You probably heard the story the other day about an unreleased McCartney/Starr composition that is to be sold at auction. Most news articles included images of two hand-written music manuscripts. I was asked by a prominent Beatles collector if I could work out the song from the music. The...

You probably heard the story the other day about an unreleased McCartney/Starr composition that is to be sold at auction. Most news articles included images of two hand-written music manuscripts. I was asked by a prominent Beatles collector if I could work out the song from the music. The...

Here are the second and third parts of McCartney on McCartney, first broadcast in 1989. These recordings are from the BBC, so I won’t be leaving them up here for long. Enjoy, but please think about supporting my work and this website by purchasing one of my books (click...

An exploration of Paul McCartney's technique of using a static vocal melody in his songwriting....

Part One of McCartney's BBC interview with Mike Read about his career in music. ...

So what is an appoggiatura? It is an expressive device where a melodic note, which lies outside the harmony, is played on the beat. The creates a temporary clash or “dissonance” which is then resolved up or down. It can also be called an accented passing note. Mozart was...

Talk More Talk is the third track on McCartney’s 1986 Press to Play album. Even before tackling this work on a theoretical level, it is worth noting that it is one of McCartney’s more unusual tracks. It begins with a spoken-word introduction that features McCartney’s (then) young son, James...

The opening track on Wings’ 1979 album, Back to the Egg, is a curious number entitled Reception. It might be superfically regarded as a throwaway introduction to Wings’ most rock-based album. However, as I will explore here, there is perhaps a little more to the track than meets the...

In my recent blog post Lydian Beatles we covered the characteristic sound of the Lydian mode and its use in countless Sci-Fi films, to the extent that it is also called “the Hollywood mode”. The main point to bear in mind about the Lydian mode is the use of...

In the art of songwriting, it’s often advisable to not show all your cards too early in the game. This involves concealing the home, or tonic key, until the end of the first verse. When the tonic finally arrives, the listener feels a real sense of arrival, after a...