"In My Life"
McCartney’s bassline here mirrors the rhythmic contour of John’s rhythm guitar while leaving more space in the texture. Its essential groove is most clearly articulated in measure three as long, short, long, short (a dotted quarter followed by an eighth, then another dotted quarter and eighth) played on the root note of the chord. When non-root notes appear, they fall on the offbeats acting as passing tones, reinforcing the syncopated feel. Variations occur, but the underlying rhythm remains constant. Like the guitar, the bass follows the dramatic shift in measure nine, moving into sustained whole note hits on the root before driving forward with a stream of straight eighths. This builds tension until the return of the original groove, which restores the song’s familiar pulse.
Notably, the main rhythm of the bassline avoids the typical emphasis on beats two and four, instead leaning into beats one and three where the kick drum would usually land. By sidestepping the central accented beats typical of a backbeat, this groove signals a departure from the Beatles’ early Merseybeat style and points toward a more expansive rhythmic sensibility.