The instruments contributed to Beatles recordings range from traditional orchestral instruments—such as violin, viola and cello[1]—to an alarm clock and a pile of gravel.[2][3]
The first half of the Beatles' career—from the early 1960s until 1966—rarely saw the band use any extra musicians, though George Martin (their producer) occasionally added keyboard instruments to augment their sound.[4][5] As their career progressed and their influences widened, the group began to experiment in the studio. Martin started to orchestrate for the band; his first major orchestration for the group was the string quartet on "Yesterday".[6] In 1966, the band stopped touring and concentrated on studio experimentation,[7] creating soundscapes and orchestrations that required numerous musicians (the orchestra on 1967's "A Day in the Life" was accommodated in Abbey Road's large Studio One, rather than the group's usual room in Studio Two[8]). It was also around this time that the Beatles visited India, and—particularly Harrison—became influenced by Indian culture and music,[9] leading to the group's use of traditional Indian instruments in their arrangements. Shortly before the group's demise at the end of the decade, keyboardist Billy Preston was brought in to add to their sound while they tried to return to their rock 'n' roll roots.[10] The group wanted what was to become their final album, Let It Be, to be raw with minimal overdubs.[11][12] After producer Glyn Johns left the project, Phil Spector hired in numerous session musicians to provide orchestral overdubs, in contrast to the group's original back-to-basics ideas.[13]
In February 1978, session drummer Bernard Purdie claimed that he had overdubbed drums for 21 Beatles recordings in the summer of 1963. He stated that Brian Epstein paid him a five-figure sum to overdub a drum track at Capitol Records' West 46th Street studios in New York City, and that the payment also bought his silence.[11] Purdie has also implied that some guitar parts for early Beatles recordings were also overdubbed, and there are also suggestions that Purdie and Cornell Dupree overdubbed drums and guitar parts for the Tony Sheridan recordings.[11][30] His claim was repeated in Max Weinberg's 1984 book The Big Beat: Conversations with Rock's Greatest Drummers, where he refused to name which songs he had played on and stated that "Ringo never played on anything[...] not the early Beatles stuff."[31]Barry Miles wrote that Purdie was hired in 1962 to replace Pete Best's drumming from some of the band's recording sessions that had taken place in Hamburg.[32]
Also omitted from this list are the instances where people's voices are captured on the recordings, but do not constitute part of the musical performance, such as Geoff Emerick's announcement of "take two" at the beginning of "Revolution 1",[33] and the various announcers, interviewers and presenters on Live at the BBC.
Jimmie Nicol stood in for Starr for eight performances during the band's 1964 tour. He did not feature on record, but his performances were captured by audience bootlegs and broadcasts by AVRO in the Netherlands and 5DN in Australia.[34][35]
Neel Hammond–violinist; session musician. Contributed violin to "Now and Then"[46]
George Harrison—aside from contributing vocals and guitar (both acoustic and electric), Harrison also contributed bass guitar,[78] organ,[79] Moog synthesizer,[20] harmonium,[20] vibraphone,[80] harmonica,[81] sitar,[82][83] tambura,[84] violin,[85] percussion (including hand claps,[86] finger clicks,[87] maracas,[88] African drum[89] and drums[90]) and comb and paper;[91]Ian MacDonald suggests Harrison may also have contributed tambourine,[78] ukulele[92] and harpsichord[93]
Ayvren Harrison–violist; session musician. Contributed viola to "Now and Then"[46]
Ronnie Hughes—trumpeter; session musician. Contributed trumpet to "Martha My Dear"[42]
Derek Jacobs—violinist; session musician. Contributed violin to "She's Leaving Home"[58]
Bill Jackman—flautist and saxophonist; session musician. Contributed flute, vocals and hand claps to "Hey Jude"[94] and tenor saxophone to "Lady Madonna"[94]
Harold Jackson—trumpeter; session musician. Contributed trumpet to "A Day in the Life"[47]
Hanuman Jadev—shehnai player; session musician. MacDonald credits the shehnai on "The Inner Light" to Jadev or Sharad Ghosh[62]
John Lennon—aside from vocals and guitar (both electric and acoustic) on numerous recordings, Lennon contributed instruments such as piano,[96] electric piano,[97] organ,[98] harpsichord,[85] harmonium,[99] Mellotron,[100] Moog synthesizer,[101] clavioline,[102] harmonica,[80] banjo,[85] ukulele,[80] bass guitar,[26] lap steel guitar,[26] percussion[91] (including maracas,[80] cowbell,[103] bongos,[104] congas,[105] maracas,[106] hand claps,[24] finger clicks,[87] tambourine,[107] and drums[90]), comb and paper,[108] and tenor saxophone;[109]Ian MacDonald also suggests that Lennon may have also contributed Jew's harp[110] and glockenspiel[79]
Paul McCartney—aside from bass guitar and vocals on numerous recordings, McCartney also contributed acoustic[134] and electric[135] guitars, piano[136] and electric piano,[137] clavichord,[138] organ,[89] Mellotron,[104] harmonium,[105] percussion (such as hand claps,[86] finger clicks,[87] timpani,[104] tambourine,[105] claves,[139] bongos,[104] congas,[140] cowbell,[141] guiro,[137] wind chimes,[142] maracas[26] and drums[90]) flugelhorn,[143] recorder[110] and comb and paper;[91] MacDonald also suggests McCartney may have provided trumpet[79] and synthesizer[92]
Dennis McConnell—violinist; session musician. Contributed violin to "Martha My Dear"[42]
Production of Lynne's version of "Now and Then" was aborted and not finished for inclusion with The Beatles Anthology,[111] although Lynne's 1995 sessions were used by McCartney and Giles Martin for the song's 2023 release.[112]