beatles midterm 1

john lennon

singer, rhythm guitarist, major songwriter, founded skiffle band the quarrymen in 1957

paul mccartney

singer, bassist, major songwriter, joined the quarrymen in 1957

george harrison

lead guitarist, joined the quarrymen 1958

ringo starr

drummer, joined the quarrymen in 1962, played with Rory Storm and the Hurricanes before the Beatles

the quarrymen

the skiffle group john started in 1957 in liverpool

stuart sutcliffe

john’s friend from art school, joined the quarrymen 1960, suggested the name “the beatals”, left 1961 to pursue art, died 1962

pete best

the beatles’ drummer in hamburg, replaced by ringo in 1962

mona best

pete’s mother, ran casbah coffee club in liverpool where the Beatles would play a lot

rory storm and the hurricanes

the band that ringo was a drummer for before

brian epstein

liverpool record store manager, became manager for the beatles in 1961, helped them secure recording opportunity, and gain popularity in general

george martin

producer for parlophone who worked with the Beatles, helped them record music

astrid kirchherr

german art student and photographer that befriended the beatles in Hamburg, photographed them and helped them distinguish their style which made them stand out (“mop top” hair and leather)

klaus voormann

german artist and musician that befriended the beatles in hamburg, almost joined as a bassist, designed the revolver album cover, played bass with john, ringo, and george in the plastic ono band

jurgen vollmer

german photographer and friend of the beatles in hamburg, associated with the early style and visuals of the beatles.

lonnie donnegan

king of skiffle, made skiffle popular among british teens, inspired john to create a skiffle band, the Quarrymen

elvis presley

iconic, inspired the beatles music, performance, everything, covered many of his songs in hamburg

chuck berry

particularly inspired their guitar style, covered “Roll over Beethoven” and “Rock and Roll Music” by him

little richard

heavily inspired their vocals and song writing

ray charles

inspired a more rnb soulful vibe, they covered his song “i got a woman”

the cookies

american girl group, the beatles covered “chains” on please please me

the shirelles

american girl group, the beatles covered “baby it’s you” on please please me

berry gordy

founder of motown records, lot of motown songs inspired the beatles, covered many gordy songs to fill their albums like “Please Mr. Postman”, “Money”, and “You’ve Really Got a hold on me”

Smokey Robinson

sang “youve really got a hold on me” which the beatles covered, lead singer of the Miracles (from motown)

the marvelletes

american girl group from motown, the beatles covered “please mr.postman”

maureen cleave

first person to write about the beatles for a big mainstream newspaper, covered and interviewed them during their rise to fame

princess margaret

attended the Royalty Variety Performance, showing how traditional british monarchy and pop culture, helping them gain fame and acceptance

jfk

us president, assassinated 1963, shows the state of America before beatlemania

Robert Freeman

british photographer that photographed the beatles, created the iconic black and white picture used in the album cover for With the Beatles

The Maysles brothers

documentary director brothers that filmed the beatles during their first time in america in 1964, capturing american beatlemania

richard lester

directed a hard days night, movie with the beatles in it, capturing their persona and energy in a humorous way

wilfred brambell

played pauls grandpa in. hard days night, made movie funnier

ed sullivan

american tv host, interviewed the beatles in america during their first american visit, ignited american beatlemania

buddy holly and the crickets

inspired their name

jerry leiber and mike stoller

songwriting team for “some other guy”, a song that the beatles performed in liverpool

the isley brothers

the beatles covered their song “twist and shout” which is famous

liverpool

where beatles first started playing, where they first developed musically, performed there in early career, gave them foundation for future growth

hamburg

where they gained actual experience and grew as musicians

london

where they spent their peak years, recorded their hits there, where their recording producer george martin was

united states

their first visit was in 1964 and they went on the ed sullivan show, which launched their success in america

the cavern club

venue in liverpool where the beatles would play in their early career, where brian epstein discovered them, leading to him managing them and securing their record deal with parlophone records

the brill building

new york songwriting and publishing center, shows how these centers produce famous groups and artists, but there were also self-reliant acts like the beatles, who wrote their own songs

ed sullivans tv show

mass media platform that ignited the beatles’ fame in the US

the bbc

broadcaster; radio exposure that helped the beatles reach people who didn’t attend their concerts, sang some other guy and ive got a woman on it

ed sullivan studio

where beatlemania in the US was born; shows how tv became a major distribution channel for music

decca records

rejected the beatles in 1962 , said guitar groups were out, epstein took the audition tape to emi records, and parlophone records signed them, giving them the opportunity to work with george martin

emi records

large british recording company, beatles signed with them 1963, made bank from the beatles

parlophone records

part of emi records, beatles signed with them 1962, they released their earlier records, worked with george martin

vee-jay records

first american record label to release their music, released introducing…the beatles in 1964

capitol records

emi’s american counterpart, promoted Meet the Beatles!, helping their success in the US

motown records

inspired a lot of the beatles music, had famous artists like the marvelletes and the miracles, the beatles had motown covers on their albums, shaped their songwriting style

tea-chest bass

home-made upright bass made out of a box, string, and stick

washboard

household object used as an instrument, tapped or scraped to keep rhythm

skiffle

british music genre coming from folk, blues, and jazz, uses inexpensive diy instruments, inspired many people to start their own bands, like john and the quarrymen

record label

releases and markets records

broadcaster

distributes records for listening to audience

manager

helps forward bands’ career

prodcuer

helps create the record

beat

the steady pulse or heartbeat of the music

meter

how beats are organized (groups of 2,3,4)

duple meter

two beats per group (ONE two, ONE two)

triple meter

three beats per meter (ONE two three, ONE two three)

compound duple

two main beats with three smaller beats (ONE two three, FOUR five six)

rhythm

pattern of notes and pauses

melody

the different pitches and tones of the notes

harmony

combination of notes performed at the same time

instrumentation

instruments and voices used

texture

how everything works and blends together

timbre

difference in sound (ex. if ariana grande and paul mccartney sang the same note or if a note was played on the piano and the same note was played on the trumpet, they sound different even though musically they are the same, the difference in sound is timbre, you can use basically any sensory adjective to describe timbre)

scales

set order of notes organized by pitch, artists pull notes from scales to create melodies and harmonies

phrasing

how notes, lyrics, and musical lines are delivered (ex. breathing at a time, emphasizing certain words more, etc.)

parallel harmony

same rhythm, melody, phrasing, just shifted pitch

oblique motion

one voice has same pitch and notes while the other shifts pitch and notes

rhythm section

group that maintains the rhythm (especially drums and bass, occasionally rhythm guitar), maintains the beat so that the vocals can follow it

back beat

4 beats, two of them have more emphasis than others so those r the back beats

musical form

how the artist organizes verses, choruses, melodies, etc.

strophe/stanza

diffrent lyrics sung over the same melody in a song (a verse)

song form

how chorus, verses, and bridges are organized (more lyrical aspect)

strophic form

same music repeats but different lyrics (verses)

verse

section of a song where the lyrics change (tells a story)

chorus

part of the song that is the same, contains the hook or main message

refrain

a repeated line or phrase (refrain is any repeated line while chorus is a repeated section) (ex. ella ella ella in umbrella)

bridge

part of song thats different from the rest of the music before returning to the regular chorus

“middle 8”

british term for bridge, contrasting part of a song thats typically 8 bars long

bar/measure

group of beats (meter is the pattern of beats that go into a bar)

32-bar form

32 bars, four 8-bar sections, aka AABA (b section is usually the middle 8, or part that contrasts)

overdub

layering tracks on top of eachother in the studio (adding vocal or instrumental on top of existing recording)

mono

sinle audio channel, all sounds are in one channel (ex. both airpods will play the same sound)

stereo

two audio channels,a right one and a left one (the right airpod and left airpod play different sounds)

musical experience

what listener experiences while hearing a piece, influenced by context, memoris, and expectations

recordings

performances captured and preserved as audio rather than only experiencing it live