Did The Beatles get inspired by J.S. Bach?

Table of Contents

    Did The Beatles get inspired by J.S. Bach?

    The English rock band The Beatles, formed in Liverpool in 1960, is widely considered the most influential band of all time. Led by songwriters Lennon and McCartney, the band was part of 1960s counterculture and inspired an international fan frenzy called “Beatlemania.” They stormed the United States pop market in what was dubbed the “British Invasion” and enjoyed huge commercial success.

    The Beatles essentially wrote simple songs emerging from folklore roots. Although primarily rooted in contemporary rock ’n roll, they absorbed different influences and styles, “having been inspired by everything, from Negro blues to Magyar dances.”

    And as a scholar writes, “they borrowed here and there with unabashed enthusiasm and made it all their own.” And while they considered “Beethoven a con, just like we are now,” Paul McCartney once said “Bach was always one of our favorite composers.”

    the beatles sheet music

    Paul and John sang in the church choirs of St. Peter and St. Barnabas in Liverpool, but none of the Beatles could read music. They certainly had no training in classical music and/or on an instrument. That particular aspect was introduced and fostered by their mentor and producer George Martin (1926-2016), a graduate of the Guildhall School of Music. Martin had studied composition, conducting and orchestration, music theory, harmony and counterpoint, and he usually arranged the songs of the band.

    Martin strongly denied that he was the real creative genius behind the Beatles. On the contrary, he insisted, “I worked only to their original designs and to their specific requests, even to details of arrangements which they sang to me and which I often transcribed on the spot in the studio.” George Martin was recurrently called the “Fifth Beatle,” and classical influences in the band’s music should essentially be credited to him.

    Prior to working with The Beatles, Martin had worked at Parlophone, a branch of EMI, as a producer of classical and baroque records. Tellingly, he always called “classical music his first love.” Martin himself dabbled in composition, and he orchestrated a number of Bach works in the manner of Leopold Stokowski. In addition, he worked traces of Bach into several Beatles songs, and that included the megahit “Yesterday.”

    Paul McCartney wrote the melody and chord progression, but it was Martin’s idea to accompany the song with a string quartet. Sir Paul remembers, “that on that session, George explained to me how Bach would have voiced it in a choral voicing or a quartet voicing. And he’d say, ‘This would be the way Bach would do it’.”

    Paul also remembered “the original inspiration for “Blackbird” was from a well-known piece by Bach, which I never know the title of, which George and I had learned to play at an early age…we felt that we had a lot in common with Bach. For some reason, we thought his music was very similar to ours.” That particular famous Bach tune, transformed and transposed in “Blackbird,” turns out to be the “Bourrée” from the Lute Suite in E minor, BWV 996.

    beatles sheet music pdf

    The Beatles: “Blackbird” (Studio Version 1968)

    After Paul McCartney listened to Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 on a television program, he had the idea of incorporating the high trumpet sound into one of his songs. “Penny Lane” is a nostalgic celebration of his childhood in Liverpool, and the second part of the song features a tune played by the piccolo trumpet.

    The song “All you Need is Love” sports a coda by George Martin. The band gave Martin permission to write whatever he wanted, telling him “Put together any tunes you fancy, and just play it out like that.” As such, Martin mingled together the melodies of “Greensleeves,” “In the Mood,” and Bach’s 2-part Invention No. 8 in F Major. A scholar writes, “despite the role of a favorite composer that Bach allegedly played for The Beatles, there are only a few concrete traces in their work, and most of them lead directly or indirectly back to the “Fifth Beatle” George Martin.

    Download all the Beatles’ song from our Library.

    Bach meets the Beatles – Variations in the style of Bach – “All you need is love” John Bayless, piano

    Read the full article here on Interlude.hk

    Browse in the Library:

    Total Records Found in the Library: 12472, showing 120 per page
    Artist or Composer / Score nameCoverList of Contents
    Trinity Classical Guitar 2020-2023 INITIAL free scores
    Trinity Classical Guitar Grade 05 2010-2015 free scores
    Trinity Electronic Keyboard Grade 1 Pieces & Technical work free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti Trinity Electronic Keyboard Grade 1
    Trinity Electronic Keyboard Grade 2 Pieces & Technical work free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti Trinity Electronic Keyboard Grade 2
    Trinity Electronic Keyboard Grade 6 Pieces & Technical work free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti Trinity Electronic Keyboard Grade 6
    Trinity Electronic Keyboard Grade 7 Pieces & Technical work free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti Trinity Electronic Keyboard Grade 7
    Trinity Electronic Keyboard Initial Grade 2019-2022 free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti
    Trinity Electronic Keyboard Initial Pieces and Technical Work 2015-2018 free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti
    Trinity Electronic Keyboard Sample Booklet free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti
    Trinity Guitar 2016 2019 Grade 1 sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
    Trinity Guitar 2016 2019 Grade 2 sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
    Trinity Guitar 2016 2019 Grade 3
    Trinity Guitar 2016 2019 Grade 4 sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
    Trinity Guitar 2016 2019 Grade 5 sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
    Trinity Guitar 2016 2019 Grade 6 sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
    Trinity Guitar 2016 2019 Grade 7 sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
    Trinity Guitar 2016 2019 Grade 8 sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
    Trinity Guitar 2016 2019 Initial sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
    Trinity Guitar Initial to Grade 5 Scales Arpeggios and studies free scores
    Trinity Piano Grade 1 Pieces and exercises 2018 2020 free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti Trinity Piano Grade 1 Pieces and exercises 2018 2020
    Trinity Piano Grade 2 Pieces and exercises 2018 2020 free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti
    Trinity Piano Grade 3 Pieces and exercises 2018 2020 free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti
    Trinity Piano Grade 5 Pieces and exercises free scores
    Trinity Piano Grade 6 (2021-2023) Extended Edition sheet music partitura partition noten spartiti Trinity Piano Grade 6 (2021-2023) Extended Edition
    Trinity Piano Grade 6 Pieces and exercises free scores
    Trinity Piano Initial Piano 2018-2020 Trinity Piano Initial Piano 2018-2020 Trinity Piano Initial Piano 2018-2020
    Trinity Piano Pieces And Exercises Grade 1 2015 2017 free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti Trinity Piano Pieces And Exercises Grade 1 2015 2017
    Trinity Piano Pieces And Exercises Grade 2 2015 2017 free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti Trinity Piano Pieces And Exercises Grade 2 2015 2017
    Trinity Piano Pieces Grade 1 2021-2023 free sheet music download partitions gratuites Noten spartiti Trinity Piano Pieces Grade 1 2021-2023
    Trinity Piano Pieces Grade 2 12 Piano Pieces 2021-2023 free sheet music download partitions gratuites Noten spartiti Trinity Piano Pieces Grade 2 12 Piano Pieces 2021-2023
    Trinity Rock and Pop Guitar Grade 8 (Contemporary and classic songs) with Tablature free sheet music downloadpartitions gratuites Noten spartiti Trinity Rock and Pop Guitar Grade 8 (Contemporary and classic songs)
    Trinity Sight Reading Book 1 Sound at sight Piano free scores
    Trinity Theory Of Music Workbook Grade 1 free sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti Trinity Theory Of Music Workbook Grade 1
    True Silent Hill-2- Akira-Yamaoka free sheet music pdf
    Truman Show, The Reunion Philip Glass free scores download
    Trumpet Method Allen Vizzutti Trumpet Method Book 1 2 3 Complete free sheet music partitura partition noten
    Trumpet Method Anthony Plog Method For Trumpet Complete 7 books free sheet music partitura partition noten
    Trumpet Omnibook For B Flat Instruments Transcribed Exactly From Artist Recorded Solos sheet music download Trumpet Omnibook For B Flat Instruments Transcribed Exactly From Artist Recorded Solos
    Trumpet Solos, Easy (The Canadian Brass) sheet music download
    Trumpet, The (John Wallace, Alexander McGrattan) Yale Musical Instruments Series (Book) sheet music download
    Tsim Sha Tsui Stroll (Lust, Caution OST) Alexandre Desplat
    Tu vuo’ fa’ l’Americano (Renato Carosone)
    Tubular Bells (Mike Oldfield) free sheet music pdf
    Tubular Bells Intro – Mike Oldfield (Musescore File).mscz
    Tuck Andress Europa by Carlos Santana guitar TABs free sheet music partitura partition noten
    Tuck Everlasting (The Musical) Music By Chris Miller Lyrics By Nathan Tysen (Piano Vocal Selections) free sheet music partitura partition noten Tuck Everlasting (The Musical) Music By Chris Miller Lyrics By Nathan Tysen (Piano Vocal Selections)
    Tunes For Ten Fingers A First Piano Book By Pauline Hall (Oxford) sheet music download
    TV and Movie Themes (Piano, Vocal, Guitar) sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras TV and Movie Themes (Piano, Vocal, Guitar)
    TV Detective Themes For Solo Piano sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti 楽譜 TV Detective Themes For Solo Piano
    TV Fake Book, The free scores TV Fake Book, The
    TV Songs Big Book Of TV Theme Songs 2nd Edition Piano Vocal Guitar sheet music partitura partition noten spartiti TV Songs Big Book Of TV Theme Songs 2nd Edition Piano Vocal Guitar Contents
    Twelve Etudes Op 8 No 12 Scriabin (Musescore File).mscz
    Twenty One Pilots – Goner free sheet music pdf
    Twenty One Pilots – Heathens – Piano free sheet music pdf
    Twenty One Pilots – Stressed Out Sheet Music Twenty One Pilots – Stressed Out Sheet Music
    Twenty-Four Italian Songs And Arias Medium High sheet music pdf Twenty-Four Italian Songs And Arias, Medium High
    Twice – Knock Knock Piano Solo sheet music download
    Twilight – The Score – Carter Burwell sheet music pdf Twilight – The Score – CArter Burwell
    Twilight saga – New Moon Music Score for Piano Solo Alexandre Desplat Twilight.New.Moon.Music.Score.for.Piano.Solo).Alexandre.Desplat
    Twin Peaks – Audreys Dance Angelo Badalamenti
    Twin Peaks – Laura Palmers Theme Angelo Badalamenti
    Twin Peaks – Twin Peaks Theme Angelo Badalamenti
    Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Variations Suzuki Guitar Vol. 1 (Musescore File).mscz
    Two Socks theme (Dances with Wolves OST) John Barry
    Two Steps From Hell Blackheart Piano Sheet Music by Thomas Bergersen free sheet music partitura partition noten
    Two Steps From Hell Flight Of The Silverbird (Piano Solo) Thomas Bergersen free sheet music partitura partition noten
    Two Steps from Hell Invincible Sheet Music free sheet music partitura partition noten
    Two Steps From Hell Star Sky by Thomas Bergersen free sheet music partitura partition noten
    Txarango – La Dansa Del Vestit En Fa M sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti
    Tymoczko, Prof. Dimitri MUSXI 105 Handouts 1 Book Theory
    Tymoczko, Prof. Dimitri MUSIC 106 Handouts Book Theory
    U2 The Piano Collection U2 The Piano Collection
    U2 – All I Want Is U
    U2 – Best Of – (Guitar Tab Songbook) free scores U2 – Best Of – (Guitar Tab Songbook) ContentsU2 – Best Of – (Guitar Tab Songbook)
    U2 – How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (guitar tab songbook) sheet music pdf U2 – How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (guitar tab songbook) ContentsU2 – How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb (guitar tab songbook)
    U2 – October
    U2 – Stuck In A Moment You Cant Get Out Of
    U2 – The Best of 1990-2000 (Songbook) – U2 sheet music Noten sheet music score partitura partition U2 – The Best of 1990-2000 (Songbook) – U2 sheet music
    U2 – The Best Of U2 (recorded versions) Guitar with TABs free sheet music & pdf scores download U2 – Best Of – (Guitar Tab Songbook)
    U2 – The Sweetest Thing
    U2 Rock Score 5 Great Songs free sheet music & pdf scores download
    U2 The Joshua Tree Guitar Songbook with TABs free sheet music pdf U2 The Joshua Tree Guitar Songbook
    U2 WAR sheet music pdf U2 WAR
    UB40 The Best Of – Piano, vocal & Guitar Songbook free sheet music pdf UB40 The Best Of – Piano, vocal & Guitar Songbook
    Ubi Caritas – Ola Gjeilo (Musescore File).mscz
    Ubi Caritas -Ola Gjeilo-with piano improvisation free sheet music pdf
    Ukelele Chord Finder – Easy to use Guide free sheet music & scores pdf download
    Ukrainian folk song.mscz
    Ukulele – 3-Chord Christmas Carols For Ukulele (Guitar Songbook Sheet Music) 30 Holiday Favorites With Just 3 Chords ree sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti Ukulele – 3-Chord Christmas Carols For Ukulele (Guitar Songbook Sheet Music) 30 Holiday Favorites With Just 3 Chords
    Ukulele – Simple Songs For Ukulele (Guitar Sheet Music) ree sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti Ukulele – Simple Songs For Ukulele (Guitar Sheet Music)
    Ukulele – The Daily Ukulele (Songbook) – Jim Beloff Guitar Sheet Music ree sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti
    Ukulele for Kids Songbook Ukulele Method sheet music download
    Ultimate 80s Songs sheet music Ultimate 80s Songs
    Ultimate Guitar Chord-Book free sheet music & scores pdf
    Ultimate Guitar Songbook with TABs free sheet music pdf Ultimate Guitar Songbook, The (110 songs)
    Ultimate Latin Piano Riffs – Carlos Campos & Andrew D.Gordon sheet music Ultimate Latin Piano Riffs – Carlos Campos & Andrew D.Gordon
    Umberto Tozzi Gloria – Piano Vocal sheet music partitura partition noten spartiti
    Un air de liberté (Et maintenant on va où OST) Khaled Mouzanar
    Un anno d’amore (Mina)
    Un Homme et son Chien (Philippe Rombi)
    Un Monstre À Paris La Seine And I By Vanessa Paradis & Sean Lennon (Piano Vocal) sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
    Un Monstre à Paris – La Seine And I by Vanessa Paradis & Sean Lennon (Piano vocal).mscz
    Una Mattina (Musescore File).mscz
    Unchained Melody (Sheet Music) – The Righteous Brothers Noten sheet music score partitura partition
    Under The Sea Ukulele Guitar From The Little Mermaid sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
    Under The Sea – Ukulele Guitar.mscz
    Understanding chord progressions for Guitar by Arnie Berle sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti Understanding chord progressions for Guitar
    Understanding The Fundamentals Of Classical Music Course Guide Modern Scholar (Book) sheet music download
    Undertale Full OST – Toby Fox free sheet music & scores pdf
    Undertale Megalovania Piano – Toby Fox free sheet music & scores pdf
    Undertale – Home sheet music score download partitura partition spartiti
    Undertale – Megalovania
    Undertale OST – Hopes and Dreams Save the World sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
    UNDERTALE OST – Hopes and Dreams Save the World Piano Solo.mscz
    Undertale OST – Hopes and DreamsSave the World.mscz
    Undertale Ost – Nyeh Heh Heh! Bonetrousle sheet music download
partitions gratuites Noten spartiti partituras
    Une Heure de Plus (Erik Berchot)
    Unfaithful (Rihanna)
    Unfinished Music – Richard Kramer free sheet music & scores pdf
    Unforgettable – Irving Gordon (Nat King Cole Song) (Musescore File).mscz
    sheet music library

    It’s nice to meet you.

    Sign up to receive our new posts in your inbox.

    This field is required.

    We don’t spam! Read our privacy policy for more info.