 Harrison wrote the song in early 1966 while the Beatles were enjoying an unusually long period free of professional commitments , due to their inability to find a suitable film project . He used the available time to further explore his interest in Indian classical music and the sitar , which , journalist Maureen Cleave noted in a contemporary article , " has given new meaning to [ his ] life " . Harrison 's activities included receiving sitar tuition from an Indian musician at the Asian Music Circle ( AMC ) in north London , where he also attended music recitals , and seeing Indian sitarist Ravi Shankar perform at the Royal Festival Hall . As reflected in " Love You To " , Harrison continued to immerse himself in recordings by Shankar , who , when the pair met at the AMC 's headquarters in June 1966 , would agree to take Harrison as his student . 
