The most interesting aspect of this bass line is it’s simplicity. Pictured: the main bass theme for “Taxman” off of the Beatle’s 1965 release, Rubber Soul transcribed and in tab format. As George and John alternate between downstroke guitars on beats 2 and 4 throughout the verse, chorus and guitar solo sections, McCartney is keeping to the mid-to-upper register of the bass guitar to build out this bass line. McCartney’s bass work here is very straightforward but very distinct and certainly can be argued to be the melodic element of the song. If there was a more recognizable Beatles bass line, it can’t beat out “Taxman”. Here’s a breakdown of 20 of the quintessential Paul McCartney bass lines: In this article, we’ll look at a few of McCartney’s most melodic electric bass passages and focus on some common patterns that he used to connect chords. He was a natural melodist, having written some of the most memorable songs in the history of popular music. Robert,” and “Come Together”, and even fast and flashy lines (“Rain,” “Paperback Writer,” “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)”).īut Paul was probably known best for his ability to craft melodic bass lines or bass lines that move through the chord changes rather than change with them as they come and works to smooth over the entire song. McCartney could play simple root and fifth lines like on “Love Me Do,” “From Me to You,” and “One After 909”, rock ‘n’ roll eighth notes like on “I Saw Her Standing There,” “Long Tall Sally,” and “Little Child”, bass lines that pushed the song forward like on “Get Back,” “Everybody’s Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey,” and “I’m Down”, short repetitive grooves “Taxman,” “Dr. Over all these musical changes, Paul McCartney adapted and showed his ability to create some of the gold-standards of bass playing regardless of what the song could be boxed into as a genre. The band recorded everything from show tunes to ballads, songs inspired by Motown, songs inspired by the birth of rock in the 1950s, ballads, blues pieces, R&B to brain-twisting psychedelic, and even more all while blazing the path for with new recording techniques and pushing the envelope for what was possible in to record in the studio. Throughout the Beatles’ 8 years of recorded content, the band reinvented songwriting and demonstrated a tremendous breadth of musical creativity during such a short period of time.
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