Beatles Bass Lines

This is my transcription of Paul McCartney's bass line on the Beatles song "I'll Cry Instead" from the 1964 album A Hard Day's Night .  I am playing a Hofner Beatle Bass (HCT 500/1) through a SansAmp VT Bass Deluxe. My bass is strung with LaBella flatwound strings.  Music and lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

This is my transcription of Paul McCartney's bass line on the Beatles' song "Paperback Writer," released as a single in May 1966. The song was recorded during the Revolver sessions in April 1966. McCartney played guitar on the basic track (along with George Harrison), then overdubbed his bass line with his 1964 Rickenbacker 4001S. Recording bass as an overdub afforded him the opportunity to be much more adventurous in what he played. This bass line, while it provides a suitable support for the song, is fairly soloistic, a feat he would repeat the following day for the recording of the single's B-side, "Rain." Lennon referred to this song as "son of 'Day Tripper'" because of the heavy guitar riff. McCartney's approach to the bass line, however, is one major difference between the two songs. On "Day Tripper" he doubles the iconic guitar riff on bass, adding more emphasis to it. For stretches of the song, the riff and drums ...

This is my transcription of Paul McCartney's bass line on the 1965 single "Day Tripper." This song was recorded during the Rubber Soul  sessions in fall and released on the same day as the album in December 1965. Primarily a Lennon composition, it was a double-A-side single with the largely McCartney-penned "We Can Work It Out." I am playing a 1985 Rickenbacker 4003 through a SansAmp VT Bass Deluxe. My bass is strung with LaBella flatwound strings.  Music and lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

Here is my transcription of Paul McCartney's bass line for "We Can Work It Out." This song was recorded during the Rubber Soul  sessions in fall of 1965. Though it didn't appear on the album, "We Can Work It Out," along with its partner on the double-A-side single, "Day Tripper," were released the same day as Rubber Soul  in December 1965. I am playing a 1985 Rickenbacker 4003 through a SansAmp VT Bass Deluxe. My bass is strung with LaBella flatwound strings.  Music and lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

This is my transcription of Paul McCartney's bass line on the Beatles' song "Doctor Robert" from the album Revolver (1966).  I am playing a 1985 Rickenbacker 4003 through a SansAmp VT Bass Deluxe. My bass is strung with LaBella flatwound strings.  Music and lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

There are several songs in the Beatles' catalog for which there is some controversy over who played what instrument. One of those songs is "She Said She Said," recorded in June 1966 for the Revolver album. During the recording session for this song, Paul McCartney had an argument with John Lennon and stormed out of the studio. He claimed he didn't appear on the recording of that song at all. But is his memory accurate? Who played bass on "She Said She Said?"

Here is my transcription of the bass line on the Beatles song "She Said She Said" from the 1966 Revolver album .  This is a song primarily written by Lennon. It was the last song recorded for the album and there is some controversy over who actually played bass on the recording... stay tuned!!! I am playing a 1985 Rickenbacker 4003 through a SansAmp VT Bass Deluxe. My bass is strung with LaBella flatwound strings.  Music and lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

This content is adapted from a presentation I gave in the Beatles area at the Pop Culture Association (PCA) Conference in New Orleans, LA, April 2025. The panel, which also featured Beatles scholars Allison Bumsted and Tom Pace, focused on using the Beatles music as a subject for analysis in a college classroom. 

The bass line on "Yellow Submarine" from Revolver  (1966) is fairly straightforward, but does feature some nice moments.  The passage after the lyric "And the band begins to play" is a little unusual. The backing track of guitar and bass continue with the regular chord progression - Am-C-D7. The brass ensemble, however, comes in playing a different chord (essentially just playing figure suggesting a G major triad). I had never actually noticed this discrepancy until I transcribed the bass line.  I am playing a 1985 Rickenbacker 4003 through a SansAmp VT Bass Deluxe. My bass is strung with LaBella flatwound strings.  Music and lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney