How does paul mccartney play bass

One result was that McCartney, from the beginning, played bass lines with his guitar and added his guitar skills to them, and that all carried over into his later bass playing. Any further knowledge out there? Hmmm Max. I also wonder what the influence of the late great Sir George Martin was on Paul, since there are obviously some classical , especially Bach, hints in his playing.

Just my 2 cents…. Yes…except I noticed that since the early days. I had never paid attention to bass lines till the Beatles arrived. I used to listen the songs again only to listen to the bass because they were so melodic. In my records the bass like were outstanding since day one! Nice perspective.

Drive the melody of the song by being a part of it and 2. Timing is everything! Songs like Penny Lane to Something shows how he can play a beautiful bass melody within the songs melody creating a masterpiece.

Sir Paul is a musical genius and as John Lennon said of Paul…. He turned into one fine bass player. James Jamerson was the greatest bass player of the s and possibly of all time.

But, Jamerson being the greatest bass player? Paul became a better bassist as a solo artist. Great article man! Very educational and right on point. McCartney is indeed a musical genius and his bass playing is indeed a good example of that. Awesome—thanks for feeding my Beatles addiction today! In fairness though, Led Zeppelin 1 came out 9 months before Abbey Road—so the influence may have gone the other direction. The Beatles started recording it in May of IF this is true,then if there was ever anything to be pissed off at Paul for it would be influencing them.

McCartney is and will continue to be one of the best and most melodic bass players ever. I learned my craft from him, and use it today in our recording with The Silvers. Terrific article, thank you. We're hoping to rely on loyal readers, rather than erratic ads. Please click the Donate button and support Open Culture. You can use Paypal, Venmo, Patreon, even Crypto! Archive All posts by date. Advertise With Us.

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Necessary Necessary. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information. Beginning with his career in the Beatles and continuing through his careers with Wings and as a solo artist, McCartney has revolutionized the role of the bass in popular music, and changed the image of the bass guitar overall.

Bassists today, in all genres, owe a lot of their presence and style to Sir Paul. Over the course of his storied lifetime, Paul McCartney has shifted between a wide variety of different bass styles. That evolution has helped make Paul one of the most enjoyable bass players to listen to in the history of rock and roll. If you want to learn how to play bass guitar or find a good bass model for beginners , Paul McCartney is an essential player to learn from.

These ideas include broad areas to focus on, as well as more specific points to help improve your playing style and help you find your sound. A lot of the items that McCartney has used throughout his music career have been very expensive. Oftentimes, McCartney would adopt one or two main basses for his time with one group, and then move on when those groups broke up or petered out. Without reflecting on the long-term creative goals of your favorite players and how they achieved those in their playing, it will be difficult to provide any decent approximation of their sound.

Paul needed to establish a consistent, tight bassline in order to lock in with Ringo Starr on the drums. Rather than hitting a pulse on every beat, he began to focus on using the bass to create proper melodies. Instead of backing up the rhythm guitar or just playing the root note of every chord, these bass lines were unique, melodic, and much more articulate.

But instead of focusing exclusively on these styles, McCartney was able to expand his range and palette significantly. As a solo artist after the breakup of the Beatles, McCartney began to blend some of these techniques to create a new style on the bass. However, he also had a lot of softer, suave basslines, like on his album Band on the Run.

That makes it difficult, if not impossible, to cover all of them in one short article. Learning how to use these skills will help you sound and feel like Paul on the bass. Playing with a pick is a pretty divisive technique in the bass community — some bassists love the sound and feel that it affords them, while other maintain that picks are for guitars only — and that bassists who play with one should learn how to play with their fingers instead.

Of course, these debates are often a bit silly. However, if you want to play like Paul McCartney, playing with a pick is absolutely essential. Paul played with a pick from his earliest days on the instrument, and continued this habit all throughout his career. Using a pick has a number of tonal advantages, particularly with the violin-style basses that Paul liked to use. Sit down, let me show you a few things. Home News. Jeff Giles Published: January 5, Next: Every Beatles Song Ranked.

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