Overview
John Lennon played various of guitars with the Beatles and during his solo career, including the Rickenbacker (four variants thereof), Epiphone Casino, and various models of Gibson and Fender guitars.
His other instrument of choice was the piano, on which he also composed many songs. For instance, Lennon's jamming on a piano together with Paul McCartney led to creation of "I Want to Hold Your Hand" in 1963.
| “ | We wrote a lot of stuff together, one on one, eyeball to eyeball. Like in 'I Want to Hold Your Hand,' I remember when we got the chord that made the song. We were in Jane Asher's house, downstairs in the cellar playing on the piano at the same time. And we had, 'Oh you-u-u/ got that something...' And Paul hits this chord and I turn to him and say, 'That's it!' I said, 'Do that again!' In those days, we really used to absolutely write like that—both playing into each other's noses. | ” |
But Lennon's musicianship went far beyond guitar and piano. Julia Lennon was John's estranged mother and her banjo was the first instrument that John Lennon learned to play before he switched to guitar: 'sitting there with endless patience until I managed to work out all the chords'.
It was Julia who turned John onto rock ’n’ roll and actively encouraged him to pursue his musical ambitions: 'And to think it was my own Mother that was turning me on to it all'.
After Julia's untimely death in 1958 the instrument was never seen again and its whereabouts remains a mystery. It could be posited that without Julia’s banjo there wouldn’t have been a Beatles and, without them, everything we know today would be different. Lennon also played keyboards besides piano (electric piano, Hammond organ, harmonium, Mellotron, harpsichord), harmonica, six-string bass guitar (either he or George Harrison, when McCartney was playing piano or guitar), and some percussion (in the studio).
Read more about this topic: John Lennon's Musical Instruments