Jump to content


Please note: You can easily log in to MPN using your Facebook account!

Arpeggiated fills (Broken Chords)?


shniggens

Recommended Posts

Y'know, like in Joe Jackson's "Steppin' Out"?

 

"WEEEEEeeeeeeeeee . . . . "

 

***arpeggiated broken chord thingy***

 

"Are young but getting old before our tiiiiimmmee . . ."

 

Zappa used alot of them in his compositions as well. The intro to "Peaches En Rengalia" comes to mind. :wave:

Amateur Hack
Link to comment
Share on other sites



  • Replies 23
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Your post makes sense, Shniggens... but I can't recall the specific run well enough to say how it's played, and I can't seem to find my Joe Jackson CD's (I seem to recall loaning them to a bass player friend... never loan anything of value to a bass player... ;) ).

 

I'm sure someone that's more familiar with the tune will saunter in any time now and clear this up for you. If I find my discs before then, I'll take another listen and see what I can do to help. :thu:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmm... okay, I've found a cassette version of "Night Life", and I've listed to Steppin' Out... but I can't seem to hear what you're describing in the tune.

 

At the lyric you quoted, which occurs at around the 2:00 minute mark, there's no big sweeping arpeggio... just fairly straightforward broken chords.

 

Can you provide a time reference in the tune to what you're hearing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, in a purely semantic sense, it is an arpeggio (a series of chord/scale tones played in sequence, rather than simultaneously) ... but it's neither (to my ears anyway) classical or full. Are you referring to the original studio version, or perhaps there's a remake or a live version with a different piano part on it?

 

On the studio version, the part played varies from verse to verse, but generally it's an arpeggiated F# triad with the F# repeated an octave above (so F#, A#, C#, F# in the right hand) before playing the E and D chords on the 4th beat of the 2nd bar and 1st beat of the 3rd bar respectively.

 

The chord tones themselves are simply played in ascending order.

 

Again, I'm guessing we may be talking about different versions of this song... :confused:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe I'm reading too much into it. But it sure sounds like there is more to it than that.

 

It sounds more 'Moonlight Sonata 3rd Movement' to me. Instead of just running up the chord, it starts the run over and over at various notes of the chord.

 

I dunno.

Amateur Hack
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmmmm... we must definitely be listening to different versions of that tune, then... nothing remotely like that in the version I've got here.

 

Are you listening to the tune, or going by memory? Maybe it's a different Joe Jackson tune you're recalling?

 

Otherwise I'm stumped.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, just watched it. I'm making shit up. :D:o

 

I can even see his hands in the video, and he's basically just playing a rolled chord in the little break.

 

Well hell . . .

 

I just used Joe Jackson because that was one example (I thought) that everyone would be familiar with. I know of alot of Zappa tunes that would be a perfect example of what I'm after, but not everybody would be as familiar with them.

Amateur Hack
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, I'm glad we cleared that up. ;)

 

So, if you can provide specific (and... ahem... accurate ;) ) examples of Zappa tunes, we can move to those.

 

Of course, we can also just discuss the basic technique behind arpeggiating chords... but the key to that is, as with most things, practice. ;)

 

(Yeah, I know... what's the fun in that? ;) )

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK, here we go. I'll give you a few.

 

-The Evil Prince from You Can't Do That On Stage #4 - particularly the guitar solo****

 

-Intro to Peaches En Rengalia

 

-Let's Make The Water Turn Black Intro (this one is more straight forward)

 

I understand basic arpeggio theory and technique fine, but these examples sound like a little more than just regular arpeggios . . .

Amateur Hack
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shniggens, I heard Peaches en Regalia...do you mean the arpeggios the piano does during more or less the first 20 seconds?

If yes, then I don't know how to help you, but hey, at least I knew the song, we're getting somewhere haha.

It sounds nice though, but I can't hear anything too special about it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

haha, thanks schniggens. I like Hot Rats a lot and I hadn't listened to it for a while. I suggest you put Peaches en Regalia on "Transcribe!" or a program like that, really slow it down and figure what the piano is doing. I agree it has a classical ring to it.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...