don’t forget the Fender Jazz as well with that awful pick up cover
You said it! Whay the heck????
As a fan of the ric and hofner... this isn't true. you can tell that by him not getting the ric till halfway through(65) and STILL using the hofner on some songs.
Here’s one you might not have thought of, My Brave Face off his Flowers in the Dirt album!
Hello Goodbye, Drive my car, Hey bulldog, Silly love songs are some of my favorite McCartney bass lines.
Is this guy using round wounds on a Hofner? Tone is no bueno....
Boulevard Recording I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed that...
i use rounds on mine, i like flatwounds but i like the little extra bite that rounds give
onehung lo then you don’t deserve to play a Hofner for committing such blasphemy
Toxic Potato really fast neck, short scale, doesn’t weigh 40 lbs like a MTD or one of your fancy pants active basses with the $3000 Bartolini handwound pickups lol
his slop tone is nothing new unfortunately, but we're all desperate for hd bass content so :/
"... his work with the Beatles..." Indeed. He was an excellent session player with that group.
would have been great to hear these on a rickenbacker but still, great vid! i love that you included Goodnight Tonight, in most videos people stop at Silly Love Songs, even though there are many badass basslines Paul has done after '76. some songs that i would have loved to see (hear): Think for Yourself's fuzz bass, Rain, Hey Bulldog, I Want You, the live version of Coming Up... there are so many to choose from.
Awesome video ! Well done
The "instructor" is probably the stiffest bass player I've ever heard. No nuance, the slides & palm muting that McCartney used to such great effect is nowhere to be found. It's almost like a MIDI "ElecBass" tone fed the sheet music of the lines... horrible. If you want to cop any of McCartney's TONE play flatwounds or tapewounds and learn how to palm mute & play with a pick. He used a pick 90% of the time by his own admission. But trying to play exactly like the man is senseless & lame. Take bits of his technique and add it to your personal approach...but try to develop your own identity on any instrument you play. Because bottom line bass players all sound the same to non musicians, what makes the bassist an integral part of a band is his/her sympathy to the song and other players in the band. That's a McCartney technique everyone should cop...
•What Spade Thinks • sadly you just described 90% of bass players
t j not me, I have the opposite issue, I’m to expressive, I have a bass line I made that’s a cord, a sliding cord, than to notes and a slide
The Yakking Wakko No one cares
Ongaku Haze ok fair enough
Ongaku Haze also I know you liked your own comment, note to you, don’t do that, it makes you look bad
You asked for McCartney songs you didn't get to that have cool bass lines: Rain, With a Little Luck, Mrs Vandebilt, See Your Sunshine, Band on the Run, and about a thousand others!
The flag on the patch is that of Great Britain - not England you silly sod.
No one. Gives. a. shit.
@@takethesky8478 Brits in the comments clearly do, you stuck-up wanker.
@@takethesky8478 Well if there are so many people making comments about it they obviously do care so just stop
It’s wrong and stupid, but not enough for me to get offended by it. And I am from Britain.
Band on the Run
"This one of the first songs that George Harrison had with the Beatles on record." Excuse me, but they had already recorded a several Harrison songs by that point. On "With the Beatles", "Help" and "Rubber Soul." Some light research might help here.
I really like this Paul McCartney Bass Guitar technique video. What I would really love to know is: are you using a pick between your thumb and index finger? It looks like, when you raise your right hand, you don't have a pick. Just like when I watch Paul McCartney play, I can't tell if he is using a pick.
One of most effective bass lines is on Don't Let Me Down... "I'm in love for the first time" etc. The descending bass completely transforms the feeling of the melody and makes the song. Imagine it with a simple root note - yuck
Most underrated bass player
You're playing the wrong Hofner. That's a 1965 or later Hofner, not a '61 or '62 that Paul used. And when you make a video about Paul's bass playing techniques, play those techniques right. Your playing both bass lines wrong
GG ✅ I think Paul used his 1963 hofner bass to start with but that one was stolen. So he used his 1964 since.
And he should be playing left handed....What a poser.
Comment section critics are tools.
@@maxlove8894 no he had a 'cavern' 61 hofner with the tighter string placement, which was stolen. He then got a 63 model which he still has today. Hope this helps.
@@paulakapablo1749 Na I don't care if you look like Paul but if you can play like Paul, that's impressive. The guys at Reverb clearly can't do that. You are exaggerating a lot. I'm just annoyed how they make a video talking about Paul's Bass techniques, yet they don't even play Come Together right.
@@maxlove8894 no! Paul has a 61 that was stolen,
real quick insignificant correction:
the come together bassline actually starts on the 5th fret of the A string, THEN slides up to the 12th fret. the remainder is played the same way you did in this video :)
Raise your hand if you're a guitar player would had to take on bass out of nessecity for their band ✋
Paul is a GENIO
2:52 lol Ringo's miniature drum kit
Sgt Pepper album was his explosion. Fundamental to that whole sound. But it's often not realised how Paul's bass lines were key to the magic of other Beatles' songs. Something already covered. But where would Don't Let Me Down be without that wonderful tripping descending line that accompanies "I'm in love for the first time.... It's a love that's gonna last". And how about Ballad of John and Yoko. It gives the whole song a groove which lifts it from gentle singalong to a statement.
Ok, but you do not play "Taxman" and "Come together" in a way it was played by Paul. Do not you hear the big differences ? I am very sorry.
I recon a part 2 of this would be nice to see! I enjoyed this
Rush's Geddy Lee should have his own bass video
Rain and Another Day
Awesome video
😍😍😍
Could you do Roger Waters from Pink Floyd
McCartney along with Waters made me pick up bass and music
Me too!
Have a listen to jack Bruce or Marcus Miller.. You might want to put the bass down again
@@WELLBRAN Jack Bruce was awesome especially since he used a fretless
@@Bat_Rag yes but not many talk about him another grandaddy of the bass...Hugh Hopper...
@@WELLBRAN Jack Bruce influenced me after Roger Waters.
Roger Waters was my gateway into becoming a bass player. From there I learned to appreciate other bass players.
I have a poster of Jack Bruce and Clapton side by side in my room
I do not have a poster of Roger Waters
It’s so nice to see another bass player who uses his pinky finger, and doesn’t hide the finger by curling it like most guitarists/bassists.
Not even close
Just saying
Hey Bulldog, Rain or I Want You (She's So Heavy) are very very cool.
Yeah I’m not even a bass player and I know it’s wrong, plus I had to laugh a bit at you saying taxman was one of George’s first songs on records or something like that. Tryy don’t bother me mate, might want to know a few basics about the fab 4 before you try making a video on Paul’s playing