‘With a Little Help from My Friends’

• Second song on the album.

• Words and music written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney but Ringo Starr was the lead singer.

• Example of Pop Rock.

• The song asks questions about the meaning of friendship and stresses the importance of community.

Instruments

• Standard line up of piano, electric guitar and drums with cowbell and Hammond Organ being played in the first recording.

• Overdubbing with tambourine, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass and vocal harmonies.

• Guitar and piano mainly play straight crotchets.

• Bass emphasises beats 1 and 3 in the verse and crotchets in the chorus

• At the beginning there is an instruction to play all the quavers swung.

The song was specifically written for Ringo to sing. He has only a very small vocal range and his part (apart from the last note) has a range of only 5 notes! (Basically, he wasn’t a great

singer!

Introduction

• The name of a fictional character, Billy Shears, is sung in harmony (in 3rds) against the sound of a cheering crowd, which was recorded at a live Beatles concert at Hollywood Bowl.

• The tempo is marked as ‘moderately’ at a bpm of 110 crotchets per minute.

• The first four bars are in the key of G, which is unusual as the whole song is in E! On the word ‘Shears’, the key changes to E major and there is a two bar guitar solo or fill.

Verse 1

• The lyrics in the first verse reflect Ringo’s lack of confidence “What would you do if I sang out of tune? Would you stand up and walk out on me?”.

• The melody goes up and down on the first 5 notes of the E major scale, and only three chords are used. Only two different note values are used, quavers and crotchets, but because these are tied over the barlines, syncopation is found in the middle and at the end of the bars.

• Although the melody is syncopated, the accompaniment is very simple and regular, with all the chord changes on the first beat of the bar. Only the piano, guitar, bass and drums are heard in this verse.

• The chords E, B, F#min are used with the last two chords (E and B) giving a perfect cadence.

Chorus

• Contains the hook!

• 8 bars long with a guitar fill and drum solo at the end.

• Only has three lines! “Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends, Mmm, I get high… Mmm, gonna try…”

• The melody consists of triplets, syncopation and acciaccaturas.

• Only uses three chords, E, D and A.

• Ends with a plagal cadence (A to E)

• In the overdubbing, a tambourine and cowbell were added for the chorus.

Verse 2

• The lyrics for the second verse continues with questions sung by Ringo but this time the questions are responded to, by questions, from John and Paul. This creates a call and response effect.

• The tone of the lyrics has moved from insecurity to loneliness.

• The chord progression is the same as verse 1.

• The melody is nearly the same but has some minor inflictions to accommodate the tone of the lyrics.

• There is melisma on the lyrics “lone” and “own”. Melisma – a singing

technique where two

or more notes are

sung on the same

syllable.

Second chorus

• Second chorus is slightly different from the first – in each line, the first few notes are sang by Ringo and then John and Paul join in, singing in harmony above his notes, in either 3rds, 4ths, or 7ths.

• Although the same harmonies are played in the accompaniment, the vocal lines are more complex, with chromatic sliding in the vocal harmonies. This works to build interest and momentum in the song.

• Also has the overdubbed tambourine and cowbell.

Bridge

• Continues with the call and response format, but this time John and Paul ask the questions in a higher register with Ringo responding in his register.

• Two new chords are introduced – C#min11 and F# major.

• The note values, or duration of notes, are longer – giving the effect of the music broadening and the range/register of the notes is larger, giving the effect of the music rising to a new level.

• The accompaniment returns to just piano, guitar and drums.

Verse 3

• Continues the call and response style with John and Paul asking the questions in harmony and Ringo providing the answers.

• The harmonies between John and Paul are in 3rds.

• The drum kit accompaniment changes in this verse from hi-hat to ride cymbal.

• A chorus follows this verse, but is identical to the second chorus.

Bridge 2

• The same music and lyrics are used for the second bridge, with one small change. The opening notes for each question in the first bridge are:

• In the second bridge, the opening notes are slightly adjusted:

Final Chorus

• The melody and lyrics for the final chorus are the same as before, although the order is slightly changed, with lines 2 and 3 swapped around. This was apparently an error by Ringo in the recording, but has remained in the final record.

• After the usual 3 line chorus, there is a 6 bar conclusion to the song, using repeats of the final lyrics.

• The last note ‘E’ sung by Ringo is sang falsetto and out of his normal range.

• There is a descending melody sung by the remaining members.

• The final cadence is a type of alternative perfect cadence.

• On the last chord a cymbal is struck.

Discussion questions

• Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the melody line. Is it successful, despite its small range? What techniques are used to strengthen/expand melody?

• Discuss the musical elements found in the difference parts of the song – intro, verse, chorus, bridge. Include discussion on rhythm, harmony and texture.

• Discuss the accompaniment as played by the Beatles. Do you find it interesting? If time permits, listen to covers of this song and compare them with the original recording.

• What do you consider to be the central message of this song? Do you think it is successfully portrayed?