And now for something completely different, we turn to Italian luthier and musician Galeazzo Frudua. Mr. Frudua has produced a series of entertaining instructional videos breaking down the vocal harmonies on several of the Beatles’ best songs. His enthusiasm is contagious and his accent is endearing. If you have a Beatles song that you love because of the melody and the harmony parts, Frudua probably has posted a video to YouTube breaking it down for you.
“If I Fell” is one of the twelve songs the Beatles wrote to order for A Hard Day’s Night in 1964. That was about twice as many as director Richard Lester could use in the movie, but “If I Fell” made the cut with good reason. All twelve songs and a couple more made for a spectacular album in the United Kingdom. In the United States, United Artists served up the six songs and filled out the rest of the album with orchestrated instrumentals from the movie soundtrack. Less was decidedly not more.
I’ve always loved this song — Frudua clearly does too — and I have enjoyed trying to sing along with the vocal parts as Frudua teaches them. It’s part of my anger management therapy. For a change of pace, I thought some readers might want to spend a few minutes with Frudua’s take on the song and the artistry of John and Paul’s vocal parts.
I don’t want to slight George Harrison. Frudua’s videos breaking down a few of the Beatles songs with three-part harmonies — songs such as “This Boy” and “Yes It Is” — are of interest as well.
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