When musicians talk about the Beatles’ musical influence, few would argue that the drumming of Ringo Starr was one of the most singular aspects to the band’s music. We’re here to make that argument.
When musicians talk about the Beatles’ musical influence, what dominates the conversation might often be the songwriting genius of Lennon and McCartney, George Harrison’s innovative writing and playing, the group’s ear-worm melodies, and their groundbreaking use of the recording studio.
Few musicians would argue that the drumming of Ringo Starr was one of the most singular aspects to the band’s music.
We’re here to make that argument.
While there are flashier drummers, greater technicians, and more bombastic players from the same era (Keith Moon, Ginger Baker, and John Bonham come to mind), Ringo’s inventive playing demonstrates a keen sense of how to create a drum track that fits perfectly with the intent of every song. His role as time keeper was important, but equally important was his artistry. Ringo’s playing added shape and texture to the band’s iconic recordings while carefully creating patterns and dynamics to create and resolve tension within each song.
Beyond keeping time
A great drum part is much more than a steady kick, snare, and hi hat to which the instruments and vocals play along. Popular recordings often blend a variety of rhythmic patterns that, when combined, create the overall sound, tempo, and texture we come to know as the finished backing track. Once the backing track is judged adequate, lead and harmony vocals, solo parts, and any other instrumental “sweetening” such as percussion, strings, and special effects are added to complete the multi-track master recording. Then, after approving the overall sound, the song is mixed, mastered and released.
Many Beatles songs, especially in the early part of their release history, relied on what can be termed standard rock drum beats. Some of the great Ringo performances contrast from a standard rock drum beat as more of a “composed” part; patterns he created specifically for a song that are anything but a standard rock beat.
Let’s dissect two of Ringo’s creative drum performances. “Ticket To Ride” and “In My Life” demonstrate ideas, patterns, and an approach that may help you when you are considering how to make your next song or recording stand out. We recommend you listen to these songs on a good pair of headphones to better appreciate the nuances of his playing.
Ticket to Ride
In 1964 and ’65, Ringo started composing drum parts to keep up with the ever-increasing sophistication of the songs that John, Paul, and George were composing. With their producer George Martin encouraging them, the band set out to explore just how varied they could make their compositions and recordings using the basic instruments that any rock band might use in those days: guitars, drums, bass, keyboard, and hand percussion instruments. While strings or brass were brought in for a few specific songs (“Eleanor Rigby” and “Got to Get You Into My Life,” being two such examples from 1966’s Revolver), by and large, The Beatles wrote and played all the instrumental parts in their backing tracks.
“Ticket to Ride” was released in 1965 as the first single from the soundtrack album for their second movie, Help. It is one of the first Beatles songs to feature a uniquely “Ringo-esque” drum part.
Ringo flipped the standard rock convention of having the snare drum play primarily on beats two and four, instead hitting his snare on beat two, but then displacing it to an offbeat (the “and” of three) and a flam on the toms hitting on the “and” of beat four.
What happens on the backbeat at four? Cue the tambourine, which Ringo overdubbed, to fill the function of what the snare would normally be doing. The result is a catchy drum part that gives the mid-tempo verses and chorus a chugging, forward motion that helped propel the song to the number one spot on the Billboard chart around the world.
For the bridge section, “I don’t know why she’s riding so high . . .” Ringo switches to a straight rock beat on kick and snare but gives it a double time feel by playing eighth notes on the hi-hat and sixteenths on the tambourine.
For the last verse, he mixes it up, going with the snare now playing on both two and four, while retaining the tom flams on the “and” of beat four. Brilliant! This gives the final verse extra oomph and shows us how to subtly vary a drum pattern within a song to keep it evolving.
As icing on the cake, when the band launches into the outro section, Ringo spices it up by playing the tambourine only on the “and” offbeats, a perfect complement for Paul’s rocking-chair bass line and the straight beat on the drums. “Ticket to Ride” shows how Ringo knew just what can be done to build an interesting drum part that doesn’t get in the way of the song’s top line melody, chords or structure – it just makes the track way more memorable.
In My Life
This Lennon and McCartney gem from Rubber Soul features 16-bar verses comprised of an A and B section with these two contrasting sections each having two equal four bar parts: four bars A + four bars A + four bars B + four bars B = 16 bar verse. Ringo uses a different drum part for the A and B sections.
The guitar tone is warm and the guitar part has a light but definitive rhythm against which the drum part nicely sits. For the first eight bars or A part of each verse, Ringo plays a sparse but well executed part featuring hi-hat only on the “and” of beat three of each measure. The kick drum pattern is on the one, the “and” of two and the “and” of four. He plays the snare on the standard backbeat, two and four.
The B section is first heard at the :30 mark at the lyric “All these places have their moments . . .” Ringo switches to straight quarter notes on a cymbal bell with a cymbal flourish after two bars, followed by two bars of a straight rock beat. He then repeats that pattern switching to a snare flourish at the end of the quarter note cymbal part before going to the straight rock beat for the end of verse.
This simple part is a beautiful rhythmic complement to the band’s lovely three-part harmony and the guitar part. The song’s title is always supported by the regular rock beat when it appears at the end of the verse. With its poignant lyrics double tracked by John’s vocals, the nicely arranged three part harmonies, and Ringo’s innovative use of accents and straight time that fit the song to a tee, it’s one of the group’s most memorable recordings.
He’s so heavy
The last area we wanted to touch on is Ringo’s ability to play with a powerful, stripped-down style featuring liberal use of toms and very creative fill patterns. As the Beatles experimented more with studio techniques such as compression and tape saturation, many of the more subtle parts of Ringo’s drumming would not be as easy to hear in the mix. He adapted quickly, and during the recording of the aforementioned “Strawberry Fields Forever,” created the memorable “heavy” drum part featured in the last section of the song.
For inspiration on how to drive a song with a steady groove while again playing with urgency that is in perfect sync with the lead vocal, just listen to Ringo’s playing on “I Am the Walrus.” And for a final lesson in mixing up drum patterns and varying dynamics, dial up “I Want You (She’s So Heavy)” from Abbey Road and check out Ringo’s contrasting, in the pocket beats played for the first few verses, the switch he makes to a quasi-Latin feel with nice tom patterns under the guitar solo, and then his inventive take throughout the long outro section where he continually changes up his fills and accents while staying locked to the dirge-like riff that the band drives all the way home to the song’s abrupt ending. As much as the earlier genius shown on “Ticket to Ride” and “In My Life,” this heavier, powerful side of Ringo’s playing informs the drumming and sounds of many other great rock bands who followed including Led Zeppelin, Nirvana, the Foo Fighters and the Black Keys.
While many people will remember Ringo Starr as the iconic voice of Beatles’ songs such as “Yellow Submarine” and “With a Little Help From My Friends,” we argue that a reappraisal of his inventive and rhythmically varied parts – always in service of the song’s message – are worth careful study for any up and coming songwriter or producer that wants to create the best possible recordings. Us insiders know, he blazed a trail for musicians to strive to imagine drum parts that breathe in and out with the singer and the song – doing so much more than just keeping time.
[Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article mistakenly credited the excellent drumming on “Dear Prudence” to Ringo Starr, but as tensions were high between the Beatles at the time of the White Album’s recording, Ringo had temporarily left the band. In his stead, Paul played the drums and he and George added the percussions parts (tambourine, cowbell, and handclaps) on “Dear Prudence.”]
More on The Beatles, their recordings and gear:
Beatles Gear: All the Fab Four’s Instrument from Stage to Studio by Andy Babiuk
The Beatles had a lot of great equipment and most of it is explained here in detail.
Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles by Geoff Emerick with Howard Massey
A great “other side of the glass” narrative of the Beatles at their creative best in the studio, with insights into the sounds and performances captured on tape.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions: The Official Story of the Abbey Road Years – 1962-1970 by Mark Lewisohn
In depth notes and chronology of every recording session.
Ringo: With a Little Help by Michael Seth Starr
Recently released bio on Ringo.
Keith Hatschek is a regular contributor to Disc Makers Echoes blog and directs the Music Management Program at University of the Pacific. He has also written two music industry books, How to Get a Job in the Music Industry, which just came out in its third edition, and The Golden Moment: Recording Secrets from the Pros.
Peter Hackett is a producer, engineer, drummer and educator, who grew up playing many of the classic rock drum parts from The Beatles, before beginning to play professionally at the age of fourteen in cover and original bands. He works today with a wide variety of songwriters and bands producing all type of popular music.
Special thanks to percussionist Jonathan Latta and Nate Pergamit for the transcriptions included in the article.
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The first time I noticed Ringo’s talent for designing a drum part that perfectly fit the song was a track called Anna, on the album Introducing The Beatles. It’s a very unexceptional song, except for the fact that the song’s main riff, if you will, is a simple four-stroke drum fill. The In My Life verse riff is very similar, but more memorable because of the beauty of the song as a whole, thanks in part to Ringo, of course. Imagine what the Beatles’ music would sound like with John Bonham or Neil Peart (both terrific drummers) playing! Ringo is one of a kind.
Perhaps not technically the best,but what Ringo did was being done by him (mostly)for the first time.i play drums ,have since1962,and play Beatles tracks to this day,but I couldn’t have invented them and there are not many drummers who could have.
there’s so much to say and even more that COULD be said, so let me just say- Ringo: Genius
I’m so glad this article was written. My drummer, who is a Buddy Rich fan (RIP) said he never took Ringo seriously. I countered, as this article does, that his musical approach to drumming was perfect for the songs he played on. Listen to “She Loves You”. That song would have been sterile with just a solid rock beat, but Ringo made music with his drums and it topped the charts. Yeah,yeah, yeah.
I can only add a couple of comments,that I know are truisms. Paul,indeed had the rhythmic idea for Tix to Ride.
That’s not meant to mean anything other than what it is. Paul suggested playing with that pattern on the verses .
“In My Life” and “I Want You”. Pure , Ringo genius.
Ps. On In My Life,I don’t know if there was a rhythm guitar mixed up in the track,per se. What you do hear is an Arpeggio on the guitar. Sounds very Gretsch.
Excellent piece – goes well as an addendum to this one published in 1997 in Modern Drummer:
http://web2.airmail.net/gshultz/bryant.html
I would also mention that, in bands that have played together for a while, the songwriters start to hear the beat based on the drummer’s style which in turn affects the songwriting. I don’t think that it’ s a coincidence that both Lennon and Harrison used Ringo on their early solo albums. To them, how he played probably was ‘the beat’.
I suppose that you could say “Ali was the greatest” in boxing. Or that “Ted Williams was the greatest hitter” in baseball, but music is a much more complicated dynamic. Superlatives like “greatest” and absolute and unequivocal statements like “the most important in music history”, while colorful, are effectively meaningless and are usually cooked up by hyperactive marketing people.
Yes, Ringo is a great (and highly influential) drummer and this is widely accepted among rock musicians. Yes The Stones are great, yes Brian Wilson had genius, yes The Doors were influential and yes Elvis was hugely important and George Martin did indeed produce The Beatles. All of these artists listened to each other (and what had come before, like blues and country and gospel) and created something personal that we can all enjoy. ENJOY.
The reason why nobody thinks of Ringo Star is because he wasn’t that good. The Beatles were the greatest band that couldn’t prove it. They never played their really influential songs live. They didn’t put in the stage time to be ” The Greatest” maybe the most influential studio band, but even a lot of their later stuff was bitten from The Doors, and especially Brian Wilson who they were infatuated with because he was a genius that wrote produced and arranged everything himself. Something they could never do. They owe those production credits to George Martin. The Rolling Stones are the greatest from the invasion, they put the time and especially the tours to be the greatest. Regardless of anything, Elvis is the most influential PERSON in music history. PERIOD. End of story. Elvis is the reason we have modern music. Elvis is why we have everything from Pop Country to acid rock, from Gospel to Dub step. And His road dog Johnny Cash pretty much invented rap music.
Blah blah blah blah you wish you were half the drummer Ringo is blah blah.
In addition to the superb Mr. Starr, here on the American side of the Atlantic we should also give a lot of credit to John Densmore, the drummer in the Doors. Densmore always knew the right beat for the Doors’ music. He was deceptively versatile, always in the pocket, but he made the Doors’ music so much more exciting than it otherwise might have been. Starr and Densmore are two of the world’s great rock drummers.
Very well put both ,Ringo Starr and John Densmore were the perfect drummers for both bands.
How many other drummers can you name who were the reason why so many of us first picked up a pair of sticks?
I was one of the original Beatlemaniacs in 1964 and Ringo is still my hero. I still play drums. I still try to find ways to play like Ringo. Even though I am right-handed, I’ve used a left lead predominantly. Ringo was always more than a drummer. He was and is an artist. Candlestick park, I was there. Cleveland in 2014. I was there.
If Ringo wasn’t anything special then they would’ve just stayed with Pete Best. “nuff said!!
Nice article. Ringo has always been one of my favourite drummers. Interestingly, the first time I heard Back in the U.S.S.R. and Dear Prudence, I was rather shocked at the sloppy drumming (the fills in BITUSSR are sloppy and off, the groove in DP drags in places) until I found out that Paul plays drums on both those tunes! Actually Paul had a lot of good rhythmic ideas and there is some evidence that it was he, Paul, who suggested the drum beat for Ticket to Ride. As far as In My Life goes, beautiful drum track, I think this one evolved from the fact that Ringo was (and is) a lefty playing a right-handed kit, so he often leads with his left hand, which also coloured his unique fills.
Ringo rules!
One of my many regrets is selling Ringo’s “Beaucoups Of Blues” album at the local used record store. Was moving, and trying to lighten my possession list, so I turned in all my vinyl, and that was one that I regret letting go. I used to see Ringo all the time at the Rainbow in Hollywood – but I was too “cool” to ask him to sign it, though I considered it MANY times, heheh. He always said “hi”, though – what a complete sweetheart! (I’m leaving singing, “Wine, women, and loud, happy song…!” 🙂
When I first heard the Beatles, way back then, I noticed the sound of a loose hi-hat that sizzled. It was a form of white noise that filled in the gaps. It fattened the sound. It was beautiful. No other drummer was doing that.
Yes, Buck! The open high-hat. That was the whole key to Ringo’s genius as a drummer. These guys’ failure to mention that, along with the fact that they apparently didn’t know that Paul played drums on Dear Prudence, makes me question their basic existence as life forms, even though they do make some good, if rather obvious, points.
Yeah, and he used it in a musical way. Often he would switch back and forth between open and closed hi hat in different sections of the song. In “I Want to Hold Your Hand” for example, he closes the hi hat during the bridge to give the sections some contrast. Ringo was thinking musically back in ’63 too…
What can you say…the Beatles pretty much wrote the book on all areas of modern music, and Ringo’s drumming was always perfect for the song. (Zen Drumming anyone?) One of my personal earliest and most enduring influences to this day. A more modern equivalent would be Larry Mullen Jr. of U2. Always plays only what is needed in a tasteful and supportive way without drawing attention away from the SONG.
Eccellent comparison. Some drummers (and other musicians who focus primarily on chops) could really learn from either of these players from an overall “contribution to the greater whole” perspective on songwriting and production. I would rather work with a creative, conscientious player any day of the week than a hot dog with bags of facility, but no broader overview as a musician of how all the parts work…Of course, it never pays to generalize, but generally speaking, lol…