Learning a piece of music is one of the most satisfying feelings in the world, but it’s not always about the end result. Sometimes you can make a mistake that becomes a brand new idea. One that might turn into one of your most defining songs.
That’s what happened to Paul McCartney, anyway.
In this clip from the Parkinson Show from 2005, the Beatles songwriter explained how the song, which first appeared on their 1968 self-titled “White Album,” was inspired by a piece of classical music. As youngsters, he and George Harrison would mostly learn rock and roll songs, but they attempted to learn Bach‘s “Bourree in E Minor” to strengthen their classical chops – and show off.
“There was this one little thing we used to do, which was a semi-classical thing. It was a little show-off piece we had,” Macca stated before admitting, “Well, it was actually classical, but we made it ‘semi.'”
McCartney may have fumbled the second half of the main theme, but the second measure’s ascending bass line stuck with him. It would become the opening of “Blackbird.”
Originally written for lute between 1708 and 1717, the piece is a favorite for guitarists for its counterpoint. It’s a perfect song for working on the independence of melody and bass line, while the key of E minor fits nicely with the open strings.
Those same qualities show up in “Blackbird,” which is written in E minor’s relative major of G. The bass line is played with the thumb and walks up the first three notes of the scale (G, A, B) while the melody begins on the third and walks up (B, C, D).
Much of the song is an exercise in tenths, which is an interval of an octave plus a third. The patterns spread across the strings in a very comfortable way.
“[I was] looking for all those little shapes so it has a melody on the top and a little bass line,” McCartney said in an interview with Dutch TV’s “Top 2000 a gogo.”
The droning open G string makes for a middle voice that reinforces the tonal center even as the harmony becomes more complex.
Aside from its instrumental genius, “Blackbird” resonates with people for its meaningful lyrics. The mid-60s were a time of civil unrest as African Americans fought for their rights, which weighed on McCartney’s mind.
“I had in mind a black woman, rather than a bird,” he said in the biography “Many Years from Now.” “Those were the days of the civil rights movement, which all of us cared passionately about, so this was really a song from me to a black woman, experiencing these problems in the States: ‘Let me encourage you to keep trying, to keep your faith, there is hope.’ As is often the case with my things, a veiling took place so, rather than say ‘Black woman living in Little Rock’ and be very specific, she became a bird, became symbolic, so you could apply it to your particular problem.”
In trying to play a popular song for guitar, Paul McCartney ended up writing his own. “Blackbird” is a staple for any guitarist working on their fingerstyle – and looking for a show-off piece.
