Backdated, archival post
[link to original on tumblr]
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Yester-day I listened to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and I noticed an interesting thing about the bass part in "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." During the "Newspaper taxis appear on the shore..." section, the bass part is almost entirely quarter notes (and a pair of eighth notes), so the single half note (second measure of the second line) sticks out:
(click the image for a larger view)(A few comments on this notation. First, I did it myself, so there's the standard disclaimer that I might have something wrong. Second, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is partially in 3/4 and partially in 4/4, and at the end of this section, there's a transition from 3/4 time to 4/4 time, so it might be that the last measure should be in 4/4 instead of 3/4.)
From my Collection Audit projectThat half note corresponds to "take" in the line "Waiting to take you away," so musically there's a pause to reflect the taxis' standing by.
Like I mentioned there, parts of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" are in 3/4 and parts are in 4/4. I have a majority of the bass parts for the 3/4 sections, but I have nothing for the 4/4 sections yet. I'm going to try to write out the 3/4 parts in notation, but I don't know if I'll get around to recording anything.
