The best song John Lennon ever wrote, and arguably the greatest Beatles song.

Well, there are a LOT of goodies to unpack here…

First, the guitars. As followers of my Instagram account have already seen (follow me at michaelsokil.music!), there are indeed 3 guitar parts in “In My Life” –

1. A buried “ghost” guitar plucking random E, A, and G notes throughout the song on the high E and G strings. This was revealed in the isolated Beatles Rock Band tracks – listen for yourself: [ Ссылка ].

2. The “lead” guitar – this is the guitar playing the intro riff, and the most audible guitar throughout the song. I’m theorizing that George is playing this part on the Stratocaster, using his Chet Atkins picking style to pluck the intro with his fingers (and striking those open low-E notes with a pick).

3. If you listen VERY closely, beneath George’s guitar, you can distinctly hear another guitar, which I STRONGLY believe is John playing a Strat with a capo on the 2nd fret. If you listen very carefully, you can hear an A7 played with a G7 shape throughout the song. Even in the intro, I hear that E chord played with a “D” shape. This would be fitting - John also used a capo on the second fret on two other Rubber Soul classics, "Norwegian Wood" and "Nowhere Man." I would wager John presented this tune to the band as an acoustic ballad, just like those other tunes.

And that’s just the guitars! I also studied the isolated bass, and for the first time I heard chords! And not just normal McCartney bass barre chords – on the A7, you can hear an AWESOME discordant chord – I think McCartney played and A note on the D string and simultaneously hit the open G-string, creating that wonderful dissonance, complemented by George hitting a low G-note on his low E-string. Rehearsed dissonance.

Ringo is playing the stolen Arthur Alexander beat, originally heard on "Anna (Go To Him)" on the "Please Please Me" album, then repurposed on "It's Only Love" and here. Great beat, plus some strong snare work. Ringo got more pop from his snare than mine, it really drives the tune.

And what can I say about George Martin? Mr. Martin famously slowed the recording down 50%, then played his solo at half-speed, which sounds like a harpsichord when played full speed. Unfortunately, I am no George Martin, and I recorded the hands separately. He deserves an INCREDIBLE amount of credit – not only for his arrangements and production, but his piano skills!

Instruments:
- 2007 Fender Classic Player 60's Sonic Blue Stratocaster (strung w/Pyramid .10 flats)
- 2018 Rickenbacker 4003 (Pyramid flats)
- 60's Ludwig No. 980 Super Classic Outfit 9x13 / 16x16 / 14x22 kit (Black Oyster Pearl)
- Yamaha P121 Keyboard

Recording Equipment & Miscellaneous:
- Beatles Drop-T #4 drumhead courtesy of Russ Lease (beatlesuits.com)
- Vox Valvetronix VT100X Guitar Combo Amp
- PreSonus Studio 1824C Interface (6 microphones used)
- Cad Audio Stage7 7-Piece Drum Microphones (toms, snare & bass drum)
- MXL V250 Condenser Mic: drum overhead mic & acoustic guitar
- Drums recorded and mixed with PreSonus Studio One
- Shure SM57 (under hi-hat, bass)

Waves Abbey Road Plugins used on this track:
- Abbey Road RS124 Compressor Stereo
- Abbey Road Plates Stereo

Video Equipment:
- Camera: Canon M50
- Edited with Adobe Premiere Pro on HP Envy 32'' All in One

Feel free to leave comments, I'll respond to as many as I can.

REUPLOAD NOTE:

The rare re-upload! Haven't done this since "Something." Let me explain...

I noticed a small mistake in my cover: in my attempt to create the famous fret buzz on the final note, I pushed down on the B-string a little too hard, putting the note briefly out of tune. For some reason I didn't hear this at all in my headphones, but listening again on my iPhone and TV, it's noticeable enough to trigger my perfectionism.

Blessing in disguise - now I can use a take with more buzz, which gets a closer sound to the record anyway! Thanks for dealing with my perfectionism - I'll keep the original unlisted and delete this note in about a month. Original details continue below...

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