"If I Needed Someone"

bassduke49 · Post by **bassduke49** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 6:28 am

Pardon the "noobie" question. I'm a bass player, but have just arranged to purchase a Rick 660/12 for me and my band. We want to play "If I Needed Someone" (among many other Beatle tunes), and I hope someone out there can tell me (and my guitarist) the chord structure of this song. I know it involves a kapo placed fairly far up the fretboard. We want to duplicate the sound GH got, so WAG's won't help. Anyone know for sure?

Thanks!
12-string rookie

xsubs · Post by **xsubs** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 6:37 am

Hi Paul...
try this one:
http://www.chordie.com/allsongsartists.php/songtitle/If+I+Needed+Someone/songartist/Beatles,+The/index.html

leftybass · Post by **leftybass** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 7:16 am

George said in the 80s that the song was written in the 'D' nut postion, but capoed up in the key of 'A', 7th fret perhaps? I can't visualize it in my head...

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 7:31 am

John has it right. It is in the D position with a capo on the 7th fret. George would later use the same positioning when doing, Here Comes the Sun.

tennis_nick · Post by **tennis_nick** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 11:03 am

http://youtube.com/watch?v=SxjlZYoWgJo

That's how he does it live! One important thing you have to remember to get this right, make sure the bass riff stays in A when everyone else goes to G! if you want MORE of that contrast in there, make your other guitarist play this instead of a G
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sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 3:19 pm

Ugh, what a dreadful performance!

What everyone else said - based around an open D shape with the capo at the 7th fret.

stubby · Post by **stubby** » Thu Jan 25, 2007 4:09 pm

They should turn up the bass in the mix...

lyle_from_minneapolis · Thu Jan 25, 2007 7:00 pm

Yes, D position 7th fret, and more like D7 as a base position while you pick the melody on the high strings. When I used my acoustic for this one, I had to play it on the 9th fret because I tune down a whole tone to reduce string tension.

The key to this one (In My Halfbaked Opinion), moreso than the right amp, is the tone you acheive from how you play those strings.

stuart · Post by **stuart** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 10:30 am

Ringo sure does smash the cymbals at the end of that one!

I love this song... It's in my Top 10 of all time!

jimk · Post by **jimk** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 4:06 pm

Ugh, what a dreadful performance!

Yeah, it sounds like they didn't have a very good monitor mix, if any.

Good song, though. I wouldn't mind covering this. Anybody ever heard Roger McGuinn's cover of "If I Needed Someone?" I heard a preview. Really nice.

Jim

jamie · Post by **jamie** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 9:17 pm

Did anyone catch how the mic that Paul & John were singing into kept moving on top of the stand? It's almost comical. Even George is seen adjusting his own mic at one point. What the heck was going on?

revolver323 · Post by **revolver323** » Fri Jan 26, 2007 10:14 pm

You forget that the Beatles invented the huge rock venue tour. They were using equipment meant for clubs in stadiums. No one knew how it was supposed to be done because no one had done it before. I believe they had only two roadies -- Mal & Neil. Kinda funny when you see how much stuff the average club band carries today.

gregga41 · Post by **gregga41** » Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:04 am

I always chuckle when George Harrison recounts the Shea Stadium event.In the anthology series he tells how Vox specially made 100w amps for them specifically for the huge stadium!
How state of the art that was then,... seems prehistoric to us now!

desertgoldenboy · Post by **desertgoldenboy** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 7:41 am

Ringo certainly looked p*ssed on his close-up. Maybe that's why he smashed his cymbals so hard at the end. Something sure was eating him that day!

tennis_nick · Post by **tennis_nick** » Mon Feb 05, 2007 4:33 pm

Completely off the subject at hand, but yesterday me and fellow forum runner Pat played this song as a jam opener on a 330 and a 370. very good to have 2 Ricks in unison, I had chorus on the 330 to simulate 12 strings... I wish I had my own, but they both belong to that lucky Pat fellow...