The Beatles Time Signature Trick

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My video on Good Morning, Good Morning's crazy time signatures: • The crazy time signatu... 🐔
The Beatles seemed to have a habit of playing fast and loose with the meter of their songs. Many of their classic songs don't stay in one consistent time signature throughout and instead will often add or substract one-off beats from the meter, resulting in a quick succession of time signature changes!
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0:00 Introduction
0:29 Across The Universe
1:51 Don’t Let Me Down
3:46 Strawberry Fields Forever
5:44 Back In The U.S.S.R.
6:49 Pianote
7:45 Martha My Dear
8:21 Blackbird
9:01 Two of Us
9:53 Happiness Is A Warm Gun
13:21 Here Comes The Sun
14:24 Good Morning Good Morning
14:43 Patreon

[@DavidBennettPiano]

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[@anshulanilgaur1118]

Hey awesome video, One question I wanted to ask, in Across the universe this line always made me feel a little surprised, its a little different than the rest: "Possessing and caressing me", is there another time signature shift happening here specifically? Thanks!

[@David-iv6je]

@@anshulanilgaur1118 Nope. Still 5. To me the use of 5 is a sign of a lyricist who really knows what he wants to say. A lesser lyricist would chop a beat by losing a word. Lennon keeps the quality meaning and then adds the necessary pause - and it is necessary - to give us a 5 there.

[@cdprince768]

Since we all know the Beatles weren't writing down time signatures on music sheets, what's fascinating to me is how they would have communicated their unusual changes to other bandmates. From watching "Get Back," it looked like the just played for feel and relentlessly rehearsed until they figured it out and followed each other.

[@metallicakixtotalass]

I'm pretty sure that's basically how they did it, purely by feel, maybe sometimes going back and telling one person, "make sure to add a beat here" or "this part is in 3". It's not quite the same but another band which infamously just changes meters whenever they feel like it, Metallica, seems to do the exact same thing with songs like Master of Puppets whose verses are as metrically complex as some of these Beatles songs, but they have played these songs so many times that they just have it down completely by feel.

[@jeffgoblue]

I think they benefitted from *not* being formally trained, as it promoted a lot of their outside-the-box thinking. But as a trained musician, I did find myself a few times during Get Back thinking how much time they would have saved if they could just read and write a lead sheet with the meter changes… particularly during Two of Us.

[@roguejaina]

Ringo has said in interviews, he just made the guys play it while he counted and then just remembered how many beats for each section and played to fill that. I think they were talking about it but not in fancy terms- more like "What's the beat doing there, do it again" and counting for each other on the tricky bits.

[@shateq]

Interesting, that's what I'm asking myself

[@chrisjeffrey7570]

Smart guys I guess

[@lorijones9579]

Even more respect for Ringo, keeping all these changes working.

[@terryf5131]

Yes .. great point ..go Ringo.🌟

[@barbaraferron7994]

I hear he was called a human metronome but a metronome can't change time with the singer.

[@sorenahlback]

Just what I was thinking!👍

[@Omertahun]

Ringo could play everything without getting even a little bit excited. He in fact said that Sgt Pepper (Strawberry fields, Penny Lane etc) was so boring to record that he learnt to play chess in the studio

[@fisherguzzi]

@@OmertahunI heard him say he can’t play Strawberry Fields today, parts are very complex. Mick Fleetwood said it after talking to Ringo. Mick couldn’t play it either

[@lewiscrow]

Never ceases to amaze me how these young lads wrote such sophisticated song structures!

[@user-ec6vp8kw3q]

The thing is they didn't think about the time signature. John here just had to fit the words he wanted in there so added a beat. Also there is no such thing as time signatures really, every single song is 4/4 if you don't arbitrarily group beats into bars.

[@IamtheI]

because they didnt..... kzbin.info/www/bejne/bpnXlqdtg56AaKc&ab_channel=SageofQuay%E2%84%A2Radio

[@kitko33]

They didn't. They wrote songs without making consious decisions to deploy time signatures etc.

[@Ungoliant_Un]

The Beatles throwing in an extra quarter note coz they needed some space to catch a breath - peope 50 years later: "sophisticated song structures"

[@JFFM730]

​@@Ungoliant_Unlol listen to "good morning good morning" or "happiness is a warm gun" then say that

[@ChrisOwenGuitar]

“All you need is love” starts off with the intro in 4/4, then the verse in 7/4 and then fluctuates back and forth throughout. Probably another time signature in there too.

[@KG-Lime]

I was going to say that too!

[@rjblaskiewicz]

When you get back to the chorus, it goes back into 4/4 and it's...just an airy release of tension. Love it.

[@fordandk4840]

The waltz sections in "We Can Work It Out" is another good example

[@MikeSparksMusic]

That is the only one I actually knew about before this video.

[@AutPen38]

I don't think I noticed how effortlessly the time signatures switched in 'We Can Work It Out' until I heard Stevie Wonder's cover version, which instrumentally stays in 4/4 for the "fussing and fighting" bit. Stevie's version always sounds 'wrong' to my ears as I'm so used to the original.

[@HANSMKAMP]

Also I'll Be Back from 1964. The song has parts with 2/4 signature, but that is less obvious than 3/4 or 6/8 part of We Can Work It Out, a later song.

[@JBDazen]

There are demos of Across The Universe without the extra beat, so he did add it knowingly, and for the better. It needs that breath there.

[@Alexalexanderalex]

It’s amazing how they’re able to make such odd time signature changes sound so unnoticeable and flow so well

[@YearsOfLeadPoisoning]

I don't think they were specifically writing any of songs to be in alternating signatures or anything. They're mostly just adding and dropping beats where it suits the melody. I think the video really misplaces where the genius of the songwriting was.

[@ari1234a]

I once asked a guitar playing friend of mine who could write songs that I only had 2 chords at the time, what would/could be the 3rd chord ? His response was "Well where does the melody go". So I think for the Beatles it was that if the melody or the overall feel of a song had to be in something other than 4/4, that's where it went. I think "Don`t Let Me Down" is a good example of this.

[@shipsahoy1793]

Beatles songs are typically driven by the melody, not time signatures or chord progressions. Rhythm and harmony are essentially by products when melody driven. If you use a standard progression to write a tune, you’ve just defined a set of boundary conditions. That’s my take on it.

[@pytski4345]

Came here to say this. Not to diminish the greatness of the Beatles… just seems to be the case..

[@NeonRadarMusic]

It was only when I started learning Beatles songs for cover gigs that I noticed just how complex their songs really were. Also I'm just amazed that David has an entire video about The Beatles. He literally never mentions them in other videos.

[@CaesarTjalbo]

Somebody should introduce him to Radiohead, he might like them.

[@jacksmith4460]

I remember getting a Beatles chord book when I first started playing guitar, thinking it would be a good starting point as they sounded , generally quite simple.....WRONG. Some of the chords in that book were insane, I struggle to play some these days (although that is more to do with me playing more metal based and in Drop tunings for the last 2 decades...but still, Beatles were underrated from a complexity POV)

[@jacksmith4460]

@@CaesarTjalbo I suspect he knows who they are lool, he's young , from England and a Pianist , the chances of him not knowing Radiohead are about 1 in 60 million hahaha

[@AutPen38]

Whoosh! This is one of David's rare videos that doesn't mention Radiohead, his favourite band.

[@tockita]

Lol

[@tangobasso]

I think Lennon knew what he was doing with the mixed meter. He was already exploring being lyrically and harmonically subversive in his writing, there is no reason to think he he wasn’t being intentionally subversive with rhythm as well. I’d imagine his exploration of avant-garde music with Yoko (Revolution 9!) or having George Martin as something of a mentor would make him familiar and intrigued by the concept of mixed meter. Same with the other Beatles. They were interested in a lot of music outside of dumbed down pop, including George’s exploration of eastern music which is also another portal into atypical rhythms.

[@skakirask]

I grew up learning just about every Beatles song on the drums, and never thought of these as odd time signatures until I got older and better learned theory. The great thing is these are all songs you can just "feel" your way through and don't have to count!

[@AndySalinger33]

Right! That’s really the whole point! Summed up nicely. And my experience, too…only on guitar. The songs just felt right when playing them. It would be many years until I finally buckled down and learned some theory. Then I gained an even deeper respect for the lads’ music.

[@Jupiter862]

Yeah, I think this is what the Beatles themselves did. They weren’t thinking about time signatures and they weren’t thinking about crafting novel timing…they were using things that they had heard or come up with and liked. The odd timing came from their prioritization for the sounds, licks, schticks, and fun ideas all over that of the standard timing.

[@Inquisitor6321]

I think I just learned why Beatles music has been so timeless. The intermittent time signature changes knocks the rigid cadence of a song, done in such good taste, pleasantly breaks the monotony of a rigid time signature. These guys were really clever!

[@gorgolyt]

Terrific video! I hadn't noticed a few of these little details, especially the polymeter in "Happiness is a Warm Gun". I find the little deviations from the main time signature to be really fascinating, especially when it's not noticeable and enhances the flow of the song. It really shows how the Beatles grew as songwriters by breaking free of convention in favour of their pure musical intuition. Another favourite example of mine is from "We Can Work It Out", when the end of the phrases in the alternate verse ("fussing and fighting my friend") changes to a triple time. I heard that was George's idea. Again, it's very natural, but it really adds a lot to the character of the song.

[@danimountjoy]

wow there's always something new to hear from the Beatles even after 50+ years! Great vid, love it

[@SamBrockmann]

More like, from the bands that the Beatles stole from... But ya know.

[@BeatlesCentricUniverse]

​@@SamBrockmannNonsense.

[@SamBrockmann]

@@BeatlesCentricUniverse , nah, truth.

[@gasparucciox9706]

wich bands?

[@SamBrockmann]

@@gasparucciox9706 , Cliff Richard and The Shadows, Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry (hell, a few of the Beatles song intros were ripped right from ol' Chuck), Buddy Holly and The Crickets, The Beach Boys, The Everly Brothers, The Byrds, Ravi Shankar, Elvis, Fats Domino, Little Richard, The Supremes, Bo Diddley, King Curtis. The list goes on.

[@pam4476]

Happiness is a Warm Gun is genuinely one of the most confusing songs to play on the drums once the last part hits with the polymeter. It doesn't help you just know these songs from memory lyrically, so singing it while drumming just outright throws you out of the loop haha

[@DanBull-ww7qq]

I think it's a great example of a band playing and writing to feel rather than worrying about the technical side of music. They all knew just what felt and sounded good and done it.

[@johnclement5831]

I was working on Two of Us and it was driving me crazy trying to stay on the beat. Now I know why.

[@karaamundson3964]

Just breathing points...George often commented on John's almost unconscious fluidity in rhythm. Funny, as he's the rhythm guitarist ("the best ever" as other rhythm man Ringo said...he obviously had no issues with any of the tunes). The four bandmates were like four chambers of one amazing musical heart

[@calebeschutzerlasso5707]

I am not a conductor, but last week I had to conduct a small orchestra in a Beatles cover band show. Watching this video, I feel like I had no idea about I was doing hahahaha

[@pup64hcp]

I'd always heard the "record skip" effect on Back in the USSR as 4+4+2, rather than 3+3+4, but that interpretation does make sense as well

[@ESLSongs]

One of my favourites is (I think) their very first one... 1965's WE CAN WORK IT OUT 😊

[@MrXyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

I love "We Can Work it Out" but you can consider the "time change" as a few bars of 4/4 triplets. The exampes that Mr Bennet-Piano highlights are much more than just triplets.

[@sydcastro70]

@@MrXyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I think you’re both right! Music is great because it can be subjective. Paul is quoted as saying it was intended to be a waltz type section, implying some semblance of 3/4 imo. "Then it was George Harrison’s idea to put the middle into waltz time, like a German waltz" -Paul McCartney, Many Years From Now

[@ESLSongs]

@@MrXyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz I agree up to a point... you can *consider* the time change as triplets, but I think the fact that it actually sounds like a waltz, indicating a momentary change in style and even genre, speaks more to a change in the time signature.

[@spodoinklehorse]

The counter melody towards the end of Here Comes the Sun is one of the greatest sounds to ever grace an album and i will fight anyone to the death who doesnt agree

[@Mantorok]

Is it the one played on the organ?

[@spodoinklehorse]

@@Mantorok yes

[@Mantorok]

@@spodoinklehorse Oh yes, it's one of my favorite parts of any song ever made.

[@itgoestoeleven]

Death. A good option for you -- and the depth of your observations.

[@spodoinklehorse]

@@itgoestoeleven wut

[@nintendianajones64]

That polyrhythm in Happiness is a Warm Gun is nuts

[@finzenberger]

oh it‘s a *great* song

[@nintendianajones64]

@@finzenberger it's also interesting that most of the songs here are from the White Album which is clearly The Beatles greatest work.

[@johnmc3862]

​@@nintendianajones64It's the best of the Beatles individually.

[@danamcc221]

She Said She Said comes to mind: there are several bars of 3/4 in the B section. Also, in All You Need Is Love, the verses are in 7/4. Then there's that moment in Rain where Paul plays quarter note triplets in the refrain. One more: the verses of Lucy in the Sky are in 3, but the choruses are in 4.

[@iain713]

aye but that one sounds forced ?

[@timedesiigns2776]

Being for the benefit of Mr Kite! Has always been one of my favorite time signature changes. So blatantly different yet still perfect

[@andrewpappas9311]

I feel like George’s decision to have all those changes in the bridge to Here Comes the Sun adds to how great a composition it is, I also know that there’s a brief moment of 2/4 during the pre-chorus of Revolution

[@spudinho1]

I've been listening to these guys for half a century or more and I had no idea how creative their rhythms are. I guess that rhythm tends to slip under the radar - obscured by harmonies, intriguing lyrics and the rest. Many thanks for this!

[@johnmunson100]

Depends on what each person gravitates to / focuses on. For example, I pay a ton of attention to rhythms, harmonies, and bass lines, but almost none to lyrics. In probably the majority of songs I know, I have no idea what the lyrics are saying, even if I can sing them word for word -- to me they're just musical sounds, not words! Different strokes for different folks, as the saying goes. 😊

[@markmorris8532]

​@@johnmunson100 I absolutely agree with you on lyrics. Sometimes, talking with friends about songs, they are SO taken with the lyrics, and judge a song so much on the lyrics. It's like we're speaking different languages.

[@banba317]

I think you hit on the main reason for these occurrences when talking about Here Comes The Sun; you said, "... Because this melody is effectively built into this meter..." These three writers, John, Paul and George were not highly technically trained. They were self taught and they wrote and played by ear. None of them ever scored a sheet of music. They would present rough compositions built on melodies and lyrics and the rhythm in their hands. Ringo would then shape the beat around that framework. Fascinating subject!

[@dreammachine2013]

Perfect analysis🎉

[@peterfitton4529]

Reading/writing music is only a small part of musical literacy. You can have a good working grasp of time signatures and things like chords/scales/harmony without being able to read music. Non-trained musicians learn how music is constructed primarily by learning to play other peoples' songs, which is a masterclass in the subject. The rest they pick up through experience. Irving Berlin couldn't read/write music either, neither can the internationally celebrated composer Hans Zimmer (I'm pretty sure he nonetheless has a pretty good grasp on the technicalities of what he's doing), neither can 99% of rock and pop musicians. It's very rarely much of an issue.

[@pup64hcp]

Now we just need a video on Radiohead's time signature trick(s)

[@vegangence7081]

Please!

[@arminreuter5151]

Yes, that would be interesting ... and long.😂

[@josrodsedre5142]

Radiohead’s time signature trick: write a song above an obscure beat in a weird time signature, then make the original beat disappear to cover your tracks 😆

[@junkersish]

I will skip that one

[@apantrazansson4324]

Oh yes please!

[@misternewoutlook5437]

Arguably the most famous one is "We Can Work it Out" with the 3/4 change, which was no doubt purposefully than naturally composed as in these examples. "She Said She Said" might be one of those "natural" types. I just got The Who Anthology song book in the post recently and I noticed that "Happy Jack" sneaks in a rather strange 3/2 signature. Can I also say that the 1960s Who wrote some very strange and quirky songs?

[@crunchyfrog555]

It should be noted also that "back in the USSR"'s stuttered repeating of the title to "Back in the US" is also the play between the similarities of the US and USSR. Georgia and all that being the obvious other clever thing in the lyrics I like. I've always thought that was quite a clever little thing.

[@gorgolyt]

I just noticed that too. Playing on the Beach Boys parody aspect of the song. Awesome!

[@zzzaphod8507]

Yes, sounds like he's teasing a reference to the USA, especially as there already was a song called "Back in the USA"

[@crunchyfrog555]

@@zzzaphod8507 Yup it's why he mentions "Georgia on my mind" and there's other references too I can't recall offhand. I wouldn't be surprised if the root comes from that and why Ray Charles was banned from Georgia for his stance of not performing during the race issues of the sixties. It would give a great reason for Paul to write this song.

[@toniusheidemann5771]

The coolest use of changing time signatures happens in „Being for the benefit of Mr Kite“, where the signature moves from 4/4 to 6/8 when it says „and of course Henry the horse dances the waltz“. I always have to smile when I listen to that part.

[@LaurierLachance]

Thumbnail is 🔥

[@johnmunson100]

Very interesting discussion of Martha My Dear. I've always heard it as 4/4 followed by 5/4, but now that I've counted it as 5/4 followed by 4/4 as demonstrated in the video, that actually makes more sense to me, the way the melody flows in that second bar. About Ringo playing 4/4 through the 3/4 section of Happiness is a Warm Gun, it's very similar to She Said She Said, where it switches from 4/4 to 3/4 but he continues to play another bar of 4/4 before starting to simply play every quarter note equally through the rest of the 3/4 section. I seem to recall David explaining this in a previous video as an additional bar of 4/4 before something like a 2/4 bar to then sync up with 3/4. But the 3/4 section actually starts on "No no no" and Ringo just missed it for a bar. But I guess he/they must have liked it, because he played it that way through both renditions of that section. All good stuff!

[@thomascraymer8712]

A few other worthy mentions: 1) "Within You Without You" seems to be filled with these, the melody and rhythm seem to fluctuate between 4/4 and 5/4 throughout 2) The 3/4 part during the bridge in "We Can Work It Out". Something similar also appears later in George's "Not Guilty". 3) The chorus of "What's The New Mary Jane", John adds in a couple of beats the second time he sings "What a shame Mary Jane, what a shame Mary Jane had a pain at the party" 4) Ok it was never recorded as a Beatles song, but George Harrison's "Run Of The Mill" switches between 3/4 and 4/4 throughout, and I'll include it here as it was likely written while he was still in the Beatles

[@the20thDoctor]

So THAT'S why the end bit of Happiness is a Warm Gun is so satisfying! I always loved that bit and now I know why. Great song!

[@ITKLMT]

You can hear a version of "Across The Universe" that doesn't have the 5/4 measure on Anthology 2. It was recorded during the same sessions as the standard version, which shows how arbitrary John's use of the extra beat was.

[@tljmusic]

Haha nice! I just finished watching your Lydian mode video and it auto-loads this brand new one. Thanks David! Your channel is so helpful.

[@DavidBennettPiano]

Thanks. 😀

[@EddieReischl]

Can't think of any others that weren't listed in the comments as far as time signature changes inside the song. An early example of compound meter of theirs is "This Boy", which is in 12/8 time, so they (John mostly) had a penchant for writing waltz time type songs early on in their career.

[@zzzaphod8507]

Interesting topic! To me, the "Mother Superior" part sounds like a bar of 6/8 followed by x/4. The Here Comes the Sun example sounds like a bar of 6/8 followed by a bar of 5/8, a minor difference to what you put. Within You Without You has the middle (instrumental) section in 5/4 or 5/8.

[@SmilingIbis]

I long thought there was a certain experimental quality to a lot of their work, especially in the 2nd half of the career when they were mainly a studio band issuing records, instead of a touring band that promoted records.

[@jamesdaniels487]

I know John mentioned that when writing We Can Work It Out, George suggested putting the "for fussing and fighting my friend" line into 3/4 time

[@MrXyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

But they are triplets in 4/4 time as the length of the bar doesn't change.

[@ric8248]

The meter change in Strawberry Fields Forever is merely due to the fact that the phrase "Strawberry Fields Forever" has a ternary structure and John I suppose wanted to emphasise this. You can see that even during the 4/4 section he sings "Strawberry Fields nothing is real" in triplets (wrongly transcribed as shuffle in this video). John always had a sweep spot for triplets, you can find them everywhere in his songs.

[@Oleg_K.]

Totally agree. I don't think David analysis is right. Or at least not as helpful as how Lennon, presumably, thought about it.

[@ric8248]

@@Oleg_K. exactly, especially Lennon l believe was thinking more freely about his phrases

[@AkyovNorthWest]

What exactly do you mean by he had a sweet spot for “triplets”? And could you give some more examples?

[@ric8248]

@@AkyovNorthWest Sure.. check the choruses of Ask Me Why, Don't Let Me Down, There's A Place, Beautiful Boy.. and how he ends his phrases in She Said She Said, Every Little Thing and so many others

[@daveandrew589]

Agree. It's much more like a 2/4 bar in triplets, which matches the vocal cadence. In a sense, John, and to a lesser degree the others, were melodic rappers. The music fits the vocal rather than the vocal being crammed into the music. This is also why Ringo was the perfect drummer for the Beatles, he played what the song needed, rather than just keeping tempo or showing off flashy fills.

[@annoschreier1860]

She Said She Said is also pretty wild - I think you've talked about it before. And the intro to Drive My Car has one eighth note too many at the end.

[@brianpashka9152]

Going back to their early days, on the Hard Day’s Night album John changes from 4/4 to 2/4 in the bridges and middle eight of I’ll Be Back (I always thought of them as half bars).

[@bakerzermatt]

That mess of measures at the end of strawberry fields is one of my favourite bits!

[@bryanhenderson8807]

Thanks for showing us the odd meter Beatle songs. Both Paul and John have both said in interviews that they purposefully left out beats in some of their songs. Also, they were probably familiar with Irish fiddle tunes, which have some songs in 9/8. George Harrison's song, Within You Without you is clearly in either 5/4 or 10/8, and you can hear him counting the beats at one point in the recording. He did learn about Indian classical music from Ravi Shankar, who would have explained how to count the odd meters in Indian miusic.

[@iamniveous5626]

That recreation of Strawberry Fields is wild. It's like the Beatles as done by Tears For Fears.

[@sananton2821]

Singing the wrong notes.

[@testodude]

Fantastic comment, greatly appreciated by this 80s kid.

[@musicmann1967]

I only was aware of a couple of these like "Happiness..." So wild!!! I'm pretty sure it was all just coming naturally as the melody lines dictated the meter, but still it knocks me out how different they were operating compared to most of their peers. Fascinating stuff, thanks!

[@MusicalRadiation]

Hello Goodbye has a bar of 2/4 right at the start of every chorus in the 'you say goodbye, and I say hello' part. It feels so natural that you don't even notice it unless you count along with the beat!

[@sananton2821]

I'm extremely confident that John knew when a measure's in 5/4...he'd been a musician his whole life, playing in rock and skiffle bands on rhythm guitar...

[@peterfitton4529]

Exactly! They were all experienced musicians who knew what they were doing. They learned the nuts and bolts of music mainly from working out how to play other people's songs, which is how most non-trained musicians learn. That + experience. All this "they couldn't read music and so didn't know what they were doing" garbage that you see and hear all the time from people really p*sses me off.

[@Yeehaw123]

More Beatles ⭐️👄⭐️

[@MrXyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

Mr Bennet Piano Videos: "in my life I've loved them all"

[@johnmc3862]

This video is an example of why the Beatles were on another level entirely.

[@user-zo5me3ys3c]

Even more respect for Ringo, keeping all these changes working.. Now we just need a video on Radiohead's time signature trick(s).

[@picksalot1]

Wonderful analysis of an unusual feature of the Beatles' music that helps make it so memorable. The meter changes sound perfectly natural, and serve to maintain the integrity of the melodies. Thanks

[@kekleon-Gamer]

Never been this early! Has to be good considering it's The Beatles!

[@DavidBennettPiano]

😀😀

[@thenowereman6730]

Great video as usual ! In Yer Blues the first half of the song is in a strong 6/8 blues beat whereas in the other half there’s this 4/4 rock rythm for one of the roughest guitar solo form the Beatles !

[@althealligator1467]

I've always loved the little pieces you put at the end of your videos

[@rsplines12]

Absolute fun David! Wishing a quick journey to 1M.

[@stephenoleary5627]

This is simply a superb video by someone with knowledge, passion and enthusiasm for great music. Keep up the great work 👍

[@stco2426]

Thanks, David. Excellent work.

[@wpfairbanks]

Just absolutely love your videos!

[@Darlene1969]

Wow, amazing! thanks for that David

[@radie100]

Honoroble mention is All you need is Love

[@kelvinemerich221]

I love this time signature trick. BTW, in 'She Said' they use the trick when they change to the 'When I was a boy....' section. When I heard that after knowing this Channel, I remembered the First vídeo I watched, about word painting. Changing time signature to sing about other time, the past. I think this trick is not merely aesthetic, but very funcional to stablish the storytelling

[@johnwallace2319]

I like the odd pulse in Old Brown Shoe

[@thegothaunt]

Loved this one! Fascinating and fun conducting practice 😂

[@composer7325]

Excellent video, David.

[@beatxt]

GH's solo song "So Sad" has a 'chorus' with choppy time changes that make it a challenge to try and strum along with.

[@mrblue99999]

Fantastic! And I would say Ringo staying in 4/4 time in Happiness is a Warm Gun was planned because not long after while working on Dig A Pony-as seen in Get Back-John suggests to Ringo that he stay in 6/8 while the rest of the band add (or drop) a measure. I can’t tell exactly how to count it, but it’s the same going out of sync process. Of course it may not have been planned the first time and John just liked it!

[@seldonsinq]

Within You Without You has interesting timing. I’m always missing when the vocals come back in after the instrumental break

[@lucianoperrotat5170]

Great video!! As Always!!

[@florianscheding5371]

Great video! I think it's very likely that the Beatles understood time signature extremely well and planned these changes for at least some of their songs. Mal Evans, the Beatles' PA and Road Manager, transcribed the lyrics for Happiness is a Warm Gun for the recording sessions and added in the changing time signatures. There are also a few interviews of RIngo describing how George explained the rhythm of Here Comes the Sun to him.

[@itgoestoeleven]

I think it's likely that the Beatles were - first, last and always - pop musicians weaned on blues and early rock! They didn't give a shite about time signatures! They did what felt good! I repeat: you people are mental!

[@KarstenJohansson]

The "Across The Universe' example is so close to being a fermata or even a caesura in classical notation, I've only thought of it that way. But the rhythm underneath strums and the phaser (wah-ish) rate clearly indicate an additional beat, so it really is an unmistakable 5/4.

[@Martykun36]

I always heard the Back in the USSR chorus as a polyrhythm. The melody sings in threes but the overall beat is still in fours, plus a 2/4 bar at the end.

[@gnukev]

I used to always say that Lennon was more adventurous than McCartney when it comes to time signatures, but this video demonstrates that McCartney was also imaginative rhythmically, though I don't think he was as much so as Lennon. On pretty much any Beatles album, there's at least one Lennon song in, or partially in odd meter. Many are noted here and in the comments; "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away", "All You Need is Love", "She Said, She Said", "Norwegian Wood", "I'll be Back", "I Dig a Pony", "Dig it", "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds", "Good Morning, Good Morning", "Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite", "Happiness is a Warm Gun", "Yer Blues", "I Want You, She's so Heavy", (the final bars of) "Mean Mr. Mustard", (the bridge of) "We Can Work it Out", "Baby's in Black", (the final bars of) "Magical Mystery Tour", "Strawberry Fields Forever" (as noted). Even in his 4/4 songs, Lennon was also very interested in odd rhythmic syncopation, like in "In My Life", "All I Got to Do" and "Anna". The song, "She's Leaving Home" (6/8), seems to me like an actual Lennon/McCartney collaboration. I think it's worth noting that the bridge of McCartney's first single, ("Another Day") is in 3/4 and on his first solo album, "Junk" is in 3/4, and it comes up again in the reprise.

[@user-xd1ku4pf5f]

Many Thanks!

[@tommyhaynes9157]

I've heard they never did one recording of Happiness in a Warm Gun they were happy with . So they took the best takes from different recordings and put them together for the album cut

[@robertwjtaylor]

Great lesson thanks!

[@tannakaobi1]

They obviously knew what they were doing. I don't buy into this narrative that The Beatles didn't understand music. Paul went on to compose classical scores, John talked about George being part of the elite music party scene in London and although music theory may have been a weak point to Lennon, he could certainly count. They may not have known what things were called but they knew the important part, like the practical use. If you read enough they talk about music theory in their own way. Such as on Anthology when George is talking about the time signatures in here comes the sun and how they would explain it to Ringo.

[@lynnturman8157]

Agreed. All music theory & music notation is is just a visual & antiquated way to communicate in an aural medium. If they would have had the technology to record music in Bach or Beethoven's day, there would have been no need for music notation. The Beatles may not have been schooled in theory or reading music but they were very schooled/sophisticated in terms of ear training, which is much more important because music is an aural medium.

[@reginaldperiwinkle]

This is what I think too. While I enjoy many of the videos on this channel, I find that there is too often a superior and patronizing attitude when discussing the Beatles' musical knowledge. There is a tendency to portray them as bumblers who chanced upon good ideas or to imply that anything sophisticated must have been suggested by George Martin. It's more than a bit exhausting.

[@transtaganas]

As far as I know, the time changes in Happiness is a warm gun were mostly work of Georges, who was by the time experimenting on non-western music, ie he was actively pursuing other tempos/harmonies.

[@dreammachine2013]

​@@reginaldperiwinkle great Point!

[@marcotambasco2818]

I want to thank you I learn so much from you. This is gonna improve my songwriting.

[@tallmn1957]

George Martin has talked about Lennon's change in time signatures even in The Beatles early days. John had a unique feel for music that most others don't. I've always felt that John taught Paul a thing or two about timing. They might even be clues to what songs John gave a hand to Paul with.

[@GT380man]

George Martin didn’t even want to take them on as they had no songwriting ability and didn’t play well. He was ordered by EMI seniors to do so.

[@tallmn1957]

@@GT380man That is not true. I was lucky enough in the 90s to see George Martin speak live and his story is much different than that. He would have no idea if they could or could not write good material.

[@IamtheI]

@tallmn1957 perhaps watch sage of quay video on did the Beatles write their own music.... biggest frauds ever

[@markmorris8532]

​@@tallmn1957 Well, I have read many times over the years, that GM didn't want to deal with the Beatles at first.

[@tallmn1957]

@markmorris8532 I saw Martin talk live and even then (as he has said many times) he thought they were rough and didn't like the music they were making but he felt something was there that he could work with, so I don't know where you heard otherwise.

[@aphealy]

I enjoy counting the middle section of Here Comes the Sun as 4/4 7/8 11/9. 7/8 like 1-2 1-2 1-2-3, and 11/9 like 1-2-3 1-2-3 1-2-3 1-2. Seems to work well. Tricky getting the hand claps right!

[@pietart3596]

these little rhythm tricks are amazing! many musicians took inspiration, especially songs using the "record skip" 3/4 trick

[@angelluisromo]

Perfect explanation. I consider "All you need is love" as one of my favorite rythm change Beatles song.

[@andreasbonkowski]

great video! and furthermore, i really love the piano outro to this video

[@miguelsuarez8010]

Changing time signatures is like conversation: in conversation we use sentences with many words followed by a shorter sentence.

[@Jtmcad14]

The intro to Savoy Truffle has interesting time changes. After the lead-in drum fill, it sounds like there is a bar of 4/4, followed by a bar of 7/8, then a bar of 6/8, where they sing "creme tangerine".

[@pedrohorta6266]

Love it. I always felt George perceived that passage in Here Comes The Sun as a clever descending pattern starting on the A whole note as 8/8, 7/8, 6/8, 5/8, repeat.

[@RockinAllDay]

2:30 Fun fact, when the song was rehearsed during the "Get Back" sessions, Paul sings the 5/4 part in 6/4: "Nobody ever REALLY loved me like she does".

[@bartschouten7189]

One of my favorite George Harrison Beatles songs I, Me, Mine constantly switches between 3/4 and 4/4 which gives it this this dreamy waltz feeling and then coming back to a more rock and roll version.

[@MrXyzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz]

I write arrangements for traditional folk songs, and many traditional songs use a change in meter just to get the words to fit. The song has text that the songwriter wanted to fit in anfdthe number of beats is made to fit the text. As the video goes through these examples, it seems that te John songs are exactly like this. Mr Bennet Piano even said for Across the universe it is "to give himself a chance to cathch his breath". The Paul songs are similar but the change in time signature is just as often to get the music to fit in. In all cases it seems the push for 'I want it to fit like this' overides the need to force the music or vocals into the standard 4/4 or 3/4 time of the song. What is really interesting is that during the touring years, they very rarely had changes in time signatures, it is only in the studio years, that they developed the desire to make the beat fit the music rather than the music fit the beat.

[@13donstalos]

It just goes to show that the fact that they didn't write with music theory in mind made their music even more interesting.

[@pietart3596]

ironically their music can't be explained without music theory

[@expelos8571]

Amazing video

[@tallmn1957]

Norwegian Wood, like I Me Mine, is a waltz done in 3/4 time. This is one of the reasons I like those two song so much.

[@thomascraymer8712]

And "I Me Mine" changes to a swinging 4/4 for the chorus too

[@tallmn1957]

@@thomascraymer8712 That's right! I forgot about that. What a drag it is getting old.

[@shateq]

Yes he did it! Love you man

[@ilikejazz2357]

My favorite beatles song with time signature changes is the continuing story of bungalow bill. There's an occasional bar of 2/4 to cap off each chorus.

[@GBPaddling]

The best other examples that spring to mind are 'All you need is Love' and 'Revolution' the acoustic version being my favourite.

[@shipsahoy1793]

A lot of times, the addition or omission of a beat in a particular bar is a device that serves to push the melody forward or to hold it back. No law that says it has to be accelerando or ritardando, or even rubato. In fact, there are instances in printed music where I find it convenient to add a beat at the breath mark comma. It’s not just a breath mark in every instance.

[@Emmanuel_Franquemagne]

Thanks a lot for this video, very fun and interesting. Funnily enough, I had thought about Here comes the Sun when transcripting it, and had chosen a pattern "11/8-4/4-7/8", which results in the same thing but conceding a greater importance to phrase parts (riff-rest-kickstart again), according to me. So great work, love each video of this channel! 🙂