How The Beatles Influenced Modern Music

One of the most well-known music groups, The Beatles, revolutionized music by using new techniques, experimenting with instruments and influencing how music was being made.

Many experts on music can agree that the Beatles did not create every technique that they used but most can agree that they, “set musical trends that are still being followed.” An example of this is when The Beatles were being filmed during the recording of “I Feel Fine” and John leaned his electric guitar against amplifies creating the feedback sound. The feedback created a sound that amazed John so much he had requested to producer, George Martin, if they can use this in the recording. Although other bands before them were the first to use this technique live, The Beatles were the first to use it in a recording. This had a major influence on many bands to use feedback in their music.

I can remember my mom playing The Beatles for me while I colored and the song “Within you, Without you” played, it was so mesmerizing. The song was written by George Harrison and inspired from The Beatles visit from India. They had incorporated many new, different instruments. They asked some friends to play some of the new instruments they brought back, George said, “I brought back a lot of instruments.” this included a swarabat, finger cymbals, a sitar and tablas. The Beatles were able to stay relevant for so long because of their variety of different sounds they created from this and their complexity of lyrics. They inspired and influenced many bands to incorporate these new instruments in their music to create exciting sounds.

In 1980, John Lennon had been assassinated, marking an end of an era of thoughts of a perfect society and dreams from “All You Need Is Love” and “Imagine”. Although the founder of The Beatles is no longer with us, new techniques and innovations made by him and his band are still being used today. The Beatles had written songs about war and peace and poverty and politics. They were “the first to print their song lyrics on an album cover…” They inspired the older generation emerging from the buttoned-down 1950’s to accepting a far wider view of ways of life. They have helped a number amount of bands write lyrics about real world problems. They shared their lyrics with the whole world and taught many to take inspiration from anything.

The Beatles creating new techniques that are still being used today, they brought back instruments from other countries creating unforgettable sounds, they put their lyrics on album covers. All this in just 8 years that the band was together and musicians still using them. I hope you learned how The Beatles revolutionized music culture today and I encourage you to listen to a Beatle song once and awhile.