Musical description - instrument, texture, pitch
Instrumentation and timbre
Ringo sang lead vocalThe voice as a musical instrument. for With A Little Help From My Friends, with Lennon and McCartney adding backing vocals. As well as singing, Ringo recorded drums on the song, McCartney played the piano and Lennon added the cowbell. The electric guitar was played by George Harrison and producer George Martin played the Hammond organ.
As the song was never meant to be performed live, additional instruments were added by overdubbingA process where new sounds/ music are added to an existing recording.. This process is where new sounds can be added to an existing recording. The tambourine, rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass guitar, additional lyrics and vocal harmonies were added using this process.
Texture
The song contains a number of different textures. The overall texture of the song is melody and accompanimentA type of texture where there is only one clear melody and an accompaniment that plays different notes and rhythms but is supporting the melody.. Ringo sings the melody and the other instruments accompany. The introduction is mainly chordal, which indicates a homophonicA texture based on chords. texture. In the last two bars of the chorus there is a guitar fill and drum solo. There is a call and responseWhere one melody is answered by another. effect in verse 2. The questions are sung by Ringo followed with further questions sung by Lennon and McCartney. Examples from both the verse and bridge are given in the highlighted section below.
Ringo: [call] What do I do when my love is away?
Lennon/McCartney: [response] Does it worry you to be alone?
Lennon/McCartney: [call] Do you need anybody?
Ringo: [response] I need somebody to love.
Pitch and melody
The lyrics are sung by Ringo Starr in the fictional character Billy Shears. The vocal range of the song is five notes (E-B), because it was written with Starr’s limited baritoneA male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice types. voice. The exception is the final note. The overall melodic shape is mainly conjunctA melody that moves by step.. The verse has a syncopationRhythm patterns where stressed notes are placed off the beat. melody and the chorus combines both tripletA group of three equal length notes played in the space of two, eg three quavers played in the space of two quavers. and syncopation. The chorus contains the hookA technique often used in popular music to engage the listener eg, a riff. . This is memorable and catchy and often refers to the title of the song.
Some slight changes in pitch occur in the verse and bridge. In verse 1, line 1, the melody starts G♯-A-B and line 2 G♯-B-B. In verse 2 this swaps around. The first bridge begins B-C♯ and the second bridge begins G♯-B.
A melismaSeveral notes sung to one syllable. is when two or more notes are sung on the same syllable. This melodic technique can be heard in verse 2 on the words lone and own (˯-˯).