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Vocals
Acoustic Guitar
Violins
Cellos
Sitar (plays the melody, plucked instrument)
Tanpura (drone instrument)
Dilruba (plays the melody)
Swarmandal (harp-like instrument)
Tabla (pair of drums played on the floor)

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Paul McCartney (Bass, Vocals)
Ringo Starr (Drums, Vocals)
John Lennon (Rhythm Guitar/Vocals)
George Harrison (Guitar)
Originally from Liverpool, The Beatles are one of the most influential and important British pop and rock bands of the 60's, if not the remainder of the 20th century. Their legacy and fame spanned not only across Britain but around the world. They were the first global 'boy band' with a broad appeal.
Such fame, however, took its toll.

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By 1966, The Beatles were tired of travelling and touring the world. Their fame and popularity meant  that security issues (or lack of) put their lives in danger. The risk, therefore, was too high. Their live performances were so popular that their relatively modern (though not by today's standards) equipment was not enough to help the band hear each other over the cheers of pack audiences. After the summer of 1966, they took an indefinite break from touring, with Paul McCartney travelling to America and George Harrison travelling to India.

The album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band came about when Paul had the idea of creating a fictional band; one which could operate anonymously and then have the freedom to experiment with different musical styles, without losing popularity.

The album was designed as a concept album, one which is written and designed to be listened to from start to finish, without a break. The album is also presented in the style of a live performance, with the sound of an orchestra tuning up and cheers from a crowd dubbed into the recording.

The Beatles had also outgrown the four members they were limited. Some of their musical ideas were not possible to perform live, due to the need to have some of them perform two instruments in the same song. The only way of producing these songs without additional help was through recording.

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The recording process took place over 5 months. A total of 700 hours of music was recorded at Abbey Road Studios, London.

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- Palm mute: a muting technique where the palm of the right hand is placed across the strings, stopping them from vibrating.
- Pitch bend: a left-hand technique where the fingers dig into the string and push it vertically upwards. The stretch on the string creates a pitch bend, moving the pitch up or down.
- Hammer-On: a playing technique where one finger follows down onto the string after another, without the string being plucked for a second time. The vibrations from the first note make the second note audible, though not as loud.
- Slide (bottleneck): a metal tube fitted around one finger of the left hand. The effect is a smooth change of pitch. This is common in modern-day Blues music.
- Slap Bass: a bass guitar technique where the side of the thumb slaps the string against the finger board, alternating with the sound of a string being plucked upwards.

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The Beatles were the pioneers of recording techniques used by many, even to this day. Below are some of the key ones to listen out for and commit to memory.

- Melotron: early-style synthesiser. A keyboard which has the ability to play lots of different types of sounds.
- Leslie Speaker: A cross between a speaker and an amp, where the guitarist controls the effects with a foot pedal.
- Reduction Mixing: With only four tracks available to record on at once, the four tracks were recorded into, then those tracks reduced/dubbed onto a single track, making more tracks available.
- Distortion: Bending, changing or twisting the sound. This can create a rough or harsh sound. This is also sometimes called overdrive.
- Overdubbing/Automatic Double Tracking (ADT): simultaneous doubling of the sound, avoiding the need to record a track multiple times.
- Varispeeding: changing the tempo of a track.
- Digital Input Transformer (DIT): a transformer by which electronic instruments could record into directly, avoiding need for microphones.
- Close-Micing: As the name suggests, placing a mic very close to an instrument. In a recording studio, this helps the producer (in this instance George Martin) separate the sounds.

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Piano (Paul McCartney)
Electric Guitar (George Harrison)
Cowbell (John Lennon)
Drums (Ringo Starr)
Additional instruments:
Tambourine
Rhythm Guitar
Lead Guitar
Bass
Additional vocal harmonies

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Intro
Verse 1
Chorus
Verse 2
Chorus
Bridge
Verse 3
Chorus
Bridge
Chorus

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- Opening of the piece is a cross-fade from the opening track. The opening three chords are C, D and E. These three chords create an ascending melody by step. The vocals introduce Billy Shears (Ringo Starr's alter ego).
- The song is in E major.
- Use of overdubbing in the vocals.
- Guitar and piano play mainly straight crotchets, against swung quavers in the vocal melody and bass guitar.
- Small vocal range. Ringo Starr was a very self-conscious singer, so the melody is written only spanning the range of a fifth, aside from the last note which is an octave above the tonic (though he has to sing in falsetto to get there). To cover up for Ringo's poor singing voice, he sings the song as his alter ego, Billy Shears.
- Use of syncopation (emphasis on the off beat).
- Use of a hook, a memorable and catchy tune designed to stick in the the mind of the listener. The conjunct melody, syllabic lyric writing and simple diatonic harmony make this easy to achieve.
- Reference to drug abuse? Chorus includes the lyrics 'Mmm, I get high with a little help from my friends...' The Beatles have always denied taking drugs.
- John Lennon and Paul McCartney supply the harmonies. The second verse includes some call and response between Ringo and John & Paul. Ringo's lyrics ask a question across two bars, which is then responded in kind with an answer over two bars, sung by John & Paul.
- In the bridge, the roles are reversed. John & Paul ask the questions, (in thirds at a higher pitch) with Ringo responding in his range.
- Use of melisma: singing more than one note per syllable. This is infrequent as it is easier to sing syllabic vocals.
- Chromatic sliding between notes in the vocals. This is a sign of lazy singing and low confidence, which Ringo displayed. This is especially noticeable in the chorus.

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Vocals (with harmonies)
Acoustic Guitar
Bass Guitar
Drums
Piano
Electric Guitar
Lowrey Organ (celeste, bell-like sound)
Maracas
Tambura (providing a drone)
(The last three instruments are rare and do not appear in many popular songs. The latter is an Indian instrument).

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Intro
Verse 1
Pre-chorus
Chorus
Verse 2
Pre-chorus
Chorus
Verse 3
Chorus
Outro-chorus (to fade)

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- Written/sung by John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
- Influence? The song title echoes potential use of LSD (a hallucinogenic drug). This is not aided by some of the lyrics ('tangerine trees' and 'marmalade sky').
- The band maintain that the song was influenced by a drawing made by John's son of a girl flying through the sky.
- The song is classed as psychedelic rock in genre. This again emphasises that LSD may have influenced this song.
- The song is written in 3 different keys. Each key is affiliated with a different section of the song (A major for the verse, Bflat major for the pre-chorus, G major for the chorus). Unusually, the song does not end in the same key as it started in.
- The verses and the pre-chorus are written with a 3/4 time signature, though the chorus is in 4/4. 3/4 time is very uncommon in popular music.
- The melody is disjunct in the first instance, with the opening melody played on the Lowery Organ. This melody is repeated, creating an ostinato (repeated melody or pattern).
- The vocal melody is very conjunct and repetitive. The range for most of the notes used in the verse is a 3rd. Musicologists would say this melody is very limiting!
- Use of word painting. This is where the lyrics are reflected in the melody. For example, the lyrics 'river' is reflected by the use of quavers (as rivers flow quickly), but the lyric 'slowly' is sung using crotchets.
- Use of ADT on John's vocals, gives the effect of hearing more than one person sing, even though it's the same person singing and has only been recorded once!
- The tempo of the song does not change, though the time signature difference between the pre-chorus and chorus can often give the effect of a different speed. The difference is that the beat
- Rate of chord change in the verse/pre-chorus is one chord per bar. In the chorus, the chord changes are more frequent (the first bar of the chorus has three chords).
- A countermelody (second melody heard alongside the main theme) can be heard beneath the pitch of the vocals in the chorus.

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For each heading, information is listed vertically. Hover the mouse over the section and scroll down to learn more about each individual song.
At the bottom of each of the track sections is an audio of the track. Click on the link to listen to the song. tab should open on the page and allow you to pause/close as and when you are finished with it.

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Extended Ternary Form:
- A (verse + chorus)
- B (instrumental)
- A (verse + chorus)

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- Mix of genres (Western Pop/Western Classical plus Indian Classical music).
- George Harrison plays most of the instruments in the song, making it impossible to be performed live. He was taught how to play Indian instruments on his visit to India by Ravi Shankar. None of the other Beatles performed on the track.
- Use of a drone (played on the Tanpura). Long sustained pair of notes, normally played at an interval of a fifth.
- Swarmandal used to create a glissando.
- Free Time in the opening section (no use of a time signature or strict tempo)
- Tonality is modal (the set of notes do not affiliate with a key)
- The rhythm played on the Tabla is known as a tala.
- Dilruba plays the melody and doubles the vocal line throughout most of the song.
- A countermelody is played on the violins. This creates a polyphonic texture.
- Unusual length-phrases in the chorus make it difficult to pick up the first beat of the bar.
- Antiphonal texture in the chorus. The melody is passed between the violin and the vocals, who alternate playing the melody. There is also antiphony between the dilruba and the sitar.
- Alternating time signature between 4/4 and 5/8.
- Strings (violins and cellos) play an ostinato. This is played using a pizzicato technique (plucking the string).

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Click on the play icon to listen to the track.

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The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

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Click on the play icon to listen to the track.

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The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

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Click on the play icon to listen to the track.

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The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band