Finding a purpose in life is invaluable, and some spend their entire lives searching without ever discovering their calling. Fortunately for Nile Rodgers, from an early age, he planned to devote his life to becoming a guitarist. It provided him with an escape from the bleak reality of his existence, and The Beatles played a significant role in pushing Rodgers down this avenue.
Like many artists of his generation, Rodgers’ eyes were opened by The Beatles, and their music provided him with the tools to become a guitarist. Although his brand of funk sits at the different end of the musical spectrum from the Fab Four, it took years of dedication to his craft for Rodgers to hone his own style, and he needed to start from somewhere.
The Beatles were extremely experimental, especially throughout the final few years of their career, but a significant part of their magnificence derived from the simplistic nature of their music. Many of their hits may not have contained adventurous, rule-breaking chord structures, but nevertheless, they hit previously unchartered heights.
However, as they revelled in the art of simplicity, beginners could learn the ropes from studying their material. Speaking to Uncut in 2013, Rodgers spoke about their song ‘A Day In The Life‘, noting: “This was the first song I learned to play on guitar. My transformation happened years earlier when I first heard ‘The End’ by The Doors, but it wasn’t as important as actually learning ‘A Day In The Life’.”
During his childhood, Rodgers lived in various different places in the United States, but it wasn’t until he arrived back in New York that he finally plucked up the courage to pick up the guitar. However, initially, he exclusively played classical music before The Beatles started occupying his heart, and he set himself on a mission to learn their music.
The guitarist recalled to Forbes: “I asked my mom to buy me a guitar for my birthday, and I love the Beatles, so she bought me a Beatles Song Book. I kept trying to play this book, and I started out at the beginning, so I guess the reason why I learned ‘A Day In The Life,’ it started with the letter A. It was the first song in the book.”
For a few weeks, Rodgers determinedly tried to master ‘A Day In The Life’ and refused to give up despite facing adversity. Thankfully, his mother’s boyfriend intervened and tuned his guitar. From that moment onward, Rodgers felt he owned the keys to heaven on earth.
He continued: “I felt like the first person walked on the moon, it was the most inspirational moment of my life. At that moment, I decided I was not going to be mediocre at all the various instruments in the symphony orchestra that was assigned to me as a child, but I was going to concentrate on one instrument and try and become a virtuoso, and that’s when I decided I was a guitarist.”
