Can Paul McCartney read music

Answer 1

"None of us can read music. None of us can write it." - John Lennon, 1980

The Beatles used "head arrangements"; they would work out beforehand what they wanted to play on recordings, with help from producer/arranger George Martin. When they needed sidemen (like Alan Civil on "For No One", and David Mason on "Penny Lane"), Martin would score parts for them.

Answer 2

In a couple of 2009 interviews, including on A&E's Private Sessions, Lionel Richie reflected on when he and Michael Jackson wrote "We Are the World" together. He said that neither of them could read music, and that Michael didn't play an instrument, and the method that they were both accustomed to using was humming. I have also read that humming into a tape recorder is a common method that Lionel Richie has used to write songs.

Answer 3

"None of us can read music. None of us can write it." - John Lennon, 1980 McCartney did take music lessons, after the Beatles became famous, so he's probably had some exposure. He doesn't use it to compose songs, and he usually depended on someone else to score the melodies he came up with, like George Martin or his collaborator on the Liverpool Oratorio. (One of the musicians he worked with later said he got frustrated, when McCartney referred to a Major 7th chord as "the pretty one".)