Beatles Bass Lines

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)

Arpeggios abound in McCartney's bass line for "You Won't See Me" from 1965's Rubber Soul . It is repetitive, but also constantly changing. McCartney finds numerous ways of subtly varying the patterns.  It's hard to imagine him playing this bass line even 6 months earlier. Not because he couldn't  have, but because he wouldn't  have. He certainly played some great bass lines before the Rubber Soul album, but his concept of what the bass line could be in a pop song changed so much in mid-1965. He went from playing solid, supportive lines to playing melodically, his bass offering a contrapuntal voice to sit at the bottom of the musical texture. 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 Full transcription is below (no tab)

Here is my bass cover of the Lennon/McCartney (primarily McCartney) composition "I'm Looking Through You" from the Rubber Soul  album in 1965. While he is often thought of as writing cheerful, optimistic love songs, 1965 saw McCartney writing a series of songs about romantic frustration and disillusionment, based largely on his relationship with Jane Asher. Other songs in this vein include "We Can Work It Out" and "You Won't See Me." 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