| Some Notes on Playing Technique |
A brief note on playing the songs in the archive (aimed at the novice player) by Tony Peart
I feel that Bob's approach to playing and writing can be broken down into two distinct phases. The first, the fast, hardcore thrash that takes us from 'Land Speed Record' to much of 'Zen Arcade'. The second, the slower, more melodic phase that takes us right through to 'Warehouse' and beyond.
The early phase tends to centre on power chords of the same shape moved around the fretboard (really the only way to achieve the blisteringly fast pace that he set himself). See the example below from Punch Drunk (Everything Falls Apart):
C5 E5 B5 A5 B5 D#5 Bb5 G#5 e:-------------------------------|-----------------------------| B:-------------------------------|-----------------------------| G:---------9---------------------|-------8---------------------| D:-10-10---9---9---7---7---7---7-|-9-9---8---8---6---6---6---6-| A:-10-10---7---9---7---7---7---7-|-9-9---6---8---6---6---6---6-| E:-8--8--------7---5---5---5---5-|-7-7-------6---4---4---4---4-| Take a look around this bar take a look around this place
You can see from this that although seven different chords are used, only one shape is used to achieve them.
That being said he did tend to throw in a few chord inversions during this period (a chord where the root note is not the first struck).
Take the example of this E chord; X2245X or, if you move it up to the fifth fret G; X5578X and you should see what I mean. These chord shapes tend to be used so that he can stay in roughly the same area of the fingerboard (one of his characteristics). This can be seen in the verse chords of
Blah, Blah, Blah (Everything Falls Apart). The chords run as follows:A5 577XXX, C#5 X466XX, D5 X577XX and G5 XX578X.
The point to note is the change from D5 to G5. All Bob does is slide a finger up to fret the 'B' string at the eighth fret - much quicker than using an 'F' shape at the third fret.
I should note here that your typical 'Bob' power chord is fingered with your index finger holding down the lowest note and your third and fourth(pinky/little) holding the other two strings. Bob tends to strum across all six strings most of the time, so in the case of a chord like the C#5 (X466XX) above, you would mute the low 'E' string with your thumb wrapped over the neck (another characteristic) and the two high strings with the underside of your little finger.
While talking about using the thumb for muting strings, it should also be noted that he uses his thumb a lot for fretting notes on both the 'E' and 'A' strings. This is clearly demonstrated in the verse for
Chartered Trips (Zen Arcade):Verse Riff (play bass notes with thumb)
F# G# B C# e:----------------------------------------------------0-0---------------------| B:---------------------------------0---0---0---0------0-0--4--0-0----0-0------| G:---------------------------------4---4---4---4-sl-6---------4-4----4-4------| D:-4---4---4---4-6---6---6---6-6---4---4---4---4-sl-6---------6-6----6-6------| A:-4---4---4---4-6---6---6---6-6---2---2---2---2-sl-4-------------------------| E:-2---2---2---2-4---4---4---4-4----------------------------------------------|
Using his thumb allows him to employ his index finger to play the little riff on the C# chord. In fact, when playing these songs take note that many of the little fills are built on fretted chords (always given above the tab) and don't require any repositioning on the fret board. See the intro to
Turn On The News (Zen Arcade) below:F# A E5 E/F# E5 e:(2)------4---2--------------------| B:(2)--2-----------2----------------| G:-3---------------2----------------| Played D:-4---------------2---2---2----2---| twice A:-----------------0---2---2----2---| E:-2-------------------0---2----0---|
Here the melody line on the F# is played with your little finger while still holding the F# chord (using your thumb for the low note). The rest of this bar is played with your index finger and thumb (for the low F#).
As noted above the big change in Bob's approach, seems to have come between 'Zen' and 'New Day Rising'. From here on drone effects (common notes shared by different chords) really come to the fore. The most common drone he uses (to this day) is to clamp his little finger (pinky) over the high E and B strings at the third fret and then employ fairly regular open chord fingerings (thumb for low strings).
Here is a list in no particular order of the normal chords and what they become in Bob's hands:
|
|
C |
X32010 |
Csus2 |
X32033 |
|
|
A |
X02220 |
A7sus4 |
X02233 |
|
|
F |
133211 |
Fsus2 |
13X033 |
|
|
G |
320003 |
G |
320033 |
|
|
D |
XX0232 |
Dsus4 |
XX0233 |
|
|
Em7 |
022030 |
Em7 |
022033 |
It often seems as if Bob's little finger is permanently glued to this spot. For example the whole of
I Apologize (New Day Rising) is played in this way. See the intro below:G D Csus2 D e:-----3-3-------------3---3---------------| B:-----3-3---3---3-3---3---3-3---3---3-3---| G:-0---0-0---2---2-2---0---0-0---2---2-2---| D:-0---0-0---0---0-0---2-----0---0---0-0---| A:-2---------0---------3---2-0-------------| E:-3---------------------------------------|
In many instances a full Dsus4 XX0233 wouldn't sound correct, so here the pressure is taken off the high E string muting it and producing a 'D' XX023X.
The other drone technique Bob tends to use is a series of chords played against the open 'B' and 'E' string (eg.
No Reservations). The chords are as follows:|
|
C#m |
X24200 |
Bsus4 |
X24400 |
|
|
Asus2 |
X02400 |
E(no 3rd) |
4X2400 |
|
|
E |
022400 |
||
Apart from the the drone technique outlined above, other favoured chords/positions etc. would include the following:
|
|
Fsus2 |
133011 |
instead of a standard 'F'(eg. Too Far Down). |
|
|
G |
355033 |
often in combination with the above. |
|
|
Asus2 |
X02200 |
(one of his favourites, it crops up a lot in 'Zen'). |
|
|
G/B |
X20033 |
(G chord with a 'B' bass note). |
|
|
E |
079900 |
(used heavily during Reoccurring Dreams). |
I'll end this piece with a brief note on Bob's characteristic fills (the 'fiddly bits'), octave runs and also his solos. Here are two examples:
Here is the little riff used at the end of each verse in
Don't Want To Know if You Are Lonely (Candy Apple Grey);C G e:-0--0--------------------------| B:-5--3--0-----0--(0)-(0)--------| G:-------4--2--4-b-5-r-4---------| D:-------------------------------| A:-------------------------------| E:------------------------3--3-2-|
And here is the solo intro from
Eight Miles High;e:-0--0--0--0---0---0--0---0--0--0--0---0--0---0--0-------------------| B:-15-15-15-15--12--8--10--10-10-10-10--8--15--12-8--0--0---0-0-0-0---| G:------------------0-------------------0------------12-11--7/9-7-4---| D:--------------------------------------------------------------------| A:--------------------------------------------------------------------| E:--------------------------------------------------------------------|
Notice how in both instances he employs double stops (two strings played together) to 'thicken up' his sound. In Bob's case this often involves playing a fretted melody line on one string, against the open string adjacent to it (as above).
The octave runs (where only two notes an octave apart are played) crop up in most of the instrumentals eg.'Reoccuuring Dreams',
The Wit And The Wisdom and also in the odd solo, as in the example below from 'The Girl who Lives on Heaven Hill' (New Day Rising):Em C Em C e:-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------| B:-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------| G:-9-9-11---12-11-9------11-12-12----5-|-9-9-11---12-11-9------11-12-12----5-| D:-------------------------------------|-------------------------------------| A:-7-7-9----10-9--7------9--10-10----3-|-7-7-9----10-9--7------9--10-10----3-| E:-0-0------------0--------------------|-0-0------------0--------------------|
These runs are played by thrashing away at all the strings, muting the ones that don't sound.
If you follow the advice above you shouldn't go far wrong with the tab. What at first seem like tricky 'hammers-on', or 'pull-offs' become easy with practice, as does the muting of strings you don't want to sound. Just remember that apart from the early songs, Bob doesn't fly around the fretboard all that much.
If you get really stuck, or have any useful comments, please do get in touch. Likewise, if anyone can offer any user friendly observations of Bob's soloing technique, please do contact me (I can tab them but know nothing of the theory!)
Have fun,