the beatles; all you need is heutagogy
DESCRIPTION
A description of how The Beatles learnt to be creative musical innovators based on how the learnt to be hit recording artists, to collaborate with their peers, and to invent new forms of music making (in the studio); and how it ended when Brian Epstein died and they formed Apple Corps. Using Heutagogy & the PAH! Continuum to analyse their stages of developmentTRANSCRIPT
All You Need is
# UTAGOGY
#Learning from
How
Changed the World with their #Creativity
And how we can #learn from them
John, Paul, George & Ringo
Are the worlds biggest selling musical artists
More importantly Rolling Stone
Called them “the first self-contained rock band”
In Brasil this is how important…
…they think The Beatles are! Why?
because they invented themselves
And So Can You! All together now
Origins
The Beatles were scouse boys
Raised in the meritocracy of poverty
Liverpool was a port
A provincial, mercantile base for globe-trotting
Facing west; it rained everyday
Then Elvis arrived
Lennon skiffled up a group;
The Quarrymen; soon Paul & George joined
Hamburg their 10,000 hr playground
(but for John, Paul, George & Pete & Stuart)
Brian Epstein signed them
And squared the circle with Ringo
Pedagogy
1962-64
Then George Martin signed them
to be hit recording artistes (with an option)
The boys were a band, sang good
…harmonies, but couldn’t make hit records
Saved by The Goons!!
(& George) but they pleaded Love ME do!
Love ME Do sold 40k
over 4 months; George Martin picked up his option
With Please Please Me
They invented Mersey Beat (helped by Martin)
“Gentlemen you have your…
…first number one record”
Lesson #1 how to make a hit single
Mastered! Lesson #2 a hit album (of their live show)
With From Me To You & others
They wrote ‘work songs’ to order for the day job
Hit records mastered they went large
first they cracked the UK with She Loves You
With Meet The Beatles
They perfected (early period) Merseybeat
Then with Hard Days Night
The Beatles became the “self-contained rock band”
Andragogy
1964-66
By June 1964 the Beatles
Had mastered & transformed hit record making
They needed new challenges;
#1 Enter Bob Dylan at Delmonicos, New York
The Pop Mop Tops opened
Beatles For Sale with the Lennon Trilogy
No ReplyI’m A LoserBaby’s in Black
#dylanesque
Developed those themes on HELP!
Where George Martin became “a collaborator”*
HELP!Ticket to RideYesterday*
Hung “round the clubs”
with musician friends, Animals, Moody Blues…
Absorbing contemporary influences
Instead of historic ones
#2 Challenged by fellow musicians
who made ferocious new music during 1965
Rolling Stones – I Cant Get No Satisfaction
The Who – My Generation
Bob Dylan – Like a Rolling Stone
They became a folk-rock band
Adding instruments to embellish Rubber Soul
Drive My CarNorwegian WoodIn My Life
Heutagogy1966-67
or Tomorrow Never Knows
By 1966 they’d learnt from pros & peers
It was time to experiment with their music…
On Revolver they played the studio
‘Mk1’ Beatles said “Tomorrow Never Knows”
Drones, static harmony, sound effects, psychedelic lyrics & more…
Revolver; too original to play live
so The Beatles became the 1st non-touring studio band
The opening four tracks were;RockTaxmanClassicalEleanor RigbyPsychedelicI’m Only Sleeping IndianLove You Too
& The Pope says it is the best rock album of all time
John, Paul George & Ringo
Operated on Group Genius (Keith Sawyer)
Innovation emerges over time; 66/67 preceded by 62/66Deep Listening; Songs came together in the studio processBuild on collaborators ideas John & Paul, George & Ringo worked to “support the song”Meaning comes after ideas; The Beatles “honored mistakes”Surprising Questions emerge; Can you write a hit in 7/4?Innovation is inefficient; Sgt Peppers 5 months in recordingInnovation is bottom up; The Beatles pushed EMI staff
Creativity needs fresh metaphors
They became…Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
“Newspaper taxis appear on the shoreWaiting to take you awayClimb in the back with your head in the cloudsAnd you're gone…”
& then they said;All You Need is LoveThe first live global hit
“Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you”
But tired of studio-based recording
The Beatles jammed themselves back into musicians
Show me that I'm everywhere,And get me home for tea
It’s All Too Much
Recorded live in Abbey Road just after Pepper, as
The Beatles created new problems
Then re-organised to solve them; Magical Mystery Tour
Having helped set up Monterey Pop & recommended Hendrix McCartney suggested an English Merry Pranksters project.
The hired a coach and some actors, toured England, turned up & filmed, and that was the movie… The great I Am the Walrus was filmed in Kent
And then there were just 4 (fab!)
But as they adopted meditation their circle was broken
Harrison had got the Beatles interested in meditation and they went to an English Bank Holiday weekend retreat in Bangor
Whilst away Brian Epstein died from a drug overdose on August 27th 1967
Now The Beatles had to manage themselves
Aftermath1968 & 1969
Their Magical Mystery Tour was over
they had to become The Beatles all on their own
Inventing the future with Apple
John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison & Ringo Starr
Without Epstein The Beatles;Became their own managers & created Apple CorpsApple was to be a musician-run record labelIn 1968 they worked endlessly releasing the biggest ever selling double album & recording othersFor recording the White Album they invented an ‘atelier’ “artists studio” style of workingApple was also responsible for launching the careers of Badfinger Mary Hopkin James Taylor, John Taverner & the experimental label Zapple (Wonderwall etc)(as well as later recording…)
Lamenting the past with Get Back
After Abbey Road Lennon launched Plastic Ono Band
In 1969, inspired by The Band they planned to Get Back and be a live working band again
But the music industry defeated them. They didn’t want a musician-run music label The Beatles were just cash cows. Abbey Road was their swansong; The End
Get Back later released as Let It Be
SURPRISE!Turns out The Beatles were self-determined learners Their career went through Pedagogy, Andragogy and Heutagogy phases as we’ve seenWe think this is a also post-Web2.0 model of learning
AND we think everyone can be creative too
What is Heutagogy?
21st Century
All You Need is Heutagogy
The Beatles had a vision – to become the…
Toppermost of the PoppermostFirst they taught themselves by copying their heroes & playing liveThen they realised their vision in 3 stages between 1962-67
Pedagogy; popular hit recording artists (62-64)Learning from music industry pros how to play in the studioAndragogy; musical collaborators (64-66)Learning from fellow musicians how to extend their reachHeutagogy; musical innovators (66-67)Inventing new ways to make music, allied to their musical craft
After heutagogy they tried to remake the music industry as Apple executives, but their group genius was in music making not management
What is Heutagogy?Heutagogy is self-determined learning
Stewart Hase & Chris Kenyon; Developed the idea with From Andragogy to Heutagogy
Learner-Generated Contexts Group; Developed the PAH! Continuum as a part of a Web 2.0 #open #context model of learning
The Heutagogy Community of Practice; came together to promote heutagogyThey wrote the book Self-Determined Learning (also known as)What is Heutagogy?
What is Heutagogy?
a curated conversation
Resources
References
1. Live; 1957-1962 2. Singles; 1962-643. Albums; 1964-664. Psychedelia; 66-675. Apple; 19686. Let It Be; 1969
Beatles CreativityBlog posts
The Beatles Heutagogy
Resources;From Andragogy to HeutagogyHistory of HeutagogyBeatles blog 9 after 909 All you Need is HeutagogyThe Rise & Fall of the experimental Style of the Beatles (soundscapes)Rolling Stone magazine “self-contained rock band”George Martin All You Need is EarsGeoff Emerick Here, There & EverywhereThe Complete Beatles Chronicle Mark LewisohnThe Beatles BibleLong & Winding Roads – Kenneth WomackFollow; World Heutagogy Day September 26th #wHday14Hyper links are in blue & underlined
Vpmatt’s Inside Beatles Records
Resources;Vpmatt’s YouTube Channel1. Strawberry Fields Forever2. A Day in The Life3. Tomorrow Never Knows4. Hard Day’s Night5. She Love’s You6. I Am The Walrus7. Penny Lane
Images
Please inform me where any images can not be used.
The Beatles wallpaper; Angelmaker666
Most Images from Google Beatles Creative Commons image searches
Beatles Albums & records images from Wikipedia
Beatles resources from Wikimedia Commons
It’s All Too Much Ilovetocreate image Laura Fraedrich
Other images (Brian Epstein) my own @fredgarnett