Dopers with good musical ears: notes in "All You Need Is Love"

Cafe Society
1

Here’s another thread about certain notes in a Beatles song (the first thread is here, by another Doper.)

In “All You Need Is Love,” I’m trying to figure out which five notes are played in the top melodic line in the brass/sax riff at about 1:05 in this video (right after the words “All you need is love”.)

I have a book which has the sheet music (near-exact transcriptions) of all Beatles songs, and it says the notes are (in the key of G major) D-Db-C-Cnatural-B. It doesn’t say whether that first C is supposed to be a C#, but wouldn’t that be the same as a Db (in this tuning system, anyway)? Yet I hear 5 different notes.

I think I’ve figured out that the first note in the 5-note pattern is a D, and the last is the B below it, and it sounds like the lick goes down by semitones. Yet, If you take D and go down by semitones so you get 5 notes, you end up with D-Db-C-B-Bb (not ending on B.) Yet there are five different notes.

Is there some weird microtonal thing going on, or something? (If so, so much for my plan to arrange this for the ukulele…)

2

That D to B line is there as you see in your book, with the C repeated, but that’s just harmonizing the main line you hear, which is F#-F-E-Eb-D.

3

Thanks. :slight_smile:

Yes, there is the line on top (starting with the F#) in my book. It’s just that, listening to the recording, it sounded like the line starting on D was on top, somehow. Maybe my ears are a little messed up.

4

Well, it’s not important now, but you can do semitonal stuff on a fretted instrument. You just play on the fret below and bend up.

5

That might be useful to know in the future. Thanks.

6

I’m not a musician, but I have friends who play. I’ve messed around with their chromatic tuners. Could you use a device like that to analyze music? (Sorry if it’s a stupid question)

7

Not a stupid question at all. A chromatic tuner is really good for one note at a time, but it can’t handle more than one note. A way to use it for this sort of thing is to listen with the headphones on, hum along until you’ve learn the line you’re after, and then sing those notes really, really slowly to allow the tuner to find the note you’re after.

Transcribe is a software program designed to assist in analyzing what is going on in harmonies.

8

The riff is in thirds, but in different octaves and different instruments at different parts of the song, so it’s easy to hear one note on top, then the other.

The pattern for one line is F# F E Eb D. The pattern for the other line is D Db C C B. There is a parallel motion here, and if you write this out, you will notice that the intervals between the two voices are M3, M3, M3, m3, m3. So to switch from the descending Major 3rds to minor 3rds, you have to repeat the C in one voice.

I always heard it with the F# line as the primary melody, but maybe that’s just me or my faulty memory, or maybe it’s because love is all you need.

9

Thanks, Le Ministre de l’au-delà!

10

I’ve now figured out what all the notes are. This thread was helpful. :slight_smile: The notes are actually all there in the sheet music.

I have a notation program called NoteWorthy Composer, where you can hear the notes while you input them, and it’s helped me a lot. You can download a demo version of it, or you can buy it - it’s not expensive. kayaker, if you ever have the time and you’re interested in learning a little about music, that program might help you.

Musicat, I thought I was hearing the line starting with the D as the principal voice, but perhaps my ears were playing tricks on me.

I have now completed my ukulele arrangement of the song. (And thanks to all who helped. :slight_smile: ) Now if only I could actually play it…

11

Forte is good, too – from your description, sounds similar to NoteWorthy Composer. The free version is fine for this sort of thing.