Greetings and welcome to “The Beatles: A Musical History Tour in Fifteen Songs”. When I first conceived of teaching a class about The Beatles I wanted to make sure that the focus was on the MUSIC. Hundreds of books have been written about the band-most focusing on the history, personal lives, or social impact of the band. These factors are of course important but, in my experience, very few focus on the band as musicians and songwriters. There are also courses in other universities about the band, but again most of the focus there is on history and societal impact. In fact, many of the Beatles courses offered are not taught in music departments but in sociology or communication departments.
I had the privilege of playing drums in a Beatles tribute show for several years. During that time I was afforded the opportunity to really dig into not only the drum parts, but all the musical aspects of their songs. During that time I gained a huge appreciation for their music and how it was written, constructed, and recorded. I wanted to create an academic course, and eventually this digital resource, that put the focus on what I had come to greatly appreciate-that The Beatles were not only cultural icons, but excellent musicians and songwriters.
Although I am likely older than most of you reading this, I am not a “native” Beatles listener. I was born only three years before the band broke up and the first Beatles recording I purchased for myself was not any of their original releases, but the 1988 compact disc reissue of Sgt. Peppper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. However my parents were avid Beatles fans and the very first music I can remember hearing is that of The Beatles, in fact the first song I can ever remember singing along to as a child is “Can’t Buy Me Love”. I say this not just to reminisce, but to point out that anyone under the age of about sixty years old who is familiar with the band’s music came to it “second-hand”. And people like me, who have heard the music since early childhood, can still come to have an even greater appreciation for what is arguably the most influential band in history. This “textbook” is designed to give you some insight and knowledge into the musical aspects of what made this band so good, and why they continue to be so important.
I have been compiling this information and material for the last five years. Not only have I gleaned valuable insight from several excellent books on the band, I have done my own listening, analysis, and interpretation of the music as well as spent a great deal of time recreating the recordings (referred to as “the covers” throughout this text) that we will focus on. Each chapter will focus on one song from each official Beatles album. For our purposes we will us the British albums as the official releases. Each chapter uses one song from each album as a way to focus on the musical elements, as well as what was happening in the world and the Beatles’ lives during that time. Here is a list of the chapters (songs) and the albums they are from.
Love Me Do- Please Please Me
She Loves You- Past Masters (album not released until 1988)
All I’ve Got To Do- With The Beatles
A Hard Days Night- A Hard Days Night
No Reply- Beatles for Sale
Hide Your Love Away- HELP!
Drive My Car- Rubber Soul
Eleanor Rigby- Revolver
A Day In The Life- Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
I Am The Walrus- Magical Mystery Tour
Blackbird-The Beatles (the White Album)
Everybody’s got Something To Hide Except Me and My Monkey- The Beatles
Hey Bulldog- Yellow Submarine (upcoming chapter)
Here Comes The Sun- Abbey Road
Let it Be- Let It Be
However, before we can dive into Love Me Do and rest of the catalogue, we need to cover some basic music material and get some background of how the band got to their first record. Our first few sections are:
My goal is that you find this to be a useful resource as we learn about The Beatles and their music. Rather than have you purchase and read sections from twelve different books, buy fourteen albums, procure multi-track audio mixing software, and buy my own analysis and interpretations I have compiled all the information into this single source. That being said, let’s dive right in!
Tomm Roland holds bachelor and master of music degrees from California State University, Sacramento and a doctor of musical arts from SUNY Stony Brook. His principal teachers have been Ronald Holloway, Daniel Kennedy, and Raymond DesRoches. In addition, he also studied South Indian drumming under the auspices of the Fulbright Scholar program with T. H. Subashchandran and N. Ganesh Kumar. He has performed in 41 of the 50 states and on 4 of the 7 continents (saving Antarctica for last!). Tomm has given clinics, masterclasses, and conference presentations throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. As a studio musician, his recording credits include the Omaha Symphony, Eric Revis, Billy McGuigan, Moses Prey, The Kevin Keller Ensemble, and an anthology—a collection of true to the original Beatles songs that he executive produced as well as played drums. He most recently appeared on the 2021 release from California dark pop band The Bitter Elegance.
Dr. Roland is a professor of music at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, where he teaches distance education courses and assists the percussion and commercial music performance areas. He teaches courses on world music, rock history, and The Beatles. His textbook, The Beatles: A Magical History Tour in 15 Songs was published in 2019 and his most recent textbook, Timeless Wavelengths: A Rock History, was published in 2024. When not being professorial, he can be heard hitting things around the Midwest, freelancing regularly with touring Broadway shows, area orchestras, and various rock tribute/cover bands. Tomm is an artist for Zildjian cymbals and Vic Firth sticks and mallets.
Introduction
Introduction Quiz
1 Love Me Do
2 She Loves You
3 All I’ve Got To Do
4 A Hard Day’s Night
5 No Reply
6 You’ve Got To Hide Your Love Away
7 Drive My Car
8 Eleanor Rigby
9 A Day In The Life
10 I Am the Walrus
11 Blackbird/Monkey
12 Here Comes The Sun
13 Let It Be