The Quarrymen (also written as "
the Quarry Men") are a British
skiffle/
rock and roll group, formed by
John Lennon in Liverpool in 1956, which eventually evolved into
the Beatles in 1960. Originally consisting of Lennon and several schoolfriends, the Quarrymen took their name from a line in the school song of
Quarry Bank High School, which they attended. Lennon's mother,
Julia Lennon, taught her son to play the
banjo and then showed Lennon and
Eric Griffiths how to tune their guitars in a similar way to the banjo, and taught them simple chords and songs.