Thursday, January 19, 2017

Know your tempos: Beatles

It happens often enough: some other players are discussing a tempo for a tune, and they look at me like I can pull it out of the air just from a number. It's actually extremely simple to do that accurately, if you just memorize the BPM of some things you've heard a few thousand times in your life. You already know the tempo— you just don't know the number. Hence this Know Your Tempos series of posts, and today's list of tempos of well known Beatles songs.

What I suggest doing is getting out your metronome, and before turning it on, hear the song in your head— recall it like a mental photograph of the recording— and tap or clap the tempo. Then turn on the metronome and see how you did. Note the ones you missed— you probably won't be able to rely on your recall of them later. For the ones you nailed, memorize the BPM number, then dazzle your friends with your perfect tempo recall.

62 - You've Got To Hid Your Love Away
74 - Let It Be
84 - Come Together
86 - I Am The Walrus
92 - Strawberry Fields
92 - Octopus's Garden
95 - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
95 - Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
102 - All You Need Is Love
111 - Yellow Submarine
113 - With A Little Help From My Friends
114 - Penny Lane
119 - Good Day Sunshine
122 - Nowhere Man
123 - Drive My Car
124 - Getting Better
126 - Ticket To Ride
127 - Get Back
129 - Here Comes The Sun
138 - Taxman
139 - Got To Get You Into My Life
140 - Eight Days A Week
141 - Eleanor Rigby
143 - A Hard Day's Night
165 - Rock & Roll Music
166 - Magical Mystery Tour
181 - I'm A Loser
195 - Help!

No comments: