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

In this video I'm playing my transcription of Paul McCartney's bass line on the song "For No One" from Revolver  (1966). It's a simple but effective line that enters after the first verse. The ascending scale in the chorus is a nice touch. Paul and Ringo were the only two Beatles to appear on this track.  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's my transcription of George Harrison's bass line on "Good Day Sunshine" from Revolver  in 1966. This was probably the first instance of a Beatle other than Paul playing the bass line on a recording. McCartney played piano on the basic track, while Harrison likely played a Burns Nu-Sonic bass. The bass line is simple and straightforward, but effective enough. McCartney almost certainly would have played a more active line had he been the bassist.  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

Here's a quick bass lesson video on how to play Paul McCartney's bass line on "Taxman."  

The "Taxman" bass line is one I often see transcribed incorrectly. While I'm not a fan of most of Giles Martin's remixes, his mix of this song brings out a lot of details in McCartney's bass line. For one thing, when the bass line jumps up an octave on beat 2 of the main groove, most transcriptions just have one D as an 8th note - but it's pretty clear that McCartney plays two 16th note D's. The bridge bass line is also almost always transcribed incorrectly, with a C instead of a B. Slowing down the recording and isolating the bass part, however, makes it clear that McCartney is playing a B. 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 George Harrison

Here's a video bass lesson on how to play Paul McCartney's bass line on "You Won't See Me" from the Rubber Soul  album (1965). Learn a few patterns and choose your own adventure! I am playing a 1985 Rickenbacker 4003 strung with LaBella flatwounds. Music and lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney Full transcription is below (no tab)

Paul McCartney’s bass playing on the Beatles’ 1965 album Rubber Soul is outstanding and is light years ahead of his playing on the previous album Help , which had been released only 4 months earlier. McCartney’s bass playing on Help and earlier albums was solid and appropriate for the songs they were writing and the musical styles they were playing. But with the recording of Rubber Soul , several things occurred/converged that led to this giant leap forward in his approach to creating bass lines.

Here is my bass cover of "What Goes On," the Rubber Soul  song credited to Lennon, McCartney, and Richard Starkey (Ringo). Ringo admits that his contribution to this song was minimal - by his own admission, he wrote "about five words." McCartney's bass line is essentially a root-fifth country style bass line, which is appropriate for this Country and Western flavored song. The bass line feels largely improvised. It is likely McCartney didn't deem that this song was worth a lot of thought. He could have been a little more creative, but at the same time, a root-fifth bass line on a country song is absolutely typical - no reason to reinvent the wheel. McCartney does add some interest by moving to a walking line during George Harrison's very Carl Perkins-esque guitar solo.  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, Paul McCartney, and Richard Sta...