WITH HANDS LIKE HARRISON’S

DALE TURNER EXPLORES THE ACOUSTIC FLAVOUR THAT GEORGE HARRISON BROUGHT TO THE FAB FOUR.

“While My Guitar Gently Weeps” revolves around strummed versions of the chords in Figure #1. Much of this song’s emotional power stems from its mostly chromatic (notes one half step apart, the distance of one fret) descending A-G-F#-F bass line. The song also features a famous, inspired solo by Eric Clapton.

Of the four Beatles, George Harrison brought to the group an assortment of electric and acoustic guitar approaches, flavours influenced by everyone from Chet

Atkins and Carl Perkins to the Byrds and Bob Dylan.

Harrison’s pioneering use of the Rickenbacker 360/12 electric 12-string on songs like “A Hard Day’s Night” and “Ticket To Ride” added another dimension to the sound of Beatles’ music and left an imprint on ‘60s-era rock: soon after, the Byrds, Beach Boys and Rolling Stones began to use 12-string guitars.

In the mid-‘60s, influenced by Indian culture and Hinduism, Harrison introduced the sitar and exotic scales into the Beatles’ catalog on songs like “Norwegian Wood” and “Within You Without You”. In essence, he played a huge role in stylising the Beatles’ music.

But Harrison also contributed a wealth of guitar-centric hits to the band’s repertoire, many of which center around an acoustic guitar (his Gibson J-200). In this lesson, we’ll look at musical examples inspired by Harrison-penned Beatles classics like “Here Comes the Sun”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” and “Something”.