Of course, there’s a bit of rhythm involved, and some repetition. But it’s those four notes that are key. Long A, longer G, long A, longer G, long D, longer C, long A, longer G. It was the ...

That’s how the story of the notoriously high piccolo trumpet solo on ‘Penny Lane’ starts. Vocalist McCartney was looking for something to embellish the jaunty 1967 English pop song, so when he heard ...