Amidst their growing popularity and the mad hysteria of adoring fans, the Beatles released their third album, A Hard Day's Night on July 10, 1964. The album's commemorated opening chord, accented by George Harrison's new 12-string Rickenbacker guitar, creates a powerful opening sequence that is followed by leading instrumentation and the Beatles' stellar music. musicality. Unlike their previous records, this album consists only of original compositions by songwriting duo John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The decision to exclude rock and roll covers, deeply rooted in previous albums, led to a new dominant pop sound. The release of this album coincided with the Beatles' release of their feature film also entitled A Hard Day's Night, released four days earlier, on 6 July 1964. The opening sequence of the feature film reflects the candid reality of the success of the Beatles. This film provided a cinematic vision of mass hysteria to convey the height of Beatlemania. Although scripted, the portrayal of the madness surrounding the Beatles, with the girl riots and constant screaming, accurately portrays the Beatles' impact on teen culture. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Unlike the US release, A Hard Day's Night was not marketed as a film soundtrack. Side one of the album contained songs from the film, while side two contained new original songs not included in the film. Similar to the liner notes of an album, the film gives a person more things to think about while listening to the album. The performances of certain songs throughout the film establish an image in the participants' minds that they can reimagine while listening to the same song again in the album. While the film depicted the frenzy surrounding the Beatles, the album explained why. A Hard Day's Night (album) showed a transition in the Beatles' music, the beginning of an evolutionary process of complexity and maturity that would not be cemented until the creation of Rubber Soul in 1965. It is important to note throughout the album that the Beatles really evolved in terms of musicianship. The more elaborate guitar work in combination with the use of more eccentric instrumentation adds texture to the songs by adding additional layers of music beneath the vocals. In addition to the traditional drums, guitars and bass that are a staple of The Beatles' music, A Hard Day's Night incorporates the harmonica, piano, cowbell, congo drums, claves, bongos and tambourine which produces variety in the instrumentation and in the effects. your listening experience. By adding previously unused instruments, we, as listeners, can hear how the timbre of the songs varies due to the interactions between those instruments and the voices of John, Paul, and George. This album also captures attempts at progression in songwriting. John has dominated the songwriting on this album and here we see how he begins to add more complex emotions into his songs, those of a more pessimistic feeling. This isn't to say that Paul hasn't improved his writing, because he has too. Both John and Paul began to introduce and write about issues that complicate matters of love, such as Paul's discussion of materialism in "Can't Buy Me Love." In terms of form and structure, the duo also began to create a narrative in their songs (e.g. “A Hard Day's Night” and “Can't Buy Me Love”) rather than just focusing on emotions. This narrative writing style would be furtherinspired by Bob Dylan in the albums following Help! "If I Fell", the third track on the album, is one of the songs that describes Lennon's progress in songwriting. The lyrics of this ballad express an entity of vulnerability whose emotion is unmatched by any other song. Lennon questions the premise of trust between lovers by creating a cynical narrative from which he was rejected. This request for genuine affection is further complicated by the vindictive need for revenge in wanting to make the ex-lover suffer too. Here, Lennon takes a huge step forward in perfecting his craft as a songwriter, starting to write more about issues that come at the expense of love rather than simply being in love. In this album, the Beatles' music and vocals more strongly reflect or emphasize the narrative/feelings conveyed by the lyrics. In this song, for example, the instrumental accompaniment has a similar sound to acoustic as the tempo of the song has a slower pace, in contrast to the typical fast-paced rock songs of the "early Beatles". This stripped-back instrumental arrangement emphasizes the vocal work on the song. The low register of John's voice in the first line creates this dark tone that reflects the narrator's dark mood. When Paul joins John in the next verses, he sings at a slightly higher pitch than John. This harmony not only adds texture to the overall composition of the song, but the contrasting tones can represent the internal conflict the narrator may be feeling. This means wanting to be in love, but being afraid of being hurt again. While not impressive lyrically, the fifth track, “And I Love Her,” shows how the arrangement and use of certain instruments can create rhythms that are appealing to the ear. In fact, the popularity of this album is mainly due to the catchy and constant rhythms and melodies of the songs. On "And I Love Her", the instrumentation is distinctive thanks to George's new guitar sound and use of claves. The guitar riff and guitar solo are different from those in early Beatles songs; George accentuates the guitar sound with a Spanish-style strum that gives off this Latin pop rhythm. The slow pace of the song and the acoustic melodies create a kind of delicate feeling in the song that reflects the theme. Paul is the only singer; his voice is double-tracked throughout the song. This use of double-tracking is a recording technique that adds texture to the song and makes the vocals more distinctive as a single vocal would not have been as catchy. The song itself is about love, so the double tracking almost makes the listener feel serenaded. The album closes with the song "I'll Be Back", a composition by John Lennon. Similar to "And I Love Her", the instrumental components and musical details in "I'll Be Back" reinforce the idea behind the lyrics. Here, we once again see John Lennon move away from the traditional “aaba” song form that encompasses the structure of their early songs. There is no distinctive chorus in the song, so the song unfolds in a narrative manner. This makes each verse a cornerstone of the narrative. Furthermore, the alignment of "I'll Be Back" blurs the distinction between one section and another, once again contributing to the narrative feel of the song. The subject of Lennon's narrative is about heartbreak. The narrator expresses the pain he felt at the hands of his lover but still continues to long for her love. When listening to the song, it is imperative to look for changes in mood within the verses. The modes of a song involve the diatonic scale, that is, the major and minor scales. In "I'll Be Back" there are chord changes.