What harmonica did John Lennon play? What harmonica did John Lennon play in the intro to "Love Me Do" and other Beatles songs? The Beatles Harmonica is a “signature” model from Hohner.

I Should Have Known Better sounds in the film A Hard Day's Night at the moment where the Beatles perform in front of a crowd of girls. Among them, George Harrison met his future wife, Patty Boyd, with whom he was married until 1974 .

The song "I Should Have Known Better" is heard in the scene where the Beatles are playing cards on a train. The episode was actually filmed in a van driven by crew members to create the effect of a moving train.

Source: Dowlding, William (1989). Beatlesongs.

The sound of the harmonica in the opening part of the composition is very reminiscent of the playing style of the American songwriter Bob Dylan. "I Should Have Known Better" is one of the fruits of the Beatles' "passion" (as music critic Ian MacDonald described it) for the musician's work.

The musicians first heard about Bob Dylan in January 1964 during a three-week tour at the Olympia Theater in Paris. And after they purchased his record “The Freewheelin”, the Beatles began to often play songs from this album. American journalist Al Aronowitz introduced the Beatles to Bob Dylan during their visit to New York in February 1964.

Bob Dylan had a great influence on the work of the Beatles, and, in particular, on John Lennon, who even began to wear a cap like Huckleberry Finn (a literary character mentioned in Dylan's work).

Paul McCartney noted that Dylan's songs had "great lyrics," and John Lennon repeatedly said that Bob's music inspired him to write songs with deeper meaning.

Source: The Beatles Anthology. - London: Cassell and Co., 2000. Bill Harry, The Beatles Encyclopedia: Revised and Updated. - London: Virgin Publishing, 2000. Ian MacDonald "Revolution in the Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties." - New York: Henry Holt and Co.

The composition opens with John Lennon playing the harmonica. “I Should Have Known Better” is one of the last Beatles compositions in which the musicians used this instrument.

The use of the harmonica is a distinctive feature of the Beatles' early music. The harmonica appears in songs such as "Love Me Do", "Please Please Me" and "From Me To You".

The sixteen-section middle of the song features a completely new sound from George Harrison's Rickenbacker 360/12 guitar.

Source: Ian MacDonald "Revolution in the Head: The Beatles Records and the Sixties." - New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1994. Craig Cross “The Beatles: Day by Day, Song by Song, Record by Record”

The song was first recorded on February 25, 1964 at Abbey Road Studios. Three versions of the song were recorded, but only the last one was complete. During the second recording of the song, the session was interrupted due to Lennon laughing while playing the harmonica. The next day, some changes were made to the composition's arrangement and the song was re-recorded.

Thousands of harmonica players must have picked up the instrument for the first time after hearing the quavering riff John Lennon played in the intro to The Beatles' "Love Me Do." But how exactly did you play?

The first part is so simple that it’s hard not to play it! 5 inhale, 5 exhale, 4 inhale, 2 inhale on diatonic in C - probably the simplest of harmonica riffs. You don't even have to try to play single notes accurately - anyone who has listened to the radio in the last forty years will immediately recognize it by ear. So this is how Lennon played? Let's say right away - no!

As I said, the first part is quite simple, but when the song gets to the words “Someone to love...” things change a bit. The harmonica plays the notes A A G F#, but on a regular diatonic scale in C, the notes A* and F# (Note:* - in this range) are not available for production in the usual way. Sure, with good bending technique you can get those notes, but they won't sound the same as Lennon's recordings. It is worth noting, without any disrespect to Lennon, that at the time the song was recorded, his harmonica playing was far from Howard Levy standards. Moreover, it is noticeable that he had difficulty producing clean single notes, so it is unlikely that he could play the notes using bending while maintaining such accuracy of pitch and even timbre as heard in the recording. Lennon may have played the opening riff on C harmonica and then changed it to diatonic in the key of G to play the "Someone to love..." part. Although, if you slow down the recording and listen more closely, it's hard to believe that anyone could change harmonics so quickly in the tiny amount of time between the last note of the opening riff and the A note at the beginning of the next riff. Is it possible that instead of two harmonics, one diatonic in G was used, but with a special tuning, although nothing else indicates in favor of this assumption.

So... it should be a chromatic harmonica, but in what key? In his article Little Child: Harmonics in the Music of the Beatles, Greg Panfile suggests that Lennon used a chromatic in the key of G. Yes, both riffs can be played on a chromatic in G - although it can be done on a chromatic in any key. But still Lennon didn't exactly use chromatics in the G. At some points in the opening riff, he falters for a moment, and plays notes after the one he intended to play. Specifically, when the first note of the opening riff (F) sounds, it hits the adjacent hole above it. By slowing down this fragment on the computer, we can identify this adjacent note as an A. But the note one hole higher than F on a G chromatic should be a G, so we are not dealing with a G chromatic. Chromatically in the key of C would seem to be a more plausible option, and this is confirmed by a couple of slight errors when Lennon plays a G note and accidentally hits the C note along with it. The final piece of evidence is the fact that F# is the only note in this tune that requires the slider button to be depressed on the C chromatic - when Lennon plays the "Someone to love..." riff a second time in the middle of the song without vocals, you can hear a slight click at the beginning of the F# note, sounding very similar to pressing a button late. Also notable is that F# lacks the characteristic hand-assisted vibrato that accompanies all other notes. I believe that Lennon's hand at that moment was busy pressing the slider button!

There are a few other Beatles songs where Lennon's choice of harmonica may also be less obvious. The main riff of "Please Please Me" is very similar to the intro to "Love Me Do" in this regard. The riff is played in the key of E major and the phrasing of the notes is quite consistent with the diatonic in E. However, if you play this riff on a regular E diatonic, starting with 7 on the breath (Note: note D#), the melody will sound an octave higher than the original. If you start with 4 on the exhale, you'll have to bend the 3rd hole a whole tone to get to C# - and Lennon obviously doesn't bend a single note in this riff. How did he play then? Apparently this uses a chromatic harmonica in the key of E - the Hohner Super Chromonica was available in this key at the time. Of course, these notes can be played on a chromatic of any key, but we find no evidence of any operation of the slider button, and besides, the phrasing of the riff according to the pattern of inhalations and exhalations corresponds to an instrument in the key of E. Another possible, and most likely, more plausible option - Lennon used a 12-hole Echo Vamper. This was the Marine Band 364 version for the European market and was then available in all 12 keys. The Echo Vamper in E was tuned an octave lower than a regular 10-hole E harmonica, which is just right for us. But, since the harmonica and guitar play very closely in this riff, it will be very difficult to say for sure what is playing - chromatic or low-tuned diatonic, just by ear.

Another easily recognizable Beatles riff appears in the intro to "From Me To You". Like all classic Beatles themes, this riff itself is very simple - C D E D C D D A. But still, if you play it on a regular C diatonic, starting with a 4 on the exhale, you will have to bend to get the low A and again, this note is too cleanly played for Lennon to have been achieved by bending. You can play this melody easier by starting with a 7 on the exhale, but in this case the riff will be an octave higher than on the recording. Another option is to play it on the G harmonica, starting with 5 on the breath. In this case, all the notes of the riff can be achieved without using a bend, but is that how Lennon played? No. Again, with the persistence of Columbus, he makes small mistakes similar to those we considered above, and a more detailed study of them gives us convincing evidence. A couple of times, while playing the note D, Lennon accidentally hits the next hole, which produces an F note, which allows him to identify the harmonica as being tuned to C major (barring the unlikely event that he is playing a chromatic in the key of B with the slider button pressed) . So, to get the A clean, he had to play either a chromatic in C, or a low-tuned diatonic in C, starting at 7 on the exhale. The 12-hole Hohner Echo Vamper in C was tuned an octave below the normal C harmonic, so it's a suitable option.

The song "All Together Now" features vocals and harmonica in a question-and-answer style. The song is sung in the key of G with a simple chord pattern played on a G diatonic. The song "Rocky Raccoon" is in the key of C and Lennon fills it with a slight "quack" on the C harmonica.

For other Beatles songs that feature diatonic harmonica, Lennon tends to use the second, or cross, position. The song "I Should Have Known Better" is in the key of G and Lennon uses a C diatonic; the song "I"m a Loser" is also in the key of G and also played on a C-harmonica; the song "Thank You Girl" is in the key of D and played on a G-harmonica; the song "I"ll Get You" also seems to sound in in the key of D (although on the recording it appears to be played slightly lower) and is played on the G harmonica; "Little Child" is in the key of E and Lennon plays A harmonica.

The song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" from Sgt Pepper's... , featuring John Lennon and George Harrison playing bass and chord harmonica. They may have actually played them on the recording of the song, or they may have just been publicity photos.

And finally, a couple of other things feature chromatic harmonics. The song "Chains" is in the key of Bb and the harmonica plays a simple opening line - F Eb D F Eb D. The harmonica is clearly a chromatic in the key of C, as Lennon moves from the note F (6 on the breath, with the slider button released) to the note ( 5 for inhalation, with the button pressed), he accidentally touches F# (6 for inhalation, with the button pressed). It's possible that he could have made this mistake on a Bb chromatic (starting a phrase with a 6 on the exhale), but if he played it on a Bb instrument, he wouldn't have to press the slider button at all, and he could have played the part much more easier by playing the Eb notes as a 5 for inhaling with the button released, rather than as a 5 for exhaling with the button pressed. In this case, if he had made a mistake and hit the adjacent top hole, he would have ended up with a G note rather than an F#, so I think it is correct to conclude that Lennon was using a C chromatic here.

The song "There"s A Place" puzzled me a little, but I recently obtained a better quality recording of the song, in which the harmonica was practically highlighted on one of the stereo channels during the fade-out of the track, allowing me to identify it as a C-chromatic. In this song , which plays in the key of E, the harmonica is represented by a simple D# E D# C# line. This could easily be played on a diatonic E harmonica, but, as with the song "Please Please Me", a bend is required on a regular E harmonica , to get a C# note in that range. However, at the end of the track, Lennon's mistake betrays him again. On the very last repetition of the riff, just after the track's final fade-out, he makes a mistake that can only be made on a chromatic. Just as he is about to move from the note D# ( 5 on the inhale with the button pressed) to the note E (6 on the exhale with the button released), he releases the slider button a little earlier, and a clean D comes out. There are also other errors that could only happen when Lennon played on C -chromatic: pressing the button a little earlier and playing the note F instead of E (6 for exhaling with the button pressed, instead of 6 for exhaling with the button released), hitting another hole and getting the note F# instead of D# (6 for inhaling with the button pressed, instead of 5 for inhale while pressing the button), etc. They are difficult to hear at normal playback speed, but slowing down the original 8 times using a computer makes them quite obvious.

2002 P.Missin
translation 2005 A. Tsvintarny

Thousands of harmonica players must have first picked up the instrument after hearing the quavering riff John Lennon played in the intro to The Beatles' "Love Me Do." But how exactly did you play?

As I said, the first part is quite simple, but when the song gets to the words “Someone to love...”, things change a bit. The harmonica plays the notes A A G F#, but on a regular diatonic scale in C, the notes A* and F# (Note:* - in this range) are not available for production in the usual way. Sure, with good bending technique you can get those notes, but they won't sound the same as Lennon's recordings. It is worth noting, without any disrespect to Lennon, that at the time the song was recorded, his harmonica playing was far from Howard Levy standards. Moreover, it is noticeable that he had difficulty producing clean single notes, so it is unlikely that he could play the notes using bending while maintaining such accuracy of pitch and even timbre as heard in the recording. Lennon may have played the opening riff on C harmonica and then changed it to diatonic in the key of G to play the “Someone to love...” part. Although, if you slow down the recording and listen more closely, it's hard to believe that anyone could change harmonics so quickly in the tiny amount of time between the last note of the opening riff and the A note at the beginning of the next riff. Is it possible that instead of two harmonics, one diatonic in G was used, but with a special tuning, although nothing else indicates in favor of this assumption.

So... it should be a chromatic harmonica, but in what key? In his article Little Child: Harmonics in the Music of the Beatles, Greg Panfile suggests that Lennon used a chromatic in the key of G. Yes, both riffs can be played on a chromatic in G - although it can be done on a chromatic in any key. But still Lennon didn't exactly use chromatics in the G. At some points in the opening riff, he falters for a moment, and plays notes after the one he intended to play. Specifically, when the first note of the opening riff (F) sounds, it hits the adjacent hole above it. By slowing down this fragment on the computer, we can identify this adjacent note as an A. But the note one hole higher than F on a G chromatic should be a G, so we are not dealing with a G chromatic. Chromatically in the key of C would seem to be a more plausible option, and this is confirmed by a couple of slight errors when Lennon plays a G note and accidentally hits the C note along with it. The final piece of evidence is the fact that F# is the only note in this tune that requires the slider button to be pressed down on the C chromatic - when Lennon plays the "Someone to love..." riff a second time in the middle of the song without vocals, you can hear a slight a click at the beginning of the F# note, sounding very similar to a later button press. Also notable is that F# lacks the characteristic hand-assisted vibrato that accompanies all other notes. I believe that Lennon's hand at that moment was busy pressing the slider button!

There are a few other Beatles songs where Lennon's choice of harmonica may also be less obvious. The main riff of “Please Please Me” is very similar to the intro to “Love Me Do” in this regard. The riff is played in the key of E major and the phrasing of the notes is quite consistent with the diatonic in E. However, if you play this riff on a regular E diatonic, starting with 7 on the breath (Note: note D#), the melody will sound an octave higher than the original. If you start with a 4 on the exhale, you'll have to bend the 3 hole a whole tone to get a C# - and Lennon obviously doesn't bend a single note in this riff. How did he play then? Apparently this uses a chromatic harmonica in the key of E - the Hohner Super Chromonica was available in this key at the time. Of course, these notes can be played on a chromatic of any key, but we find no evidence of any operation of the slider button, and besides, the phrasing of the riff according to the pattern of inhalations and exhalations corresponds to an instrument in the key of E. Another possible, and most likely, more plausible option – Lennon used a 12-hole Echo Vamper. This was the Marine Band 364 version for the European market and was then available in all 12 keys. The Echo Vamper in E was tuned an octave lower than a regular 10-hole E harmonica, which is just right for us. But, since the harmonica and guitar play very closely in this riff, it will be very difficult to say for sure what is playing - chromatic or low-tuned diatonic, just by ear.

The Beatles Harmonica – “signature” model from Hohner

Manufactured by M. Hohner, Inc. in the 1960s, this original 5" box contains a "signature" harmonica. There are two versions of the boxes: the one pictured here has George and Paul's names reversed, while the others have them spelled correctly. The correct version is rare and practically a rarity. The harmonica box was sold attached to a 7-by-11-inch cardboard (see picture), which features a photograph of The Beatles on one side and sheet music and lyrics to their songs on the back.

Another easily recognizable Beatles riff appears in the intro to “From Me To You.” Like all classic Beatles themes, this riff itself is very simple - C D E D C D D A. But still, if you play it on a regular C diatonic, starting with a 4 on the exhale, you will have to bend to get the low A and again, this note is too cleanly played for Lennon to have been achieved by bending. You can play this melody easier by starting with a 7 on the exhale, but in this case the riff will be an octave higher than on the recording. Another option is to play it on the G harmonica, starting with 5 on the breath. In this case, all the notes of the riff can be achieved without using a bend, but is that how Lennon played? No. Again, with the persistence of Columbus, he makes small mistakes similar to those we considered above, and a more detailed study of them gives us convincing evidence. A couple of times, while playing the note D, Lennon accidentally hits the next hole, which produces an F note, which allows him to identify the harmonica as being tuned to C major (barring the unlikely event that he is playing a chromatic in the key of B with the slider button pressed) . So, to get the A clean, he had to play either a chromatic in C, or a low-tuned diatonic in C, starting at 7 on the exhale. The 12-hole Hohner Echo Vamper in C was tuned an octave below the normal C harmonic, so it's a suitable option.

The song “All Together Now” features a question-and-answer combination of vocals and harmonica. The song is sung in the key of G with a simple chord pattern played on a G diatonic. “Rocky Raccoon” is in the key of C and Lennon fills it with a little “quack” on the C harmonica.

For other Beatles songs that feature diatonic harmonica, Lennon tends to use the second, or cross, position. The song “I Should Have Known Better” is in the key of G and Lennon uses C diatonic; the song “I’m a Loser” is also in the key of G and also played on the C-harmonica; the song “Thank You Girl” is in the key of D and played on a G harmonica; “I’ll Get You” also appears to be in the key of D (although it appears to be played slightly lower on the recording) and is played on G harmonica; “Little Child” is in the key of E and Lennon plays A harmonica.

In the song “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite” from the album “Sgt Pepper’s...” harmonics are used as an integral part in the swirl of background sounds. It is essentially impossible to determine which harmonicas are being used, although there are period photographs of John Lennon and George Harrison playing bass and chord harmonicas. They might have actually played them on the recording of the song, or maybe they were just promotional photos.

And finally, a couple of other things feature chromatic harmonics. The song “Chains” is in the key of Bb and the harmonica plays a simple opening line - F Eb D F Eb D. The harmonica is clearly a chromatic in the key of C, as Lennon moves from the note F (6 on the breath, with the slider button released) to the note ( 5 for inhalation, with the button pressed), he accidentally touches F# (6 for inhalation, with the button pressed). It's possible that he could have made this mistake on a Bb chromatic (starting a phrase with a 6 on the exhale), but if he played it on a Bb instrument, he wouldn't have to press the slider button at all, and he could have played the part much more easier by playing the Eb notes as a 5 for inhaling with the button released, rather than as a 5 for exhaling with the button pressed. In this case, if he had made a mistake and hit the adjacent top hole, he would have ended up with a G note rather than an F#, so I think it is correct to conclude that Lennon was using a C chromatic here.

“There’s A Place” was a bit of a puzzle to me, but I recently got hold of a better quality recording of the song, which actually showed the harmonics more prominently on one of the stereo channels during the track’s fade-out, allowing me to identify it as a C-chromatic. In this song, which is played in the key of E, the harmonica is a simple D# E D# C# line. This could easily be played on a diatonic E harmonica, but as with “Please Please Me,” a regular E harmonica requires bending to get the C# note in that range. However, at the end of the track, Lennon's mistake betrays him again. In the very last repetition of the riff, just after the track fades out, he makes a mistake that can only be made on chromatics. When he's about to go from the note D# (5 on the inhale with the button pressed) to the note E (6 on the exhale with the button released), he releases the slider button a little earlier, and a clean D comes out. There are also other errors there that could only have happened So, when Lennon played C-chromatic: pressing the button a little earlier and hitting the note F instead of E (6 on the exhale with the button pressed, instead of 6 on the exhale with the button released), hitting the other hole and getting an F# instead of D# (6 on breath with the button pressed, instead of 5 breaths with the button pressed), etc. They are difficult to hear at normal playback speed, but slowing down the original 8 times using a computer makes them quite obvious.