t.

me/Dr_Mouayyad_AlbtousH

Layers 2
Direct Composites: The Styleitaliano Clinical Secrets

Jordi Manauta • Anna Salat • Walter Devoto • Angelo Putignano

Powered by Styleitaliano

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Barcelona | London | Milan | Mexico City | Moscow | Paris | Prague | Seoul | Warsaw
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 t.me/Dr_Mouayyad_AlbtousH

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t.me/Dr_Mouayyad_AlbtousH

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I
'

I
1

&
to Marc ... to Alex ... to Diego.

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Dedicated to:

To Marc, Alex and Diego.

To my beloved family.
To my brother, role model and hero.
To my dearest friends, you know who you are.
To Miguel Tames and Walter Devoto, my teachers and idols.
To the loving memory of Carlos Alanls and Manolo Casas.
To you Anna, always you.

Jordi

“If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people together

to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but
rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the
.
sea " (Antoine de Saint- Exupery)
I am in the immensity of the sea in a great boat. But a boat
without someone to steer it, the boat will drift.
Thanks to always be there myJove. - _

To you Jordi.
I love you.

Anna

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 t.me/Dr_Mouayyad_AlbtousH
Jordi Manauta
Born in Mexico City, Jordi Manauta graduated with a
degree in dentistry from the Technological University of
Mexico (UNITEC) with high honors. He continued his
postgraduate studies in operative and esthetic den-
tistry, earning a master ’s degree from the International
University of Catalonia (UIC) in Barcelona, Spain. A dis -
ciple of Miguel Tames (Mexico City) and Walter Devo -
to (Italy), he has developed and continues to develop
various materials and precision instruments for esthetic
dentistry, colorimetry, and photography in collaboration
with international companies. He is a visiting lecturer
at Siena University and a scientific consultant for two
European journals. Dr Manauta has been a member of
the Styleitaliano study group since 2008 and is head
of the Styleitaliano idea factory. He is coauthor of the
book Layers (Quintessence 2012), author and coau-
thor of many publications in international journals, and
a frequently invited lecturer on these topics.
Instagram
@jordi_manauta
if.
4
i
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Anna Salat
Born in Barcelona, Spain, Anna Salat studied dentist -
ry at Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC) in
Barcelona. She completed a specialization in esthetic
and restorative dentistry at the same university, where
she became a professor in that department. She has
been visiting professor in Siena, Marseille, Valencia,
Barcelona, and Lisbon. She is particularly interested
in composites, esthetics, and cosmetic dentistry and
teaches courses on these topics. She is the author of
publications in international journals such as the Eu-
ropean Journal of Esthetic Dentistry and the Tropical
Dental Journal. Together with Dr Manauta, she wrote
the book Layers: An Atlas of Composite Resin Strati- I
fication (Quintessence 2012) and is a coauthor of the
book Mulher Dentista (Quintessence 2016). She is an
honorary member of the Styleitaliano group. She loves
to find ways to make things look better, and she ap -
plies this life philosophy by combining adhesive den-
tistry and conservative techniques to improve smiles.
Instagram
@dr anna_ salat
.
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More than Layers... HONORARY MEMBER 1111

S T Y L E ITALIANO"COURSE
.The moment when you realize your work is meaningful is when To Miguel Tames, Rafael Tames, Pablo Mayer, Diego Genoves,
someone asks you to dedicate a worn
copy your of own book. Raul Uriza, Emilio Canales, Arturo Monroy, and Mario Gutibr-
Seeing your work referenced in articles, books, and lectures, rez, you will always represent my first and strongest step in
many of them by your personal heroes, is reassuring and a dentistry, and Monte Libano Office in Mexico City will be always
reason to keep working. my home.
From 2009 to 2012 we spent many hours making composite To Nina Nudel and Moises Mitrani, representing my university
restorations and taking photographs for the first book. Those UNITEC in Mexico City. To all my teachers, classmates, and
extraoral exercises were essential to our professional growth, people involved in my dental training from 1996 to 2000.
This time, the same thing happened, but the materials were To Miguel Roig, Luis Jane, and Juan Basilio, representatives of
collected over a much longer period of time. UIC in Barcelona. The postgraduate training with you gave us
This second episode of Layers comes to life after years of the tools to build this and more — Jordi in the 2002 generation
gathering and creating simple things that have transformed and Anna in the 2007 generation.
our daily dentistry into something enjoyable, and it was writ- To the people that are part of Walter Devoto’s, Fabio Currari-
ten from the most sincere wish to share, to return the favor no’s, and the Dentcof dental offices. You are the engine of this
of those teachers who generously gave us much more than a work,
head start; they changed our life. To our editor at Quintessence: professional, precise, serious,
The most difficult thing we faced during the creation of this impeccable, the best! Thanks for your trust; a book cannot
book was to keep it short. Avoiding distractions such as de- work without a good editor.
scribing all the available techniques, we considered it manda- Thanks Gaia Rosenberg for your invaluable work; you are the
tory to go straight to the point, to keep the message as under- “fifth Beatle” of this book,
standable and meaningful as we intended. Thanks Manuel Ruiz Alfaro from Asterizco Publicidad, you are
There is not enough room to thank all the people whom we a genius of graphic design. Again, we did a second book
care about and are grateful to, but we will try our best: from 10,000 km away. Your work from the first Layers has
First of all, thanks to our family, especially the little ones. This is been an inspiration to many other books, inside and outside
to you Marc, Alex, and Diego; mom and dad did all this work of dentistry.
in their working hours so that no time was taken from you. No To our dental technicians Alberto Villanueva in Zaragoza,
project is worth that. Spain; Daniele Rondoni in Savona, Italy; and Marat Awdaljan in
Rita, thanks from the heart. Amsterdam, Netherlands. §
The most sincere thanks to Walter and Angelo — all of this To the companies involved in chapter 12 — what an amazing £
exists because of you; it is impossible to express how much team,
we admire you and are grateful to you. Thanks to our readers and attendants of our lectures and
To Zsolt, you need no words nor a spotlight. courses. We are nothing without you.
Thanks to the Styleitaliano team, we are super proud and really Dedicated to the victims of the Covid-19 pandemic and for all
enjoy being part of this family. of the ones that kept us safe during these times.
To Cesar Flinostroza, you know what we feel about you; thanks If we forgot anyone, or intentionally omitted you, it means we
from the heart, dear friend. .
will thank you personally in the form of a nice friendly gathering
To Asuncion Mendoza and Enrique Solano, our eternal To all of you, here is our book, full of love, with all the relevant
gratitude. information we were able to gather, and we want to deliver it to
To Giuseppe Chiodera, Calogero Bugea, and Florin Cofar: you in the same way as our teachers did once with us, uncon-
teachers, best friends, brothers. ditionally and with no secrets whatsoever.
Thanks from the heart to the incredible people who gave us What seemed so complex has become simple. In the end, it
their knowledge for each interview to start each one of these ' is all about simplification. Step by step, layer by layer, we did
chapters; it is a dream to share these pages with you, Stefen, it again!
Rade, Newton, Weber, Walter, Lorenzo, Nitzan, Ronaldo, Nas-
ser, Didier, Roberto, Louis, Angelo, and Miguel: giants among
giants.

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Preface:
Ten years ago, Jordi and Anna asked for our approval and
assistance to develop their first book .
Their ideas were not only very good but revolutionary, and af-
ter evaluating them our advice was:
“Make a book with no clinical cases: If your ideas are correct,
you will be able to develop them in little time, and they will be
the basis for your professional growth.”
A beautiful challenge if you think about it .
And here we have Layers2, with which we can finally say,
“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. "
At that time we spotted passion and force, but there was only
one thing missing: control.
And this is precisely what you find in this book. A text full of
smart ideas, tricks, and advice for beginners, experts, and lov-
ers of the most passionate specialty in dentistry: direct restor-
ative treatment.
Walter Devoto
Instagram
@ walterdevoto
This is NOT a second part ; this is version 2.0: a completely
different vision to see composite resins, with a contemporary
approach, knowledge of the materials, techniques, and ac-
cessories. All of these instruments were developed with and
through Styleitaliano, and most of them have become world-
wide bestsellers.
Challenge accepted! Challenge widely won!
We are proud of our students Jordi and Anna, who are now at
our side, shoulder-to-shoulder, teaching whoever approaches
Styleitaliano, which in the present - day are thousands.
And to all of you, we hope reading these pages provides inspi-
ration to write other masterpieces and to stay united by pas-
sion, enthusiasm, esthetic sense, and attention to our patients
and experience.
Have a lovely reading.
Angelo & Walter
i
Angelo Putignano
Instagram
© aputijt
.SJTIHIt
Y L E TALANO
IY
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Summary:
Curricula VI

Preface VIII

Collaborators XIII

9 Target 3

A personal vision of Dr. Manauta on how to achieve a goal in life, not related to
dentistry, it might surprise you.

Shade 23

A modern approach to color, from visual methods to the new era in digital color
matching, applied to composite.

T T T
Layers 81

The future of layering, describing the most representative techniques step-by-step

and their application to everyday dentistry.

Index 141

Ten ways to obtain a palatal wall, with most of the problems we can find. And the
classical silicon index perfectioned and simplified.

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Fracture 203

Twenty steps to obtain a perfect class IV composite restoration consistently, with a

.
brief analysis of finishing lines

Neck 217

Exploring a build-up strategy for stress free class V restorations and the tools to
obtain an efficient gingival retraction.

Proximal 243

Implementation of the Class III classification according to its clinical difficulty. Margin
design, shade and build-up strategy, making emphasis on matrix management as a
key of success in these kind of restorations .

TL Diastema

Full description of the front-wing technique, a universal strategy to close diastemata

273

without wax-up and improving the current methods.

Description of the available methods to perceive and detect characterizations.

Presenting instant recipes to understand and reproduce them.

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Molars 403

Tips and tricks for posterior cusp protection, margin elevation and some alternatives
to the current materials and techniques.

Shape 441

A thorough analysis of dental shape and the full protocol to obtain life-like
restorations thanks to the morphology and the polishing.

Documentation 477

A simple guide to set your reflex camera to a point-and-shoot use and a recipe for
perfect and quick rubber dam isolation.

Idea factory 499

A brief summary of our developments, inventions and educational projects of the last
12 years.

End 515

Protocols and indications for direct veneering.

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Collaborators:
In no particular order, we present you the people who enthusiasti-
cally and selflessly collaborated on this book.
You gave us cooperation, trust , forward thinking, and mentorship,
among many other things, but what we value the most, by far, is
your friendship.
We cannot thank you enough. This book goes to you!
Daniele Rondoni, Master dental technician, Savona, Italy
Zsolt Kovacs- Vajna, Full-time professor, Brescia, Italy
Ines Barbosa, Private practice, Lisbon, Portugal
Giulio Pavolucci, Private practice, Cortona, Italy
Simone Grandini, Full-time professor, Siena, Italy
Giuseppe Chiodera, Private practice, Brescia, Italy
Gaia Rosenberg, Private practice, Milano, Italy
Gianmarco Curra, Private practice, Bologna, Italy
Lorenzo Breschi, Full-time professor, Bologna, Italy
Monaldo Saracinelli, Private practice, Grosseto, Italy
Dorien Lefever, Private practice, Geneva, Switzerland
Silvia del Cid, Private practice, Malaga, Spain
Dan Lazar, Private practice, Oradea, Romania
Paulo Monteiro, Private practice, Lisbon, Portugal
Miquel Coronel, Master dental technician, Olesa de Montserrat, Barcelona, Spain
Louis Hardan, Full-time professor, Beirut, Lebanon
Osama Shaalan, Private practice, Gaza, Palestine
Zuhair Arif, Private practice, Lahore, Pakistan
Florin Cofar, Private practice, Timisoara, Romania
Marat Awdaljan, Master dental technician, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Calogero Bugea, Private practice, Galatone, Italy
Luciana Mendonija, Private practice, Manaus, Brazil
Leandro Martins, Private practice, Manaus, Brazil
Sullivan Leite, Private practice, Brasilia, Brazil
Sofia Castelli, Dental hygienist, Sestri Levante, Italy
Daniela Stara, Dental assistant, Sestri Levante, Italy
.
Clara Tattoli, Dental assistant, Sestri Levante Italy
Florentina Ladaru, Dental assistant, Sestri Levante, Italy
Elisa Bortoluzzi, Dental assistant, Genova, Italy
.
Luis Alberto Villanueva, Master dental technician Zaragoza, Spain
Angie Segatto, Private practice, Budapest, Hungary
llaria Gandolfo, Dental assistant, Sestri Levante, Italy
Alessandro Colella, Private practice, Bari, Italy
Carlos Fernandez Villares, Private practice, Madrid, Spain
Alessandro Martini, Private practice, Verona, Italy
Tommaso Brunelli, Private practice, Brescia, Italy
Serhat Koken, Private practice, Istanbul, Turkey
Ozgur Yildirim Tolun, Private practice, Ankara, Turkey
Enzo Attanasio, Private practice, Lamezia Terme, Italy
Giorgio Atzeri, Private practice, Olbia, Italy
Roberto Gerli, Styleitaliano Manager, Genova, Italy
Antonino Nicolo, Private practice, Reggio Calabria, Italy
' Patrizia Lucchi, Private practice, Trento, Italy
Gregory Camaleonte, Private practice, Marseille, France
Maciej Zarow, Private practice, Krakow, Poland
Murad Akhundov, Private practice, Baku, Azerbaijan
Janos Grosz, Private practice, Budapest, Hungary
Vincenzo Musella, Private practice and MDT, Modena, Italy
-
Giovanna Orsini, Full time professor, Ancona, Italy
Caroline Werkhoven, Private practice, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Luis Gutierrez Quintero, Private practice, Tijuana, Mexico
Jose David Viquez, Private practice, Winnipeg, Canada
Gaston Zuvela, Private practice, Santa Fe, Argentina
Stefan Koubi, Private practice, Marseille, France
Engin Taviloglu, Private practice, Istanbul, Turkey
Dimitar Filtchev, Private practice, Sofia, Bulgary
Daniel Capello, Private practice, Quito, Ecuador
-
Marcos Vargas, Full time professor, Iowa, USA
Ahmed Samer Tadfi, Private practice, London, UK
Jun Iwata, Private practice, Takasago, Japan
Elisa Oneto, Private practice, Chiavari, Italy
Fabio Currarino, Private practice, Genova, Italy
Filippo Cipriani, Private practice, Genova, Italy
Rui Falacho, Full-time professor, Coinbra, Portugal
Marcin Krupinsky, Private practice, Krakow, Poland
Jon Gurrea, Private practice, Bilbao, Spain
Gurvinder Bhirth, Private practice, Birmingham, UK
An Quoc Nguyen, Private practice, Tandheelkunde, Netherlands
Valentin Vervack, Private practice, Ghent, Belgium
XIII
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KgV They tried to bury me but didn ’t know that I’m a seed. ”
jS Mexican proverb
*

2
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TARGET

A PERSONAL INTRO

Manauta

Interview with Stefen Koubi

3
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Stefen Koubi, DDS, PhD

Dr Stefen Koubi graduated from the Marseille University School of Dentistry,

France, in 1998. From 1998 to 2001, he worked as a clinical assistant at the
Hopital Louis Mourier (Hopitaux de Paris) in the Department of Stomatology
headed by Prof Poidatz. In addition, he was a research assistant at the
University of Paris V School of Dentistry in Montouge. In June 2001,
he received the AEA diploma (clinical traineeship) and the DEA diploma
(postgraduate study program) at the department headed by Prof de Lumley of
the Hopital Nord in Marseille, France. He earned a doctorate degree in dental
surgery in 2001. In the same year, he became an assistant at the department
of Conservative Odontology headed by Prof Koubi at the University Clinic of
Marseille, France.

Dr Koubi opened a private dental practice in Marseille in 2002. In 2004, he

obtained a university diploma in oral implantology. In April 2004, he was
appointed assistant professor at the Department of Conservative Odontology
of the Marseille University School of Dentistry. He became Associate Professor
in 2008 and earned his PhD in 2011. Moreover, he was awarded the Gold
Molar by the students of Marseille University. In 2009, he established a private
dental practice in Paris, France.

Dr Koubi is the founder of "L'institut de la facette," a private training center

established in 2013 that mainly focuses on laminate veneer restorations and
the minimally invasive rehabilitation of worn dentitions.

Dr Koubi is the author of various national and international publications and

reports. His recently published book Laminate Veneers: 20 Recipes for Smile
Design (Quintessence 2020) is a reference text for esthetic dentistry.

He has lectured internationally on the topics of esthetic dentistry, smile design,

wear, and erosion .

1
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Q: Why write a book ?

Writing a book is a gift in life. The reason why one becomes an author is the
vitality within, which is what provides the energy and the impulse to deliver
.
outstanding content In my opinion, there should be more to a book than a
case catalog .
What readers expect is solid, clear, easily accessible content. Yet, this is not
enough; a modern book should use technology, such as video, pictures,
drawings, and animations. Meaningful instructions that can actually change
your practice are what really make the spirit of a book.

But the key to success is to make your book significantly different and
recognizable from any other. I think honestly this new book by Jordi, Anna,
Walter, and Angelo will dramatically raise standards and will undoubtedly fulfill
the above-mentioned requirements.

If their first book is already called a "bible” by anyone interested in the deep
understanding of composite restorations, this one will provide clinicians around
the world with a beautiful tool to make esthetic dentistry feasible, teachable,
.
and repeatable These three keywords are the DNA of the Styleitaliano group,
which is not only a group of passionate dentists, but a family, a culture, and a
way of thinking.

Jordi Manauta is not only one of the top experts in his field, but one we would
call an extraterrestre in French, an out -of-this-world guy who always pushes
beyond the limits, with a different vision associated with mon-stop brain activity .
For me getting to know him was a real gift.

Enjoy your read!

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“We want to
get better
and better ”

Contact

This intro chapter, 'Target," describes my personal view on

how to achieve a goal in life, whatever it may be.

I was a young teenager, very attracted to hard rock and

heavy metal music, when I discovered some compact
discs (CDs) in my father 's cabinet; at the time they were a
rare piece of technology. I am naturally curious, and as that
was top of the line at the time, I had to give it a try — even
if it was my dad's music, totally non-inviting to a teenager.

I was sure I would not find anything interesting in an old mu-

sic collection. In fact, all the album art covers were rather
unappealing to me, except for one: it was called Revolver.

So I gave it a try. Skip song, skip song, skip song, skip

song, skip song, skip... Wait a minute!

“Yellow Submarine.” It created a short circuit inside me. I

fell hopelessly in love.

The next track was “She Said, She Said,” and the intro
stuck in my mind from the many times that it started play-
ing after the previous song, so it was a natural thing to
eventually leave the next track to play entirely. One track led
to the next and so on with the entire discography.

Months went by, and I became an expert in producing mix

tapes with my favorite tracks so we could listen to them on
the road trips with my parents and siblings.

Long story short, my family (ascendant and descendent)

became “beatlemaniacs". Years later they all appreciated
it very much. It was happy fulfilling music for everyone.
My three kids, sang “beep beep, beep beep yeah!" before
learning to speak.
 t.me/Dr_Mouayyad_AlbtousH

Music disruption

My children were born more than 50 years after The Bea-

.
tles' first album was released We all were drawn to their
music because of its excellence rather than because of the
flavor of the moment.

The Beatles are the most commercial band on the planet,

and at the same time, one of the most avant-garde, in-
ventive, forward-looking music groups that rewrote music
history.

Teenagers John Lennon and Paul McCartney in summer

of 1957 were about to change music forever. George Har-
rison joined later, and they played intensively for 3 years in
Liverpool. No one gave a damn.
.
* - , •yVr,'

Their promoter sent them to Hamburg, an opportunity to

make some money. After playing for an incredible number
of long nights in Germany over a period of almost 3 years
(1960-1962), even taking amphetamines regularly to be
able to resist the physical fatigue, they became extremely
good at playing, seriously good.

After their second trip to Hamburg, in May 1961, they

were signed by manager Brian Epstein, who acted as their
guardian from that moment onward.

Back in Liverpool, their regular audience, who seemed to

have forgotten them, was astonished and open-mouthed
.
at their performances It was amazing how they had grown
.
as musicians and sounded so harmonic They became un-
touchable; they were the best band in the city .
But they were far from any kind of success. When they first
met George Martin in 1961, he gave them the secret of
.
success Write original songs!

7
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Innate talent
I always liked to believe in incredible people — superhu-
mans — innately talented individuals. But later in life I learned
that the secret of all this “magic” is not miracles but rather
thousands of hours of discipline, hard work, and repetition.
Our society has always recognized exceptional individuals
whose performance in sports, arts, and science is vastly
superior to that of the rest of the population. Speculations
of why they are so talented are very wide and sometimes
comical.
Early data commonly attributed these individuals’ outstand-
ing performances to divine intervention, such as the influ-
ence of the stars or special biologic gifts, innate or geneti-
cally transmitted.
As science progressed, these divine explanations became
less acceptable, even if the genetic ones gained only little
evidence.
8
Francis Galton was the first scientist to investigate the possi-
bility that excellence has a common set of causes. He found
that eminent individuals were more likely to have close rela-
tives who were also eminent, but there was not a clear corre -
lation if the eminent relative was distant.
Based on what we know, physical and genetic factors can
give certain advantages in certain disciplines, especially in
sports. But several respected opinions affirm that there are
no “naturals.”
Extraordinary people are extraordinary because they work at
it. According to Malcolm Gladwell in Outliers, “Research sug-
gests that once a musician has enough ability to get into a top
music discipline, the thing that distinguishes one performer
from another is how hard he or she works.”
Lennon and McCartney took performances very seriously and
worked very hard on them since they were kids, But being top
performers was only a little part of their success.
 t.me/Dr_Mouayyad_AlbtousH

Ten thousand hours

People at the very top do not just work harder or even

much harder than everyone else. They work incredibly
harder.

The vast amount of research on this subject shows

that deliberate practice is the common thread among
all individuals who excel at a particular task.

Many researchers believe that the magic number is

ten thousand hours. In research and studies about a
vast variety of disciplines, this number shows up again
and again. Of course, this does not explain in its full
complexity why some people do not seem to get an-
ywhere when they practice, and why some people
seem to get more out of it, but evidence shows that
true world-class expertise cannot be accomplished in
less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to
assimilate all that it needs to achieve true mastery.

The ten-thousand-hours theory is consistent with

knowledge about how the brain learns. Levitin and
Gladwell say that learning requires consolidation in
the neural tissue; the more experiences we have with
a particular action, the stronger those connections
become.

It was my intention to link this ten-thousand-hours the-

ory to The Beatles in Hamburg story; to my surprise,
Gladwell does the same in his text. According to him,
before The Beatles enjoyed their massive success in
1964, they had performed together about twelve hun-
dred times, many times for 8 hours at a stretch. This
was certainly a key to their success, because most
groups do not perform that often in their entire ca-
reers. The band members became more confident the
longer they played together.

Kids usually give up music at this point Doing the math, 10,000 hours is 2,500 days, which represents nearly 10 years of prac-
ticing 4 hours per weekday and resting on weekends. Most kids give up before the expo-
Amateur Expert nential curve starts rising.

2 10,000
°
(D
7,500 7
B 5,000

£ 2,500
o
4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20

Age of musicians

9
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Legend of bass

A transcendent moment in music history is when former Beat -

les bass player Stuart Sutcliffe decided to continue his art for-
mation and abandon the group. This left them without a bass
player just before an important recording session, and every-
one ip the band came to the natural conclusion that Paul was
the best multi-instrumentalist and was the one who should
play bass. But he did not want to play bass; he just had gotten
a brand new Rickenbacker guitar. McCartney was a skilled gui-
tarist but struggled with "solos” in live performances.

In his first days of being a bass player, he immediately under-

stood that the old bassist of The Beatles in Hamburg was hold-
ing them back from shining as a band. With little effort from his
side, the band was sounding amazingly now. He knew in that
moment that he possessed now the most important instru-
ment in the group. Talking only about the bass guitar, McCartney is a living legend.

The adventures of Paul with the bass went very quickly from
zero appeal to a beautiful romance, from being ashamed to
extremely proud of being a bass player. This falling in love hap-
pened when he realized the control he had over the band; it
was absolute power . rtney is probably one of the most famous and influential bass
This instrument was almost like a drum with many rhythmic
possibilities; afterwards he realized that he didn't have to play
the same boring typical root notes, but he could travel to other
notes of the chord and do atypical things that sounded great.
Was it possible to play notes that were not even in the chord?
Yes! Paul experimented with tunes through the chords and
with independent melodies; his evolution as a bass player was
a fruit of being interested, excited, and thirsty.
Bass players can play any imaginable song by choosing be-
tween six different bass genres (notes and rhythms); each of
them has their sub-genre (style). One of those six mother gen-
res is rather recent and is called “Beatles style." Paul McCa -
players of all time, and with good reason. Inside that genre, he
developed eight distinctive styles of bass playing that are the
foundation of just about every contemporary song out there.
At that time, almost all players were playing bass with their
fingers. McCartney started and remained playing bass exclu-
sively with a pick, creating a distinctive sound. As the virtuoso
guitarist he was, he adapted his best moves to his new in-
strument. String muting, using a capo, finding new notes to
blend — he changed bass playing forever.

This adventure was great for him as a composer and perform-

er, for the growth of the band, and for the future of bass guitar
itself. The evolution came from an infinite number of sources.

Apart from these well-established experiments, Paul grew

“Paul was one of the most innovative bass
much with “on the spot” performances. Bass guitar was sim- players... half of the stuff going on now is
ply not an instrument to sit around and sing with; for example, directly ripped off from his Beatles period”.
the song “Michelle” is a song you would never play on bass John Lennon
until you really need to record the bass. This song has one of
the best bass lines of all times and came to life in the heat of a
recording session.

Many Beatles enthusiasts do not even notice the majestic bass HJEfSIjEl Video Gallery 1
in the songs, probably because it blends in so well. If you ha- ggSSEug? Paul McCartney best bass lines explained Part 1 and 2
ven’t noticed the bass, you have incredible things to discover https://youtu.be/xGCydlOOv6K
yet. https://youtu.be/02Ti6NvBVX0

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The Hofner 500/1 violin bass, an iconic instrument, was rumor-

ed to be chosen by McCartney because it was one of the few
symmetrical basses that would not look awkward when played
left-handed, But that was just a rumor, the reality is that it was
a light bass to carry around and with an excellent price point.
In 1961 McCartney ordered specifically a left handed one, the
first left-handed bass ever ordered to Hofner. It was know as
the "Beatles bass" and it was stolen from Abbey Road Studios
in 1969, it has never been seen again.

In 1965, John Hall gave Paul McCartney a Rickenbacker 4001s

bass. Since that moment, he used it for almost all the record-
.
ings because of its impressive sound and unique tone It is bet-
ter known as Paul’s “other bass.”
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None of us wanted to be the

bass player

One of the most dominant passions of McCartney

was singing, and he would never give that up. For A
this purpose, now he had to learn to sing and play
at the same time. This is very different as singing
to guitar strumming, playing an accurate com-
plex bass line and singing is an extremely difficult
challenge to coordination, which in neuroscience
is called bilateral coupling movements (such as
“rub belly, pat head’’ — but on steroids), but Paul
achieved this out of discipline and persistence.

An essential tool in the hands of a genius inevi-

tably becomes a phenomenon, especially if the
person works incredibly hard at it. Being a per-
former, multi-instrumentalist, composer, and hard
worker enabled McCartney to envision songs in J
their completeness before they were even creat-
0
ed. It is that unique perspective that enables an ?
artist to create an unparalleled signature.
f
I
\
It was Paul McCartney who transformed bass
players into rock stars, front men, band leaders,
M
and recognized musicians. There is an interview
in which George Harrison basically says that Mc-
Cartney was there for working and chasing excel-
lence and innovation, not for making friends.

He was highly criticized for working too much or

taking the music work too seriously, but that was
his way of rewriting music history.
k .
' *o•
One of the best and most successful endodon-
tists I know hated endodontics during dental
school. Some people change the nature of things
by what they do with them.

12
 t.me/Dr_Mouayyad_AlbtousH

King of feel

Richard Starkey, better known as Ringo Starr, has recorded
more number one hits than any other act in the history of mu-
sic. He was already famous before joining The Beatles. His
incorporation to the band was one of the determining factor of
their success.
For the expert drummers, he is one of the finest, most dis-
tinctive and innovative percussionists in rock. A prodigy of
rhythm and tempo, decisive in The Beatles early recordings
when click- tracks for fixed time reference were not used in the
studio. There is a saying among musicians: “Metronomes use
a Ringo to keep time”.
For the regular listener Ringo's percussions are inconspicuous,
they simply blend so well. For musicians, and specifically for
drummers, the sound of Ringo’s drumming was groundbreak-
ing and revolutionary, but why?
The first reason is that The Beatles covered more musical
ground in a decade than many bands could hope to go over
an entire career, Ringo had to invent himself on daily basis to
keep the pace of the group, he invented not one or two, but
more than 150 iconic drum lines that are still study subject
today, and they will still be the basis for tomorrow.
The second reason, as told by Ringo, he was just a left-hand-
ed drummer trying to survive in a right-handed drum set, his
hands were an obstacle to play classical riffs, making his sound
so original, non-standard and fresh. He became really good at
“cheating” and adapting to any given situation, and in the cre-
ative madness this became super handy
Ringo had the perfect percussion for every song created, every
rehearse session and every show performed, you could always
count on his fine drumming. He had immeasurable patience,
take, after take... after take,
The other essential role he ever played, was keeping the Bea-
ties together. He was keeping everybody’s feet in the ground
and their egos tamed. It is said that f it was not for him, the
Beatles would have lasted together less than 3 years,
The shadow of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison for sure ob-
scured the figure of an unparalleled prodigy. Forget the phrase
“Ringo isn’t the best drummer in the world... He isn’t even
the best drummer in the Beatles..." John Lennon never said
it, it was a British comedian in 1983, if you ever hear anyone
speaking bad about Ringo, they haver no idea what they are
talking about, Ringo was a genius!

No one has made a drum set with such a visual impact. The
iconic Beatles drum set has one of the most minimal drum ar-
rangements and for a specific reason: When in Liverpool, Ringo
had to carry his drum set walking to their concerts, moving all
he could for 300 meters, while the rest of the gear remained on
the street still under his sight, and then running back to get the
rest, repeatedly until he reached the venue and then back home.
Sometimes he wouldn’t bring the stool and play sitting in some
improvised object for the same reason. We didn’t even got start-
ed with Ringo.

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Make it a masterpiece
In 1964, when they released Beatles for Sale, their fourth al-
bum, they were exhausted, musically and physically speaking,
as was evident on their faces in the album picture. In fact, they
used more cover songs than they usually did, because they
were not satisfied with the quality of their own compositions.
The next album, Help! concluded a period of four albums in 2
years; this last album was as chaotic as Beatles for Sale, an
.
amazing but confusing record This album was in fact where
the band’s first interest in sound and arrangement really start-
ed to flower. A song initially poorly accepted by fans, "Yester-
day,” was musically arranged by George Martin with a string
quartet. He thought that the more traditional sound of strings
allowed a cleaner appreciation of their talent as composers
by listeners who were otherwise allergic to the noise of drums
and electric guitars, thus annihilating the idea of pop music
being the poor brother of the more clever classical music.
This was a goodbye to their "yeah-yeah” era.
M
Tired of live concerts and recording albums with tons of pres-
sure, both The Beatles and George Martin thought of taking
things to the next level.
Back in those days, a professional recording session for artists
was actually called the "recording day.” In the studio, two or
three engineers dressed like doctors worked with the band for
3 hours in the morning, took a lunch break, worked 3 hours in
the afternoon, and that was it. What they did next changed the
course of music forever.
For the recording of their next album, Rubber Soul, George
Martin booked the Abbey Road studios for an entire month.
The Beatles shouldn’t be rushed while recording. This marked
the end of conventional studio rules. The recording studio sud-
denly became a creative laboratory, a real revolution, because
they were not just making records but reinventing how to cre-
ate music and treating a record album like the work of art it
was, from the cover to each and every sound.
This made them identify more with the producer, better un-
derstand the music engineers and all the people involved, and
familiarize themselves with all the technical machinery. This un-
wonted approach brought the band and their creations to the
"masterpiece” level. The reasoning behind this was that it takes
time to do anything that is worthwhile.
Rubber Soul was the album that transformed the idea of pop
music into popular art, an album that contained revolutionary
sounds, lyrics, instruments, and impeccable production. They
were now writing songs as artists, not as a performers.
This album was a slap in the face to all the critics saying that
The Beatles were done, and another slap to the groups rising
in those years. This was the album that reestablished their mu-
sical superiority.
And as any slap in the face, it made many people wake up —
especially the music industry and the contemporary bands.
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From the album Help! to Revolver it was probably the first time
a record was treated as a work of art and not as a record only.
That endeavor required extreme attention to every detail, but
the game changer was spending a full month in the recording
studio without being rushed.

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Harmonies
You may like them or not, but when you hear a song by The
Beatles, you know is them. This distinctiveness is due to their
vocal harmonies.
A voice harmony is when two or more voices blend while sing-
ing different notes. The Beatles had rich, complex voice har-
monies that to this day still baffle music experts.
They excelled in this, because they became extremely good
in conventional harmonies, and subsequently, together with
George Martin, they worked in their signature harmonies.
On another hand, three of the best voices on the planet came
together in one band.
It is not that they were qualified as "best voices” because the
individual voices were so, but because of the way they har-
monized. It was in fact the vocals that drew the attention of
George Martin in the early days and led to their signing with
EMI for their first serious recording contract.
Lennon, despite his nasally voice, had an incredibly versatile
way of singing, able to produce a delicate mellow voice, an
ear-piercing rock sound, an amazing falsetto, and gut-wrench-
ing screams that reached high tones that many times disguised
his vocal range wider than it really was.
16
McCartney on the other hand had an incredible vocal range
that allowed him to sing comfortably, with the texture of his
voice sounding perfect. At the height of his singing ability, he
had a range of five octaves.
Harrison’s voice was rather distinctive; he could imbue a lot of
.
emotion and color into songs and lyrics It is said that his voice
was as discrete and versatile as Lennon's, but some experts
described it as "spine-chilling.”
When a new Beatles song first reached George Martin he
would give three different vocal arrangements to them. So
when they rehearsed the new song all together for the first
time, the harmonies were surprising even for themselves.
Singing harmonies is extremely difficult; it is easy to stray
into the other singers’ lines as some melodies usually sound
more appealing. But they pulled this prodigy out of discipline;
they were repeatedly heard saying, “Yeah, we can do this.”
That was a pattern they followed in many of the things they
conceived.
The Beatles revolutionized music by creating things in the stu-
dio; they inspired innumerable bands to create complex and
distinctive harmonies. For The Beatles it was one of their most
important trademarks present in their most famous songs.