The typical thing to do is to start on the root and descend chromatically: R-7-b7-6. The opening chord progression in the verse (measures 2-5) is a familiar one: I – I(maj7) – I(b7) – IV. In the bridge, the bass line goes R-7-6-5-4 (with an E pedal throughout). Harmonically, this song emphasizes descending voice leading. It is his turn to be supportive, but he still plays an interesting descending line, moving down the A major scale, but with an E pedal at the top (see measures 21-22). Thus, the bass functions as harmonic foundation, countermelody, and percussive drive.Īs Ringo’s part becomes substantially more active during the bridge, McCartney falls into a straight eighth note pattern. So in the first two verses, the only moving parts are the vocal melody and the bass. The strings enter at the end of the first verse, but just as sustaining chords. In the first verse, there is a rhythm guitar strumming the chords and an organ that comes in midway through to play staccato chords on the Am. Ringo plays the sparsest backbeat imaginable with hardly any fills (a total of three fills through the first two verses!). But the other instruments are leaving plenty of space for the bass to be active. Still, it’s not just a straight quarter note or eighth note groove-it is fairly irregular. The sixteenths usually fall on beats 1 and 2 McCartney tends to leave a little more space on beats 3 and 4. He is mixing dotted quarters, quarters, eighths, and sixteenths.
Paul also plays a slight, but very natural, crescendo on the ascending line over the G chord (measures 7, 16, 34, and 43).ĭuring the verses, McCartney isn’t sticking to a regular pattern or even a consistent rhythmic feel. In the verses, there are usually crescendos through the 16 th notes on beat 2 of the C and C7 chords. It has an orchestral quality to it-almost like a timpani part-very percussive and dramatic. The bass line is pretty busy during the verses. This recording also features a keyboard bass that occasionally doubles the electric bass in octaves or in unison. The bass on “Something” was recorded DI as an overdub, and is most likely the Jazz Bass. Some songs on the album were recorded by placing a microphone in front of the bass cabinet, some were recorded with a DI, and some used a combination of the two. Several different recording engineers worked on Abbey Road, and they each favored a different method of recording the bass. It is very active, but still manages to stay out of the way of the vocal melody (one of the nicest melodies in the Beatles catalog).ĭuring the Abbey Road sessions, McCartney played his Rickenbacker 4001S along with a Fender Jazz Bass he had acquired during the sessions for The White Album the previous year. It is almost like a bass solo through the whole song, weaving in and out of chords.
You just don’t hear bass lines like this very often. It is one of the best bass lines ever recorded, by anyone. The bass line on “Something” is, in my opinion, the best that Paul ever recorded. It is one of the masterworks of rock bass lines, and it deserves to be presented in full. When making the list of songs to include in the article, “Something” was at the very top however, I quickly decided I couldn’t just show excerpts from this song. McCartney’s Masterpiece: Bass on the Beatles’ Something by Rob Collier… In last month’s article, I did an overview of Paul McCartney’s melodic bass lines, citing short examples from seven different songs.
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