The Beatles teaching you their instruments
«pairings» paul mccartney x gn!reader, ringo starr x gn!reader, george harrison x gn!reader, john lennon x gn!reader
«note» I’m still getting used to writing for the boys, this is the first one, so it’s only up from here, lol. john’s def my biggest gray area but I don’t think I did horrid. I do also wanna say that the inspo for this layout on my post is from @sugardollcurse, rest in peace, may she rest well.
You don’t ask him to teach you.
One time in passing conversation somewhere along the way you’d said you wish you’d learned an instrument when you were younger.
“Bass isn’t a hard start, y’know?”
Weeks later somehow you end up with a bass in your lap.
“Here– no love– hold it like this.”
He says moving behind you, adjusting your grip himself.
“Here let’s start with something easy.”
He says showing you the notes to Love Me Do, letting you loop it slowly over and over until eventually you’ve got it, speeding up to tempo, and it doesn’t take terribly long.
Eventually once you get it, he sings along, though it sounds weird with only the bass part.
“Now try and make a bass line yourself.” he tells you, “Paul I just started!”, to which he replies, maybe too seriously, “Don’t think about it, just let it walk.”
And surprisingly, you do, kind of, it's pretty bad but he sits in front of you, tapping your knee with his hand, keeping you in time
He’s excited, maybe a little too excited.
“Bloody brilliant you are! We'll make a proper bass player outta you love.”
He watched you tap your fingers absentmindedly on your thigh one time.
“You tryin’ to be a drummer, love?”
Next thing you know you’re sitting at a drum set, him smiling, holding out his pair of sticks to you.
“Woah woah, don’t hold ‘em like you’re a caveman now.”
He takes the sticks from your hands, showing you how to hold them. You still don't get it.
“Here- you’re grippin’ them like they’re gonna run from you, looser.’ He adjusts your fingers for you.
It’s still not perfect, but it’s a good start.
He lets you play until the rhythm falls apart, completely.
“Like a crash in slow motion, I just can’t look away,” he laughs, you don’t feel embarrassed.
“That’s what the bass drum is for. Here, I’ll clap with ya.”
Eventually you fall into a steady rhythm and he starts getting into the little dance he does when he plays himself.
You complain and say something about your arms getting tired.
“We’ll get back to it sometime, don’t worry.”
He loves watching you get into his world, there aren’t many other drummers out there, watching you get into the rhythm, it does something to him.
It’s quiet, he starts off slow, unlike the others you don’t start playing and learning music immediately, at least not in the same way
You learn how to tune, “It takes time, to learn to do it by ear like this..”
“Woah, too far, you’re pullin’ it too tight, you’ll bust the string like that.”
Eventually he moves onto teaching you different chords
“George– the barre ones, I don’t think my hands are big enough they just cramp–”
He hums and rearranges your fingers into an alternative for the same chord.
“That’s why I’m here, to help.” He says softly, kissing the side of your face
He lets you try and fiddle around with different chords for a while before teaching you a simple progression.
“Here…” he strums a simple progression, with another guitar so you can follow his lead.
You struggle moving between the chords, it’s too fast.
“It’s hard, I know, just try not to overthink it, I’ve been playing since I was 13, this isn’t an overnight thing.”
Eventually during one attempt you manage to complete the progression without it sounding absolutely horrid, it was starting to resemble something.
“There you go.” He smiles, “We’re getting there.”
There is no teaching at the beginning, it’s like he expects you to know already.
He hands you a guitar and says, “Go on then, show me what you’ve got.”
“John, I've never even held a guitar!”
He calls out your hesitation while playing more than he does wrong notes.
“Is this even right?” you ask confused.
“Doesn’t matter if it sounds nice. It’s music, you feel it.”
“Play louder, play out, make a mistake and own it.”
When he’s teaching you he doesn’t want you to copy, he wants you to experiment.
“I don’t think I’ll ever get the hang of this.”
He just laughs, “I wasn’t good either, I was absolute dog piss when I started, at least you know the words to most songs, you’re farther ahead than I was.”
