THE HARDEST GUITAR RIFF? The Beatles - And Your Bird Can Sing, on One Guitar and How to Play it.
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 ก.ย. 2024
- Quick little stop-gap video until my next entry to the Top 100 solo list. Been wanting to throw this video together for a while now. Finally got it done. Hope you like!
My cover of the full song from Guitar World magazine's top 100 solos list on two guitars and on one guitar, if you'd like to check it out.
• AND YOUR BIRD CAN SING...
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John called this a throw away song. It's been one of my favorites for decades.
Mine too! I remember it from the cartoon show when I was a kid.
Amazing guitar playing for what was a 2 minute song. There’s always something unique in every Beatles song.
They definitely were brilliant musicians and ahead of their time
There's no way they did it all on their own. They must have used session musicians. Drummer Bernard Purdie has claimed he was used. th-cam.com/video/NqOBmxM2_dY/w-d-xo.html
Nope. Pentangle cranked up in the late 1960s. This song was released in 1966. The Beatles were musical geniuses.
@@personanongrata1308 Totally disagree. Those guys could definitely play. Especially Macca and Harrison. Please!!
@@personanongrata1308 - That's a Paul is dead conspiracy TH-cam channel.
Going from the Liverpool skiffle of I've Just Seen A Face to the Schubert like Eleanor Rigby, the modulations of For No One, and Here There and Everywhere is highly implausible in the space of a year. It could be that George Martin was involved in composing but took the money via sole producer credits or a behind the scenes deal. Mike Williams shows that the Beatles schedule in 65-66 is basically impossible, 3 albums, a movie, 2 world tours.
Paul bass line on this is off the chart as well
not really. his bass sucks !!
@@nonrepublicrat Maybe. But one thing is for sure. You have the grammar skills of a 2nd grader. Is English your second language?
You’re deaf if u think his bass sux
@@nonrepublicrat this ain't primus
That’s for sure!👍
SUCH a fantastic song. SO much musical joy in such a short piece. LOVE the Beatles!!
One of my all-time favourite little songs.
I am stunned that anybody ever thought this was only one guitar. I was born in '62, so I wasn't really listening to this track seriously until the early 70s. I guess those few years may have given me more insight than sombody listening in 1967, but.... it just always seemed so obvious that it was two guitars. You can tell by how fluid it is, among other things. And Kelly Dean, while I applaud you (and a few other TH-camrs) who have mastered playing this on a single guitar, I always see it as a challenge and a fun exercise, but never a substitute for the real thing, because it always sounds choppier than the two-guitar method (I mean, how could it not?)
Enjoyed your video and tutorial.
The Beatles backing tracks of AYBCS has really help a lot in my playing solo of the guitar riffs as well as its bass progression. With constant practice, I can play it with finesse.
Tom Work, "George" of 1964 The Tribute, has done this flawlessly for years and it's always a treat. And let the record show, Keith Richards STILL couldn't play this {single or double} with a gun to his head, lol. Beatles forever.
The first time I heard a "BeaTle Trib. Band" was 1964 (as the BeaTles). My buddy and I were sitting about the third row back, and after a couple of tunes, I leaned over and told him, "Yeah, but can they do A.Y.B.C.S.?" So they did, the very next song!!!!! Tom blew me away, and while I really appreciate his "WORK" (pun intended, Ha!) it then meant that since I saw, and heard it done live on ONE GUITAR, that I had to clean up my own "shlock" version, and I've been working on it ever since. Tom plays this in like 3 different registers, and mixes them all up together but yet they ALL sound the same--Geo. NEVER was expected to handle this live, and left us tribbers to FUSS with it, coward, Ha! Miss ya Geo., you were highly underrated!!!
@@georgescarlett2320 Listen to George's solo in Till There Was You and that's all you need to know.
It's always a pleasure to hear you both play AND talk! Just wanted to say it)) The most underated channel ever. Thanks for your videos!
Thanks Andriy! That's very nice of you to say. Channels slowly growing. We'll get there.
Well I stumbled across this video and I must say I really enjoyed your story of the riff & Joe Walsh, Ringo etc. plus you play and teach it really well. I would urge anyone who admires this song to watch it by Josh Turner Guitar performing it here on TH-cam. Josh is sitting cross legged playing and singing and his performance is incredible.
So far...this is the best explanation for playing the song on a single guitar. I will never find another guitar player to play this with. So playing it alone is it. As for it beinga throw away...Lennon was out of his mind! I loved the whole Revolver work!
70 yo avid Beatles fan here...this entire tune is a masterpiece in every way...everything! But, the guitar solo(s) is beyond belief!
Are you kidding? I already spent too many years on this. Thank you for saving me from a living hell. Awesome video. :-)
When this song was released I had some of the world's best guitarists as my teachers. My parents knew most of the musicians here in Nashville and I was helping to build the Grammer Guitar at the time. So I sit down with Billy Grammer (google him) and play the record for him. He listened, made a few moves on the neck of his beautiful cherry red Gibson ES 335 with gold hardware and Bigsby. He told me, "You can't do this on one guitar. It is overdubbed. You will need two lead guitars doing harmonies." Looking back, I assume he was addressing my level of performance (nowhere near his). Thank you for demonstrating that it can be done! This gives me some resolution to 55 years of wondering. Rock on!
Thank you for this study. I always was amazed as a young guitarist at this track for its awesome riff and uniqueness. Also the tone is perfect along with the gain. It’s deep in their great catalog. And it’s fresh. Thanks for clarifying that Paul and George played the lead part together. Also when hearing the working version which is on The 2nd anthology. It’s clear they came up with this riff late as it is nowhere on the early track. Which is amazing, since who would not want to be a fly on the wall when they come up with some of these riffs that are taken for granted.
When Revolver was released I was fascinated by AYBCS. Like everyone else at the time, I thought it was George playing the whole thing at one time on one guitar. After a lot of work, I actually got it pretty well and my band played the tune. When, years later, I found out it was two guitars I was both disappointed and satisfied that I had learned to play it.
You're doing it very well, but a bit choppy. Listen to it again. The original "riff" is a little smoother with a few bends and legato harmony phrases that are extremely difficult (impossible?) on one guitar.
Smoothness is somethinf that gets better as you practice a riff.
@9:55 when he says 7 & 5 then 5 & 3 on the GB he of course means 6 & 4 then 4 & 2 on the DG
Thank you so much for this great demo and easy-to-follow tutorial. Never thought I could learn to play this, but thanks to you - I did! You're an awesome player and teacher -greatly appreciated!
This is the best of guitar songs!
They’ll never cease to amaze… thanks for the video!
awsome Thanks for taking the time. much appreciated
That is such a lovely riff played by George with Paul. I become choked up, whenever I hear it!
I'll be honest I just came here to listen and watch the riff be played, and it was the very first thing you put in the video so I didn't have to skip around 20 minutes trying to find it. So for that I liked the video
One of my favorites, very fun to watch! Sweet!
Great video, Kelly. I purchased the Beatles Yesterday and today USA version in 1966. It was a mono copy and wore this song out. I believe it was the first cut of side 2. It also sounded great on AM Radio in my first car, a 1953 Chevy. Even with its 6 by nine speaker, Paul's bass line would rattle the dash! Thank you for the post...
sheez - i've been obsessing about this riff for years finally figuring a way to interpret it with a slide on an open tuned guitar. silly me, never thought the original version was done via multi-track. thanks for the clarification Kelly. keep up the good work, you're an entertaining fellow.
Spectacular Kelly,! I'm facinated with your skill in playing such a wonderful Beatles' riff, in addition, the stories you tell are fantastic. Un saludos desde Sonora, México.
Excellent tutorial! Thanks mate!
I saw Joe Walsh and his early band, The Measles, play this. Every guitar player in Northeast Ohio wanted to do it, thought few succeeded. It was almost like trying to break someone's record. In later years, I've watched many do it...the best so far was a young guy (20 ish) on acoustic! It has always been a milestone piece.
My brother and I played this "Riff" together many years ago. We figured it out together and is one of my favorite brotherly memories while he was still alive. BTW, love the painting that's hanging behind you.
Have always loved this song.
i never knew this song was the birth of guitar harmonies! where would we be without great guitar harmonies.? story about joe walsh was very cool.. thanks for sharing your insight and paying it forward...cheers.....
That was also my first impression when I first listened to it before. Until I mastered it only to learn later that it was overdubbed. But now like Joe Walsh, I have the feeling of self-fulfillment that I've been able to play it on one guitar and learned its bass progression as well and of course singing the entire song.
I can't thank you enough for this break down....
Great playing! Also I really dig the painting behind you. My Dad was an artist and made some paintings in that style. Very cool!
Thank you so much for stating from the beginning of a section each time, playing each section all the way through, at a speed that gives us time to find the notes, but not SO slow that it gets tedious, looses the melody, and by time the phrase is played though, we’ve forgotten the beginning! (Happens to me all the time) and most of all, for repeating enough times so we don’t need to keep stopping and starting the video and trying to go back and find the place to see it again. New subscriber!👍
Great! Thank you from Spain.
Nicely done but to my ear, the intervals in the second half of the second measure are a 3rd, E & G#, followed by a 4th F# & B, then a 6th, G# & E and finally, a 5th, B & F#. in each pair I listed the lower note first. As two separate parts of an E scale the lower part would be E, F#, G# & B. The upper line is G#, B, E & F#. Also, in bar 3, try bending the G# on the 9th fret of the 2nd string to A while sustaining the open 1st string E, under both. Similarly, on the 3rd beat of bar four, bend F# (7th fret, 2nd string) to G# with the open E. The last three intervals of that opening four bar sequence sound like 4ths to me: on top F#, E & C#, on bottom C# B & G#. I'm not correcting, just merely trying to help.
One of the toughest leads ever. Not just the Beatles....(IMHO)
Wow, your the first guy I've heard play this on one guitar. I've always thought it was played on 2 guitars. Your sounds like the recording, Thank KDA! Love your Strat!
Superb Riff, Superb Backstory, Superior Lesson! George & Paul would be so tickled!🍎
I like the way you call the strings by their correct names. Most viddys say 2nd string or 4th string etc...3rd fret on 4th string, 4th finger on 5th fret with 8th fret on 8th string and 7th finger on 5th fret on 11th string...you get the ides...
Oh God, yes. The only way better than this vid does it that I can think of is to say things like "G7 B8, then G6 B5" etc.
Shows you how genius they were they actually wrote this originally
They wrote everything "originally".
Thank you very much! Tricky indeed! Nice listening to you
Just watched this vid and there were several advertisements .. thats a good thing i believe..good job
I'm thinking of Kashmir by Led Zeppelin and how difficult that was to play in standard tuning when my band covered it. When Jimmy finally confessed how he did it with that altered tuning ... well that made sense. He wouldn't write something so difficult to play live ... he did what he had to to make it reasonably playable ... I think the same goes with George.
Love the playing; that's why I'm here. But that painting on the wall is way cool.
Thanks for your video. I've been fascinated with this song since I first heard it as a kid. I've been toying with these riffs for the past 5 years and almost had it but you filled in the blanks for me. Now if someone would just explain how they got that guitar tone. Thanks again.
I love riffs better than solos .
You could take that and make it into a cool groove doing that song the way it is and then adlib in the middle and then go back into the song as is. KISS did this with their live version of Lick It Up where they get to the cool riff then as they are doing their riff they blend it into Won't Get Fooled Again intro and then back into the riff of the song. If you ever get a chance look that up. You might like it.
Actually I knew a guitarist back in the day who could play that riff on a single guitar.
His name was Joel Culp and he was in a band called “Me and the Guys” that was soon after the album Revolver had been released.
In The Beatles, Paul and George played this together, so that makes it much easier! (Edit: this was just a reaction to the title before I watched the whole video, obviously you covered everything well ;-))
John and George.
@@scottandrewbrass1931 no Paul and George shared lead responsibility. John played the more basic rhythm track in the background
Wow ,great job explaining this.I will try it but I don't know. Thanks for this !!
Amazing 😮🙌🏼
Lesson starts at 7:50
Thanks man. I can get a bit chatty setting it up.
@@KellyDeanAllenGuitar Nice to know the lesson start time when re-watching, but I enjoyed hearing about the background of the riff and Joe Walsh's Joe Walshian efforts to learn it on one guitar.
This strikes me as being a lot like the Sor Study Op. 6, No. 6 which is the Segovia Sor Study number 12. Many classical and/or fingerstyle guitar players will be familiar with this study which is an exercise in playing thirds up and down the neck. Sounds good when played well too.
At least he started the video with the hook. (These TH-cam videographers get paid by the minute.)
Love it. Pat Finnerty brought me here. Also beato.
Kick ass man. Wow you've jumped overnight it seems in subs. You are getting the action and deserve 100s of 1000s. It's coming. Keep it up! Amazing work man.
Hey Robert! Yeah, been decent lately. Don't know what happened. Maybe the algorithm kicked in a bit.
Yeah. Right on Kelly! Keep it going!
It even sounds cool slowed down. This would be a great acoustic song slowed down with a few guitars doing harmonies together.
Agreed.
whew! thanks! been trying that one for a while!
Fantastic im up at 3 am and playing this tune and singing it and I find this and WOAH you play it better then I do amazing so im learing this smoking playing.....
Love April Wine….thanks for mentioning them.
The recording features an extended dual-guitar melody, played by George Harrison and Paul McCartney, which anticipated the harmonised guitar arrangements commonly used by Southern rock, hard rock and heavy metal bands.(WIKIPEDIA)
John and George.
@@scottandrewbrass1931 It was George and Paul; there is no dispute about who played this.
Now, where have I seen that face before? You look a "dead ringer" for Francis Rossi of Status Quo. Fascinating video. Thank you.
Not to be pedantic, but I don't think this was multi-tracked. They only had four tracks to work with and I doubt they would have wasted one like that. Actually, I suspect it even shared the track with Lennon's vocal. I think they were both playing live, together at the same time, possibly plugged into the same amp. That's part of why it sounds so seamless, like it actually is a single guitar.
maybe Mark Lewisohn can answer that
BTW...great job playing that complicated solo!
The REALLY complex part is the run in the bridge of the song (When your bird is broken...), but I don't think you are going to get to it... Pretty cool you worked out the riff for one guitar, though.
I love this one. I even love Run For Your Life - as Randy Newman said in regards to Short People, "Never trust the narrator of a song."
I agree with Lennon about none of his songs, lol.
Carry on. Great channel.
Thanks Stella! Appreciate that very much.
Nice work
Another cool video. Random thought- ever considered pulling up one of your 80's metal originals from back in the day and re-doing it?
Cheers
Oh, that's a good idea. Gonna think about that.
Do it!
Listening very well to the isolated tracks of "And your bird can sing" it is very easy to realize that there is no doubled lead guitar. The person who played the solo must have been the same person on a 12-string electric guitar, as it appears in the version of Anthology 2. In that version there is a mismatch in the solo, which if it had been performed by two different people, the performance of each could not have been delayed at the same time. That means that the one who played the lead guitar part was the same person as I expressed before. George Harrison himself asserted that it could be him or John, but that he did not remember it. The version of "Anthology 2" is revealing, because it clearly shows that McCartney is in charge of the bass, but on the same track you can already hear the guitar solo similar to the final version, therefore if McCartney played the bass he couldn't have played guitar at the same time. Many people say that it is well documented that this guitar part was performed by George and Paul as a duet, taking into account the memoirs of Geoff Emerick. But it is well known that after the death of Lennon and Harrison, Emerick tried to benefit Paul McCartney as many times as he could, giving him much more credit or participation than he really had, which takes away from the credibility of what Emerick expressed in the last 20 years. John Lennon was an excellent lead guitarist, which according to Eric Clapton himself, that was the reason why George Harrison felt threatened. Lennon was the author of the riffs of "I feel fine", "Day tripper", "Your never give me your money", "I want you (She's so heavy)", "Hey Bulldog", in addition to playing the lead guitar on "Honey Pie", "Get back", "Birthday" and showing George how he wanted the sitar solo to sound for "Norwegian Wood" with his guitar. Anyway...
Almost correct. There are two guitars being played together(like I Feel Fine) but they are being played by Lennon and Harrison. Paul isn't over dubbed.
Correction: Joe Walsh isn't from Cleveland, Ohio. He is a native of Montclair, New Jersey.
quite interesting! DANKE ✌🏻
Lynryrd Skynyrd, 3 guitars as well
Very tricky piece indeed.
Same as bohemian rhapsody layers of guitar multitracked
Sorry to correct, the E chord going into measure 4 is an E6 with the upper note landing on C# (not to B).
Nice! Thanks! :)
The actual lesson starts at 7:51
I learned it. can't be THAT hard if I learned it. It's the bridge I need to get down which is probably easier than the signature riff of the song.
It's just that it's very quick with a heck of a lot of jumping around the fretboard.
@@KellyDeanAllenGuitar its tough at tempo but its great and opens up more ideas.. Star spangled banner for instance...
Took a while but what brilliant teaching
This one's as much about the story of it as it is about the tutorial.
What about 'wishbone ash' legends of twin guitars!
Great Job!
Just so you know, the two leads were not multitracked. Harrison and McCartney played them at the same time. Beatles only started using a 4 track on Sergent Pepper. Also I respectfully disagree with you calling the solos a "Riff". A "Riff" is usually short and repeats it self many times in a song. For Example: the guitar in Day tripper is a riff. Anyway I learned to play both solos at the same time back in 1988. I was in a couple of Beatle tribute bands.
It's interesting how you span the whole fret board on the second part of the solo. I play it up higher on the fret board. I just go down a set of strings. Same notes. You do play it well. Alot of people think the solos were done with the two epiphone casinos. I heard they were done with the fenders they had. I'm curious what kind of distortion/overdrive are you using?
greetings from Victoria, BC....share your passion for this track as well. Deserves to be in the top 100...with so many great recordings, I guess some are bound to be less well known with the non- guitar playing public. The track didn't make the North American release of Revolver either, along with "I'm Only Sleeping "...tho I much prefer the North American release of Rubber Soul, to the UK release, as I believe the songs chosen fit together better as a whole.
First time I saw it performed on one guitar was with a tribute band , I think It was "The Tribute" or the "fab Four!
Betcha they listened to Pentagle. Renbourn and Jansch were the most original guitarists in England if not the world.
Nope. Pentangle cranked up in the late 1960s. This song was released in 1966. The Beatles were musical geniuses.
Sounds fuck all like Pentangle.
Who says The Beatles weren’t great guitar players?
I don't think anyone says that but I think in all their fame what they brought to guitar history is a little buried.
Like every song on Abbey Road has really good guitar tone dialed in.
The only ones who say that are foolish fools. (On the hills?)
@James Y they were the best? Errr no. They most certainly were not the best guitarists! George was a very tasteful and talented player, but not “the best”
The Beatles have a few great guitar riffs but I’d say they’re not really well known for their difficult guitar work like Hendrix or Clapton or anything. If you hear isolated guitar in Beatles tracks (all over TH-cam, wonderful!) you can see the creativity George had though. He’s both overrated and underrated, if that makes sense.
@@thesilvershining You think Hendrix & Clapton are difficult? Joe Satriani and Al DiMeola are difficult.
ya one of mine too ill take a shot at it......
ive always wondered if it was doubled and a rythym guitar too......but can we cut the small talk and get to it lol sorry im impatiently waiting....** .yeah ur right its gonna take awhile.......lol how did they ever play and sing over this...wow.....thanks for transcribing this.. i hit like
i wasnt trying to be rude its just hard to play a lesson over n over when it doesnt start til 10 mins in.....i know its free tho so thank u really
Very entertaining thanks !
Ok GET THIS FROM YOUR LESSON I TOOK THIS INTO STAR SPANGLED BANNER AND LEARNED THAT AND THIS YOU SPAWNED ANOTHER IDEA ENTIRELY IF YOU KEEP GOING UP AND AROUND YOU WILL FIND STAR SPANGLED BANNER USING THIS SAME CHORDS AND WOW DOES THAT SOUND COOL ITS ACTUALLY NEATER THE HENDRIXS VERSION CAUSE ITS FULLER AND YOU END WITH A C MOVE C UP TO D AND FINALE ON HIGH A TRY IT THANK YOU FOR THIS IT GAVE ME ANOTHER MUSICAL IDEA.. SO IM GIVING IT BACK !
Great video! You spoke three words and I could tell you were Canadian eh!
This is indeed challenging. Do you think it would be more beneficial or harmful to try learn the two individual parts first, before tackling the above?
As usual, another 1st by the Beatles😎
I googled Joe Walsh and this song -- because it would be awesome to hear him playing it -- and instead I came across a fascinating Snopes compilation of a whole series of similar legends.
Must check that out, thanks!
That has to be the most complicated guitar riffs I’ve ever seen ! Wow
Couple of things: It's a solo -- eight bars, not a loop of two, in the middle of the song. I think of a riff as an obligato like The Stones "The Last TIme" features. I saw Jimmy Pou play the AYBCS solo at a live performance in around 2004 when he was with 1964 TheTribute. Most impressive. Re Lennon's view of this song, I don't agree with Lennon on most things. Yet, I think he's the third best pop music composer of all times behind McCartney and Jeff Lynne.
Jeff Lynne? Yikes.
Kelly how do you transcribe solos or riffs that are ridiculously difficult, I can transcribe solos within scale positions, but this just seems astronomically hard to transcribe. Whats the secret?
ya gotta really want to learn it first n formost....then rinse n repeat lol
Dear John, RIP.
Marvelous
ok .. good .. what about bridge?
John wrote it, so I guess he could say what he wanted. He could be such an insecure asshole. He would make a remark like this to call attention to himself. Even at that point he was alternately jealous of McCartneys output. He wasn’t capable of playing that solo, and probably was trying to pull the listener back to his genius. He was a genius. Great song even better because of the riff. God I miss those guys.
It is played as the solo in the song.