The McCartney Style Files

80-20 Bass Analysis Of The Beatles Master (62-66)

How To Learn From A Master Bass Player?

The process of learning from a master bass player - in this case McCartney, but equally applicable to Duck Dunn, Jamerson, Flea, Jaco, Jack Bruce, Rocco, or anyone - is reasonably easy to understand and I think the process has been documented.

Basically you transcribe a bunch of tunes. Or get accurate transcriptions.

Then you analyze the bass lines looking for the devices player uses, the rhythms, the modifying devices, how he connects chords and so on.

And then you can assimilate those ideas into your own playing.

Fairly simple to understand.

But not easy.

Even if you can get accurate transcriptions (ideally at least 50) of your favourite player, it still requires a heavy time investment analyzing the lines and looking for the unique way each player approaches creating bass lines.

What If There Was An Easier - And Quicker - Way?

Sometimes you don't need to dive into the minutia of a bass player's style. Sometimes you can apply the 80-20 principle to this....you get 80% of the results with 20% of the effort.

Unless you're playing for a band like The Bootleg Beatles where everything has to be spot on, 80% of the results will give you an authentic vibe for 99% of the people!

Quick Sidebar: I played in a band that supported the Bootlegs once, and we get talking to them. The two things that stand out: there's an early Beatles song with George Harrison's first guitar solo in it, and it has a mistake - that mistake is in their performance every night!; the bass player said if he'd know how successful they were going to be he would have learned to play bass left handed.

Not only will taking the 80-20 approach save you time, but I've already done the process of picking out the 80% and packaging it into a condensed collection of Style Files for you!

 

 

Introducing The McCartney Style Files

Over the upcoming months I'm going to be releasing a series of "Style Files" that take the majority of the hard work out of taking ideas from players like McCartney, Duck Dunn, Flea, Geddy Lee (and others) and using them in your own playing.

The McCartney Style File is the first of these releases and covers McCartney's early playing from 62 to early 66.

The important thing to note though: the ideas covered can be used in multiple genres. The primary difference between genres is mainly rhythmic.

Why Should I Listen To You?

Here's A Picture Of My Amazon.com Bookshelf (end April - 2022)

Since July 2021 I've been turning my years of teaching into books.  So far I've written 11 (plus am working on two more to be published in May).

My advice: click this link for LEARNING FROM JAMES JAMERSON VOL 1 and then check out some of the reviews. That will tell you more about my teaching than almost anything, though there are some testimonials below too.

One other fact to consider about this: Amazon's data says that most books get 1 or 2 reviews per 1000 copies purchased. Jamerson Vol 1 currently has 124 reviews on Amazon.com from around 1100 copies sold since its release in August...so the fact that it's getting 50X the number of reviews that Amazon's own data suggests it should be getting tells its own story.

What You Will Learn

Here's What You'll Learn In The McCartney Style Files:

  • McCartney's Bass Vocabulary (Early To Mid Period)

    Although McCartney’s vocabulary and bass playing got more sophisticated in his later period with the Beatles, a lot of that increase in complexity is rhythmic and the core devices and ideas that are present in his early to mid period playing are foundational elements of his later playing too.

    Note that vocabulary encompasses the devices McCartney used, how he put those devices together, modifying devices and rhythmic vocabulary.

     

  • Distinct 'Stylistic' Approaches

    There are four distinct stylistic approaches covered: the uptempo, walking style line; the straight 8th note rock and roll line; the ballad approach and the straight 8th note rock/pop style line.

  • How To Create 'Device Exercises'

    If you’re new to the concept of devices, there will be suggested device exercises that will help you master devices so that they can be used in your vocabulary. But the focus of the Style Files is not on that…I’ve done plenty of other trainings where that’s been a focus.

  • How To Create Your Own 80-20 Song Sheets

    Imagine you have to play a gig and learn a few new tunes…on the night of the gig if the singer has a sore throat and those new tunes go down a tone you’re potentially screwed if you learned lines note by note. If you created an 80-20 Song Sheet though…adjusting is a breeze and your line will sound authentic (if your song sheet is authentic).

  • Bass Line Modelling

    If someone wants you to play a bass line in the style of one song but with the chords of another song…that’s a snap with a combination of 80-20 song sheets and bass line modelling. Such a stupidly simple technique can be so powerful. Why no-one else teaches this is utterly beyond me…but it’s an effective way to develop an authentic bass line in double quick time!

What Other People Say?

Here's What Bass Players Just Like You Say About My Teaching - here's Rodi:

And Paulia:

And Rob (and Goran):

What Do I Get?

Here's What You Get When You Join The McCartney Style Files:

  • The Stylistic Breakdowns

    Each of the four main McCartney sub-styles covered will be broken down into constituent elements (devices, modifying devices, rhythms, chord connections). Each of these sub-styles will then be demonstrated using chord progressions to non-Beatle songs and bass lines created with the sub-styles. All examples are fully annotated. Examples are presented in either 80-20 Notation or Notation and tab.

  • Downloadable PDFs For Each Sub-Section

    Each Sub-Section has a PDF version that you can download to print out and make notes from.

  • Downloadable MP3 Practice Tracks

    For practice exercises and practice songs there will be realistic, band-style MP3 tracks generated by Band In A Box that you can download and use in your practice space.

  • BONUS - 80-20 Song Sheets

    Not only will I teach you how to create your own 80-20 Song Sheets…but I’ll kick start your library with 25 that I create that will help with the McCartney Style Files.

  • BONUS - Screen Capture Videos of Isolated McCartney Bass Lines

    Back in the day the ROCK BAND video game used original Beatles master tracks for the games. Some of those are available (in hard to find places on the Interwebz) and you can isolate and listen to McCartney’s bass lines. There is a series of 15 of these currently in the members area (and I’ll possibly add more).

  • BONUS - Creating Your Own McCartney-Esque Band In A Box Styles

    This bonus is only available until Monday. For each of the sub-styles looked at in the main part of the McCartney Style Files…I’ll show you how you can create your own ‘bass style’ for Band In A Box so that you can literally generate bass lines to chord progressions at the touch of a button. These can be used for sight reading etudes, practice exercises, kick starters for bass lines to new songs, or even complete lines for new songs! I’ll also upload the styles so you can load them into Band In A Box yourself.

The Million Dollar Question - How Much Is Enrollment?

If you were going to do THIS work yourself you'd either have to transcribe 50 or 60 songs yourself OR you could buy The Beatles Complete Scores (which retails at $65 - but it's only about 90% accurate so you'd have to check every song you wanted to use) and analyze  bass lines from  there.

Depending on how accurate you are at identifying 80-20 devices, and how much you know about putting them together....on top of your $65 investment for The Beatles Scores you'll also have to invest at least 50 hours of time analyzing and systemizing the ideas in McCartney's bass lines.

I don't know how you value your time...and we've not even factored in opportunity cost ...but I'm guessing it would be more than $20 an hour...which equates to over $1000 in 'cost.'

Or you could just enroll on The McCartney Style Files for a fraction of that and be working on applying McCartney's ideas to YOUR bass playing at your next practice session.

 

 

Your investment today is..... 

Just $77

Note: all prices in USD.

15 Day 100% Money Back Guarantee:  This is a unique approach to understanding the bass style of Paul McCartney that's based on  years of study of bass lines, years of study of deliberate practice and detailed study of McCartney's work. As such I'm 100% confident that not only will you find the information in the course highly valuable, but that the implementation of this material will make a massive difference to your bass playing.

I want YOU to be just as confident with your purchase though, so there's a full 15 day no questions asked guarantee period.

If for whatever reason you're not satisfied,  all you have to do is drop me an email and let me know.  I'll refund your purchase ASAP with no hassles and no hoops to jump through, and we can part as friends.

What To Do Now:  Click on the big yellow button below and you'll be taken to the enrollment page on the 8020bass.com site, where The McCartney Style Files are hosted. If you've signed up there before, just log in and then complete enrollment. If you're new to the 8020bass.com site (which is a different website!) then just enter your best email and a password as part of the enrollment process.

Once you've enrolled, you'll be added to The McCartney Style Files and sent a welcome email. If you don't receive that email for any reason, then don't panic, simply send me an email and I''ll work out what went wrong in the process and get you added to the site manually. So go ahead. Click the big yellow button below and JOIN NOW.

P.S. There Are Now Four Possible Courses Of Action Open To You 

1. If learning how McCartney approached putting bass lines together is of no interest to you, then close this window and go about your day.

2. If you want to study McCartney's style yourself, then get hold of Paul McCartney Bass Playalong Vol 43, Paul McCartney Bass Master or the Complete Beatles Scores. Start analyzing McCartney's lines in those books and look for commonly repeated devices and ideas and create your own 'map' of McCartney's playing. (Budget at least 50 hours for this...probably more.)

3. Or let me do the heavy lifting and save you hundreds of hours of analysis and study and get you started on the road to understanding McCartney's foundational bass playing.

4. You're interested...but you've got questions. If so, just email me and I'll answer them as quickly as I can.