Long time watcher, first time commenting. This one really hit me, this was my granddad’s favourite song. We played it at his funeral as he requested it before he died. My god I wish he was here to watch this with me and breakdown McCartney’s genius. Thank you Rick for helping me understand what my grandad heard in this masterpiece.
I am a retired music teacher and I used this song for years in my arrangement and composition classes as a perfect example of creative 'less is more' writing. Apart from the fantastic melody there is the syncopated rhythm of the melody set against the steady quarter note beat of the strings that really propels the song forward. Also there is the strange harmonic rhythm. (three measures of Em followed by one and a half measure of C followed by three and a half measures of Em) which gives this song this weird sense of instability. Pure genius. And there's the lyrics of course.
I had a HS English teacher in the early 70s who used Beatles songs in our poetry explorations. Not the music, just the words. We spent a whole class dissecting the meanings and emotions of Eleanor Rigby. It is a very special memory that I cherish. Thank you, Mr. John Sollers.
If Sir Paul McCartney wanted to, he could be teaching his own music classes at Oxford or Cambridge University. I could see him doing that too. Can you imagine what that would be like to have him as a professor?
Rick, another great song breakdown. I’ve always heard that he and Lennon had no idea about music theory (at least at the time they were writing). There are people with innate musical ears. I want to be one of those people.
Yeah im still not sure why rick didnt add it to his greatest 2-chord song. He says its because of the line cliche? But the line cliche works so well here
My ear is not nearly as developed as it should be, but ER is so lush and sophisticated that it never dawned on me that it only has two chords. Fricken Beatles man.
One of my peeves is the "Beatles are overrated" stuff that goes around these days online... obviously no one who's ever tried to play a Beatles song correctly. It's just mind blowing how complex their songs can be yet still be as palatable to a mainstream listener as it is.
Most of the arguments I see whenever someone says that The Beatles are overrated are centered upon "even I can play their songs on the guitar, they are not difficult". They forget that having a ton of shred licks or complicated riffs in your songs does not mean that they are memorable or of good quality.
The Beatles totally transformed popular music and popular culture. They were the first self contained pop group, writing their own songs and using chords and musical forms that had never been seen in pop music before. They were revolutionaries and everyone since has been merely a follower.
When I discovered The Beatles, I was immediately drawn most to Mccartney's songs without understanding why. Songs like And I love her, Eleanor Rigby, For No one, Good Day Sunshine, She's Leaving Home, Penny Lane, Martha my dear, Hey Jude, (the list goes on) they all pluck at your heart strings. Their music seems simple yet they contain some elements which always move and surprise you. But in all these songs the lyrics have the same quality. They seem simple but they all contain some beautiful images. Also, the music fits so well with the sentiment of the lyrics.
I'm a sucker for simplicity. And no one does it better than The Beatles. I think of "Paperback Writer", which is only two chords (G & C) with a simple pentatonic riff and a TON of great production around it. Simply amazing.
If you're a sucker for simplicity, check out the song "Identical" by Phoenix from their newest album Alpha Zulu. I know it's a synth driven pop song but I am amazed by how they create so much tention by repeating the same chord over and over again. After two minutes the harmonies finally change but it doesn't resolve the tention but just adds to it even more. In the end the return to the chord from the beginning feels almost like a relief. It's a masterpiece in terms of simplicity for me.
...and in A Day in the Life, right after the bridge with all those string instruments going bonkers, you can hear a faint alarm clock going off right before "woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head" ....
I made it to 52 seconds and just stopped for a second. I thought for a good 5 minutes about how Eleanor Rigby is really two chords. I was mindblown. Now what gets overshadowed here is not the genius of Macca, it’s the musical prowess of Rick Beato that talks about these things I have never seen or heard or thought of ever before. Thank you so much for bringing us all this great knowledge!
Let's be real, we're never gonna really be *done* talking about the Beatles. I've been listening to them for my entire 24 years of living and I'm still catching things I've never noticed before. Not many bands can say they have 13 albums and every single one is a masterpiece.
I'm 72 and have been listening to them since the beginning and yet here's Rick Beato dissecting and revealing to me things about a piece of music I've listened to 1,000's of times in such a way as to make me understand that there's so much more to hear.
It is very very comforting to know that these guys still Rock for the younger Generations as well. I'm 42, I didn't really fall in love with the Beatles until I was 17 and it was forced on me by one of my friends dads so many years ago. I was very thankful, yet I was way overdue for opening that book, and was not real intrigued or interested in their music until then, even though I had heard many of their songs growing up. There is so much to explore, i still havent heard every song they sent out to the world. John was killed shortly before I was born. Keep passing the music down through the generations, it is well deserved. These gentlemen have definitely made the world a better place.
@@newfreenayshaun6651 I'm glad my dad collected the vinyl albums and later the CDs. I remember loving Sgt Pepper from some of my earliest memories. I'm always trying to turn people on to their music, and even blowing their minds with something like Taxman, Rain or even Within You Without You when people try to tell me they were "just a pop group/boy band." Of course being my age, a lot of my friends and peers just don't get it..
You can’t have rock w/o Bach, Beethoven & Brahms. You can’t have jazz w/o Miles , Monk & Moody. You can’t have modern music w/o the Beatles. Don’t listen to them much - but I probably should.
Great video as usual.... During Rick Wakeman's 2006 solo piano tour he covered a "Help/Elenor Rigby" medley and stopped in the middle.... explaining to the crowd precisely the melody changes you taught us about here... spot on dude as always!!!
Wakeman is also funny as hell in addition to being a virtuoso player and educator. I also strongly believe that when public K-12 school music programs were better funded these types of discussions were common. In the 70s, I had an old high school piano teacher who would routinely break down tunes like this for us in great detail (jazz and show tunes too) and we would be tested on the material or be asked to develop a motif based on it. This was not unusual. I regret that those teachers weren’t better paid. Of course, public K12 music programs were later seen as optional and the trend became to defund them. What a shame. It also led to a drought of musical knowledge on even foundational concepts such as the modes and counter-point. In any case It’s great that Rick Beato benefit can from his knowledge.
I love this song! The strings make it so special and appeal to my classical side. I remember my mom liked it too which was unusual. It came on the radio during a thunderstorm when I was keeping her company in the upstairs hallway with all the bedroom doors so she couldn't see the lightning. We were listening on AM on a transistor radio and we'd hear a crackle just before the thunder.
In just over two minutes Paul describes two characters, Eleanor Rigby and Father MacKenzie, and their mundane, inconsequential lives. A masterpiece of concise writing. No Beatle played an instrument on this song, and yet it's a stand-out song on a stand-out album and whenever the topic comes up asking "what is your favorite Beatles song", I, unlike most people, actually give an answer. Eleanor Rigby.
The strangest thing is that George Harrison and Paul worked out that part together. You would think that only one mind could be across this song in order to keep the whole thing unified - but it was Paul and the two Georges. And you're absolutely right - those harmonies are perfect.
And that, my friends, is why new generations of people continue to listen to this band's music after over half a century. It was just that good. Imagine a world without the Beatles.
It is remarkable, isn't it? I can't imagine teenaged me back in the Seventies being similarly fascinated with comparably ancient songs such as "Yes We Have No Bananas Today", "Hello My Ragtime Gal", or "Ain't We Got Fun?".
Speaking of ‘a world without The Beatles’ there was actually a movie about no one remember there was a band called The Beatles. The movie is Yesterday. Go watch it. A very good movie.
This not only shows McCartney's genious but shows that you dont have to craft a song from complex chord sequences. You can use simple chords and then build interesting melodies around them. Songwriting at its best.
This song is so good it's scary. If it were any other band, it'd be regarded as the best song ever. But since it's the Beatles, it's one among many. To me, it's untouchable.
One of the greatest songs in the modern era, IMO. Brilliant melody, superb orchestration (the dramatic strings), incredibly evocative, poignant lyrics. It's a melancholic short story in music--short, simple, powerful.
Something very similar to the "Eleanor Rigby" leap of an octave and then a 10th happens in The Who's "I Can See For Miles". In its "Well here's a poke at you" section, it leaps an octave on the word "poke" and then a major 9th on the word "choke". And it also does something similar to how "Rigby" uses both the minor 6th and major 6th in its verse. "Miles" uses both the minor 3rd and major 3rd in its verse, although that is much less unusual.
I must say Paul has a brilliant and fascinating musical ear and brain,nothing was by accident with his writing,just fantastic breakdown Rick of what we take for granted,thank you!
I completely disagree. I think a lot of things were by accident. Paul seems to be the type of guy who loves to just sit a noodle around and listen. I'm certainly not saying that his talents aren't off the charts. But I think that part of his genius is hearing the accidents and making stuff out of them
@@danacoleman4007 and having heard, played, partied from childhood to 19th century, pre WW1, between wars blue collar, low income, and communal Liverpool. Vast range of hearing tunes that worked for ordinary people
agreed. Paul had no clue then what modes were and he still might not to this day. His ear, however, is as finely tuned as the best of any concert musician on the planet.
@@antkn33 Rick taught us how it was done but not how to do it. That’s the difference. You have to be the one to come up with it, not just understand how it was done
My wife and two sons joined me at your show at the Park West in Chicago and yes Rick, we were very entertained! To all of my fellow fans, go see Rick! It’s a great evening of musical dissections and all you’ve come to appreciate from Professor Beato. Thank you, Rick!
I'm so glad you took the time to analyze Eleanor Rigby. This is probably my favorite Beatles song, along with Magical Mystery Tour. Also, I think if there is ever a time when there is nothing else to say about the Beatles, then the world is done. Last one out the door, make sure the lights are turned off.
When I was a kid, this song always made me very sad. I always thought it was the lyrics doing it to me. This video showed me that it was also the music doing it to me, maybe more so than the lyrics. Thank you Rick, I always learn something new when I watch your videos!
When I listen to it, I can't believe its only 2:38 long. It's so jammed packed musically. instrumentally and emotionally. George Martin was genius working the Beatles.
Watching the great Rick Beato talk about the great Paul McCartney, and understanding these musical analyses the way I do, a million light years ("Across The Universe") from today's pop, is just a pleasing privileged thing to do. 🙂
Great video, as usual. Also, proof that sometimes you DON’T have to use the original recording to teach about the song. Hope you can use this format more often for the blockers. Thank you, Rick!
starting in my teenage years I began the listening to The Beatles.. and over time their music created hundreds of thousands of neural pathways throughout my auditory cortex.. thank you so much Rick for being passionate while you share musical knowledge and analyze great songs.. it is very enjoyable to witness.
We studied The Beatles for my final year music exams in secondary school and this was one of the songs we chose for them. This song was really enjoyable to study in depth, so much going on.
Eleanor Rigby has the right combination of complexity and simplicity that it works so well and makes for so many possibilities in covering it in different styles and it works in so many ways
The new Revolver mix is incredible. Eleanor Rigby gives me full body goosebumps. Just amazing how much clarity they were able to pull out for the new release.
To really appreciate the depth of McCartney's talent, one need go no further than his debut solo album. There's some incredible stuff there, like his solo on Maybe I'm Amazed.
In fairness, I don't always agree with all that you do, but dude, you're amazing. Your analysis is consistently helpful to me and hopefully others. It pushes me to really try to more fully understand so much more of what I hear in the music that I listen to and play. I couldn't possibly overstate my appreciation.
Great breakdown! Paul is the ultimate melody man. I recall back in the day, seeing no less than Leonard Bernstein on TV saying how sophisticated the Beatles music was. But what makes it even more amazing is they didn't even read music; they did it all in their heads! They're in a league of their own creating lush rhythmic, tonal and lyrical landscapes. You could do 187 more videos like this one... and I hop you do!
@Unlikable Avenue Wow, so the Beatles writing amazing music without being able to read the sophisticated, mathematical language of music is not amazing. Boy, you're in a league of your own too.
You were wondering about a 10th in another song. "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones has a 10th a few times in the song. It's obvious because it leads into the beginning of the phrase. I love your videos.... especially the one you did on Michael Brecker (my jazz hero).
Not sure where you're getting the 10th, as it begins with a jump from the 1 to the 7th, 5, 3,3, 1, and the other verses are 7, 5, 3, 3, 1. The chorus jumps an octave at the beginning.
@@mikenitchie5849 I will check my transcription when I have time. I like playing this song, so I transcribed it. If my transcription turns out to be correct, I will share it with you.
Every time I hear breakdowns of Beatles songs like this I think Paul never thought this way when he was writing it. He just had one of the best natural ears of all time.
Hearing the notes played on the piano without the lavish production really illustrates the stark power and drama of the song. I can imagine building a piano concerto around this song.
I'm relearning guitar at the moment and just the small snippet about modes related to the chords in this video will encourage me to experiment and think outside your typical major and minor chords.
Such a great analysis and example! McCarteny's music is deceptively complex, the weird stuff just sounds so right, I still can't get over the time I realized Yesterday is in 7-bar phrases! like no other pop song.
Great video analysis of a beautiful song. Yesterday gets most of the attention, but I always thought this was equally as great. I assume all the jazz Paul heard from his father made it's way into Paul's writing.
It's interesting to note that George Harrison came up with "look at all the lonely people," and Ringo wrote some of the lyrics ("writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear"). Lennon later claimed major credit for the song, which was disputed by the entire band and Lennon's childhood friend Pete Shotton, who was there as McCartney worked on the song and said Lennon's contribution was "virtually nil." One of my absolute favorite songs not just from the Beatles, but of all time. It's simply brilliant, whomever contributed to the writing (although I do believe that the entire thing has much more the air of McCartney than it does of Lennon, and that seems to be the opinion of everyone involved in its writing.)
Its especially interesting how he really wasn't one to think much at all about theory, those melodys just.. came to him. Its stunning that someone could have something like that simply flow from them and with such great consistency
Please Rick, more videos like this about the Beatles. Even if you can't play the actual music. We've listen to it enough, we know exactly what you are talking about.
Was in Chicago for the show. I was entertained. Thank you for all you do. You handled the crowd questions so well and I loved the Beatles breakdown there. I half expected to see a white board. Great job on this video too..
More so than most songs, I think they were trying to give the impression of a conversational tone, using the sharps and flats (modal changes), to imply a more natural conversational tone variation. Very nice to know HOW they did it!
Great breakdown Rick. Of course, "Eleanor Rigby" is the only Beatles song on which none of the Beatles provided instrumentation. George Martin utilized a classical string octet of studio musicians...which creates such an effective vibe. Genius!
its also worth mentioning that the length of the first 2 musical phrases in the verse are uneven (5 bars of 4/4, when you would usually have groups of even numbers such as 2, 4, 8 and 16 per phrases), and the fact that the melody is constantly accentuating on the off-beats adds a lot of tension and interest in a subtle way, and it doesnt stand out as odd or unfamiliar which i find very intriguing and incredible!
I wonder if Paul realized the complexity of these songs that he wrote or maybe he was just filled with an abundance of natural talent and that's the way the songs came out. It's always a treasure to hear Rick break down a song and explain his rationale as to what he likes about it.
@@gianclaudiofloria6903 I believe that all the good music has already been written. Musicians these days truly have an up hill battle trying to write anything original AND worthwhile.
@@collick100 This is an interesting topic for debate, but I must disagree with you on this point. Music is always progressing forward, much like sports, because as time goes on newer participants have more to be influenced by, and thus more to learn from. The most impressive musicians to me were in the deep past (e.g. Bach) because they had very little guidance, and much of what they did was "from scratch" and became profoundly influential. The problem today is that most of the innovative musicians operate in obscurity, because 95% of the human population is content with the same "proven" chord progressions and harmonies. If you want to find the best music of the 21st century you really have to do some digging. We can no longer rely on media outlets to feed us good music. The profit motive has taken over, permanently.
@@blakebruner5038 And yet, there are only 12 notes. In that regard music is finite, because there are only so many combinations that sound good and also connect with us emotionally. It'll be interesting to see how AI develops music in the future, and whether it's possible for a machine to write songs with emotion and meaning.
@@AdamFearnPiano Music is certainly not finite. In fact, one of the easiest ways to prove this point is by looking at the 2nd half of your comment. A.I. already can write songs with emotion and meaning. Which demonstrates that 12 notes is not the limitation you think it is. When you start accounting for tempo, cadence, dynamics, harmony, time signatures, type of instruments, production style, etc.... you realize that even 2 chords is enough to write an infinite amount of music.
There is no bottom to the depth and the poignancy of The Beatles. This is why we are all still standing still in awe, bowing to their majesty. What makes it even more endearing is the fact that they never had the pretension of believing in their own splendor. They just, were!
I'm a 45 year drummer and I've been listening to this song my entire life. Very interesting and cool to hear the complexities explained. I also love George Martin's contribution to this song.
Well said. It’s a shame that many people don’t realise the contributions George Martin made towards their songs. He was a huge part of their song craft
I think one of the things that made him so unique was that he had this amazing ear for melody but no knowledge of theory. He's not thinking of modal relationships or intervals while he writes these, so he's "free" to do what sounds good to him where some people might over-analyze and play it safer. Luckily what sounded good to him also sounds good to most of the rest of us :) And it's not a knock on theory. Just an interesting layer that probably worked in his favor.
@@olredbeard420 That's not true. McCartney himself has admitted it many times. They were self taught by ear, and George Martin took care of the things that required theory knowledge (like arranging for orchestra)
And to clarify, knowing what chords you're playing is not knowing music theory. Understanding how to resolve progressions and phrases is not knowing music theory. They all had a fantastic feel and ear for music, but if you asked Paul what modes he had in mind when writing Eleanor Rigby, he wouldn't have an answer, because he didn't have modes in mind.
My emotions when listening to Eleanor Rigby always bounce back and forth between melancholy and sadness. It feels like McCartney pulls the emotional rug out from under us with his soaring octave changes. Bloody genius is what it is.
First time I heard that song I was in the living room with my grandparents. It was their generation. I was a kid and couldn't believe how great that song was. They were casual about it, I guess because they had heard it countless times, but I was blown away.
This has always been my favorite Beatles song, because it sounded like nothing else I had ever heard. This really helps me understand what the 13 year old me grabbed on to.
Another great and remarkable thing is that the melody of the verse is a five measure melody! I cannot thing any other melody that lasts five bars. Nice video. Greetings from Greece.
Rick, you spoke about jumping a 10th and it being so unusual. My music theory is definitely pre-infancy, but the second time you demonstrated it the first thing that came to mind was Van Halen's "I'll Wait" the beginning of the song keyboard synth introduction which I suppose is a bit more of a slide and not a jump. I could be way off with my initial thought, but I find it similar.
Paul has been my favourite since Ed Sullivan show Feb 18 1964 I’m still playing still performing so much love for those guys, the world was saved when they came along
TS is a good fun song. It's way past nauseating when people choose a few of Paul's songs for slaughter. Maxwell's Silver Hammer was good fun song too. Just b/c John hated it doesn't make it a bad song. Same with Your Mother Should Know. Everyone knows Paul wrote 'period pieces' occasionally. Songs such as Honey Pie, Martha My Dear and When I'm 64, along with the other two were the types of songs Paul would have heard on the BBC radio broadcast in the 40's & 50's. It's what his parents listened to b/c that was the music of that era. So he writes a few of those on his own from what he remembers as a kid. Nothing wrong with it. It wasn't rock & roll but who cares. They were cool songs and shows how musically intelligent Paul was compared to John/George or anyone else writing songs back then. I say good for Paul!!
I’ve always envisioned McCartney just letting his fingers do the walking, when he wrote songs. You know, “Wow. I like those two notes, one after the other. Now, what if I add this…nope. Not that. Then what about this? Nope, not that either. Maybe this one instead? Cool! Yep. That one! Okay, now…” And so on. The melodies just organically arrived, as opposed to being planned in any way. It’s only in the transcribing by music-theory-trained musicians that the technical intricacies of it all are revealed. I may be way off on this, but NOT being hemmed in by music theory was one of McCartney’s best assets. Sometimes, not knowing you can’t do something, is your super power in doing it. McCartney noodled his way into many a masterpiece, as a result. Love your content, Rick. Much of it is over my head, but I always learn something. Cheers
Yes, it is very often noodling. Although sometimes it's also something you hear in the head first, then you find the chords/harmony/melody on the instrument later on. The more familiar you are with your chosen instrument, the easier it is to find. Sometimes, it can feel like the music is just being channeled through the fingers- kind of spooky but it's like a trance-state where the fingers just sort of go where they're meant to, without much conscious thought.
Paul M was remarkably gifted at writing unusual melodies and harmonic sequences. The syncopation in the tune is hard to sing, but he manages it effortlessly. So many "Pushes."
I think the #4 sounds sad only after a while is because at first it's just a C chord being played so the brain thinks "we must be in C lydian". However, the actual key of E minor quickly becomes established (since it's more stable than lydian and also emphasised). In the key of E minor, F# is the 9th, which has a haunting quality (think of the m9 chord).
Nailed it. I liken this moment in the song to the overall key of Em kind of seeping back into our brains...or we're anticipating the Em tonality we been hearing in the song coming back at any second.
... while I failed music in elementary school (because of a lack of interest), my interest is now sky high with these breakdowns of these drums. The Beatles have indeed greatly shaped the way I write songs (my dad was a huge Beatles and Pink Floyd fan). Thank you, Rick, for this presentation. This is why I love your channel so much.
