6 replies to this topic

[erikgitaar]

I was listening to "leap your bar" for the curtains album, which is done with a piano.
I found out that it was a pretty simple because the melody of the piano is almost exactly the same as the singing, but when I listened better I heard that there are also low bass notes from the piano.
I was wondering how do you write a song like that with those bass notes to fit the song so good? Are they just the same as the high notes but just an octave lower? or from the same chord or something as the high notes?

And is it true that he high notes part is pretty simple because he just made the song in a certain key. and chose notes from the scale belonging to that key to make his singing melody, and just use those same notes as the high "treble" notes on his piano?

I think that this is pretty weird question:P and maybe I'm totally wrong but it has been stuck in my mind after I listened the song

so thanks in advance

[sawtdk]

erikgitaar, on Aug 11 2008, 11:13 AM, said:

I was listening to "leap your bar" for the curtains album, which is done with a piano.
I found out that it was a pretty simple because the melody of the piano is almost exactly the same as the singing, but when I listened better I heard that there are also low bass notes from the piano.
I was wondering how do you write a song like that with those bass notes to fit the song so good? Are they just the same as the high notes but just an octave lower? or from the same chord or something as the high notes?

And is it true that he high notes part is pretty simple because he just made the song in a certain key. and chose notes from the scale belonging to that key to make his singing melody, and just use those same notes as the high "treble" notes on his piano?

I think that this is pretty weird question:P and maybe I'm totally wrong but it has been stuck in my mind after I listened the song

so thanks in advance

In the first part of the song the higher notes play like the singing, and John has come up with a different bass riff, but they are still in the same key/chord of course.
The next part is a melody in the right hand and basic bass notes in the left hand. And so on.

And yeah, it's simple to just take a random chord progression and come up with a melody then. But the hard part is to come up with something, a simple and beautiful melody and then perform it with feeling like John does.

[erikgitaar]

So the reason those bass notes fit so well with the song is just because they are in the same key? Does that mean he could have done an entirely different bass riff behind it that would still sound as good?

And if he created a different melody for the high notes on the piano (other than exactly the same as the singing) but still keep the notes in the same key. It would still match with the singing part? and also still sound ok?

Sorry for the difficult questions:P I'm just curious


thanks for your reply, I totally agree that John Frusciante is a great artist the way he performs it with so much emotion, he could take the most simplistic piece of music and make it sound wonderful

[sawtdk]

erikgitaar, on Aug 12 2008, 12:50 PM, said:

So the reason those bass notes fit so well with the song is just because they are in the same key? Does that mean he could have done an entirely different bass riff behind it that would still sound as good?

And if he created a different melody for the high notes on the piano (other than exactly the same as the singing) but still keep the notes in the same key. It would still match with the singing part? and also still sound ok?

Sorry for the difficult questions:P I'm just curious


thanks for your reply, I totally agree that John Frusciante is a great artist the way he performs it with so much emotion, he could take the most simplistic piece of music and make it sound wonderful

Lets say you have an A minor chord. All notes will not sound melodic in combination with an A minor. You basicly find a bass riff from the A minor scale. When you sing in the A minor for example, an Eb scale bass riff will not sound good!
Other bass riffs could maybe have sounded good too, but then it would be another song. And yes, he could create a different high note riff than the singing and he could make it so it would sound musical, sure!

You could in fact also change the chords and still sing the same melody line, but that would make it a very different song.

[Murphy]

Generally, in the types of music we listen to, chord progressions consist of triads, which means chords that are made up of three notes from the scale that the song uses.
To help picture this, you can picture the major scale in solfège: Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti

Those are the 7 notes that a song usually adheres to using for chords and melody if it is using the major scale (many songs do).
The three notes of the chord are usually a third apart (tertian), so in these examples the bold letters make up a chord:
I chord: Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti
iii chord: Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti

To answer your question, any of the three notes that make up a chord will sound best when played over that chord. If the chord is made up of Do, Mi, and Sol, Do is the root note, and that will sound very good as a bass note. If Mi or Sol are made the bass note, it is called a chord inversion. In some articles with John after Stadium was recorded he talks about how he wanted to use more inversions on the album, which means that the lowest note played on his guitar or Flea's bass would be one of the notes of the chord other than the root note.
If you played any of the other notes in the scale (the ones not used in the triad), it would make the chord more exotic, such as a seventh chord or a sixth chord.

I hope that helps. I love music theory any I know a little but I want to learn more. I have been trying to analyze John's songs theoretically lately and maybe one day I will post them. If you want to know anything else I can try to help.

[erikgitaar]

OK guys! thanks a bunch for your reply's:D I get it now

[openparachute]

if you have a good understanding of music, you'd be surprised how creative you can be with a piano. especially if you don't know any of the techniques or chords. im not preaching ignorance, but i love playing the piano because i don't know how to play it. i play it like i play guitar...(yes...with a pick)