Watching Part 3 of The Beatles documentary “Get Back,” I was struck by the way that they rehearse.
As they are working up these now-classic songs into full recorded versions, they vary the tempo, the feel, the instrumentation. They rewrite words on the fly, and interject with nonsense whenever they feel like it. They try harmonies that don’t work on their way to finding the ones that do. They work hard to make each other laugh, even as they’re working hard to make the music good.
In short, they create in a truly egoless way.
We know that their personal animosity was high at the time of filming; they broke up not too much later. But when they got into a creative space, they fell back on what was clearly a practiced way of interacting. That way was to put the music first, and to trust themselves and each other to discover the best versions of their music through trial and error.
I don’t know how they arrived at this approach; it seems the best possible approach to me, but one that must have been practiced over and over for it to feel so natural at this stage in their career.
How to create is an essential question for all who choose to be creative; the Beatles happened on what feels like, to me, and ideal way for a group to work together.