"In My Life"
In “In My Life,” John’s rhythm guitar provides the foundation of the larger groove, establishing a repeated pattern that anchors the entire arrangement. Every instrument interacts with this figure, following the basic pulse introduced in the opening measure, which can be heard as long, short, short, long, short, short (or 1, 2 +, 3, 4 +). Any variations in rhythm (mm.2 for example) are subtle, but always orbit around this central motif. This established groove holds steady until measure nine, at which point the guitar and accompanying instruments shift to sustained whole note hits, followed by a driving stream of straight eighths on the root of the chord. This musical moment builds tension and subsequently releases it through the driving eighth note rhythm. This section returns to the whole note hits before the return of the original groove, restoring the song’s familiar rhythmic flow.