Written by:  

  Jeff Fiorentino, & The "Pali high" guitar heroes

             Performed by: 

  Jeff Fiorentino, Mike, Jessica, & Mick the Mixer

Transcribed by: 

  Erica R

             Engineered by: 

  Mick the mixer

Please load the Video Lesson

The text, tabs, and lesson below will do you no good at all without the video.  The whole point of this lesson is to demonstrate a concept.



_____________________________________________________________________________________

Songwriting Part 3 - Original concepts for the track

These little simple riffing lines would normally be cast off by many players as horrible or worthless.  In reality most complex pieces begin with a simple concept or idea.  This ties in with the Vision part 1 songwriting lesson nicely.

Something that my teacher always said to me and that others have repeated countless times over the years so I know it was good advice is that "there are no bad ideas in songwriting", or bad "songwriters".  Bad songwriter doesn't mean a dummy or a talent-less hack.  I think anyone can write songs.  I just feel that a lot of players forget how important vocal melody is, and how important it is to not get ahead of yourself.  Work from the ground floor up...

Fact is a good songwriter can make just about anything into a song, or at least make it work.  Granted they're not always hits, but who cares, it's supposed to be fun.  Part of songwriting is the challenge of it.  Most of you are not professional players.  Most of you are at home working on stuff for yourself, or maybe for a band you're in with the hopes of it going somewhere.  Songwriting is a learning process.  It's something that you get better at over time.  Regardless of what level you're on you can always get better.  The only way to get better at something is to challenge yourself.  If all you ever do is the same thing over and over again you'll never grow.  So if you're a Blues player by nature that works with 1,4, 5 chord patterns, try writing a Jazzy song with more chords.  Or if you're a metal or rock player used to working with basic power chord changes try riffing those chords out, or try what I've done here with our lesson, which is to take the stupidest sounding generic 80's hair band riff that I could come up with, and turn it into a Queensryche inspired opus.

We'll talk more about this on the video lesson.  But I do like to put some text here on the page for the 10 people in the world still stuck on dial up that can't get our videos.  Remember, always challenge yourself.  And NEVER, EVER, EVER, FREAKIN' EVER throw away any riff or melody line as bad.  Even an out of key piece of crap can be turned into something.  Maybe not right away, but down the road you may wish you remembered it. .....  Jeff Fiorentino  


See tabs below, and then see video lesson for the "LESSON" here!!  Since that's what this is all about.




Concept #1:  Very simple basic Rock power chord riff, with a George Lynch meets the Scorpions kind of mid range with thick chorus guitar tone.   see video



          Em7 
E_____________________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________________
G_____________________________________________________________
D_____________________________________________________________
A___7_______7____5_______5____3_______3____2_______2__________
E_____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0________

                                                                            F#m            C        B

E_______________________________________________________
B_______________________________________________________
G_______________________________________________________
D_______________________________________________________
A___7_______7____5_______5__________3~__2~~~___________
E_____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0___2~_______________________




 

Concept #2:  The "Basic" kinda crappy vocal melody line that would go over concept #1's rock riffing.  Vocals lines are everything when writing music.  Whether you want to be Joe Satriani or in a band with a vocalist, you need/must understand melody and how scales and modes can not only dictate solos or vibe, but also what the vocalist will be doing.  This can also help you with choosing chord changes for your bridge, chorus and other song sections too.  see video


Audio sample of this melody - Click here



          Em7                                                                                    F#m  C  B
E____________________________________________________
B____________________________________________________
G____________________________________________________
D___9~___7~___2~___4~~______9~___7~___8~__9~~~____
A____________________________________________________
E____________________________________________________





           E                                                                                       F#m  C  B

E____________________________________________________
B____________________________________________________
G____________________________________________________
D___9~___4~___2~___4~~______9~___7~___8~__9~~~____
A____________________________________________________
E____________________________________________________


Finished song tab transcription is below.  See video for the real lesson here.  There is a lot going on with this track from mixing, to sound, to harmonizing etc.  There's more than meets the ear so to speak. 



_______________________________________________________________________________________
 

This Sucks
The big fat song track

TAB transcription
 

** To load the song track MP3 simply click to music menu link at the top of this page.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________


Intro - 3/4 Time
 

Guitar 1 = Black tab and is the main rhythm part throughout this song

Guitar 2 = Blue tab and is the main lead part throughout this song

Guitar 3 = Green tab and is the secondary lead part throughout this song



Guitar 1


      F#5 F#dim   C5 Cdim                     F#5 F#dim     C5 Cdim         Eb dim     B5      Eb
E_____________________________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________________________
G_____________________________________________________________________
D_________5_4________________5_4____7_________________________________
A___4_3___3_3_________4_3____3_3____6____9___6~~~__>into main theme riffing__
E___2_2_______________2_2________________7____________________________

Guitar 2:  Plays at the same time as the guitar 1 riffing above.

 

E___________________________________________________________________________
B___________________________________________________________________________
G__________________________________________________8~~~__>into main theme riffing__
D___________________________________________________________________________
A________3^1/2>release_3~~~_________3^1/2>release_3~~~_____________________________
E____2~_____________________2~______________________________________________

Main Theme riffing

This consists of our concepts from the lesson part of this page.  This is just the basic vocal melody line riffed out using the scale of the key, and various mode adjustments based on the chords in play..  See video for more lesson
 

Guitar 1



          Em7

E_____________________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________________
G_____________________________________________________________
D_____________________________________________________________
A___7_______7____5_______5____3_______3____2_______2__________
E_____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0________

                                                                            F#m          C5   B5

E__________________________________________________
B__________________________________________________
G__________________________________________________
D___________________________________5__4___________
A___7_______7____5_______5__________3__2___________
E_____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0___2~__________________

         Em7

E_____________________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________________
G_____________________________________________________________
D_____________________________________________________________
A___7_______7____5_______5____3_______3____2_______2__________
E_____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0________
 

F#m          C5   B5

E__________________________________________________
B__________________________________________________
G__________________________________________________
D___________________________________5__4___________
A___7_______7____5_______5__________3__2___________
E_____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0___2~__________________

Guitar 2:  Primary lead

 

E_____________________________________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________________________________
G______11_______7___4~---2___________________11__9-7___________________________
D__9~______7~______________2~----4~______9~_________9-7____________5__________
A_______________________________________________________9-7__1~~_____2~~_____
E_____________________________________________________________________________

---- means to slide down -- This is a slick little sliding scale down type thing...

 

E______________________________________________________________________________________
B__________10~_________________________________________________________________________
G______11______________7_4~~---2__________________11-9---7_______________________________
D__9~___________7_9_10___________2~----4~_____9~_________9-7---5_________________5_______
A_______________________________________________________________7-5---3~---1~~_____2~~__
E______________________________________________________________________________________

Guitar 3:  Secondary Harmonized lead...  I didn't play this part, I simply made some suggestions to the person that did.  This guitar 3 part, and the later guitar 4 part in our outro was done by our resident "Pali high" guitar hero Mike Richards.

For those not from Los Angeles, "Pali High" is "Pacific Palisades High school".  Mike and his virtuoso sister Jessica are my neighbor's kids here in town and they do a lot behind the scenes over here, they're kind of our interns / errand people.  By the way just for reference Mike and Jess also played on our "Sun, Sand, and Surf music" CD as well and are credited as such.


** This is a great and clever way to harmonize leads that Mike came up with.  I think he did a good job of taking my suggestion of mixing things up and running with it. 

I'll make the same suggestion to all of you.  It's always more interesting to mix things up when harmonizing.  Rarely is anything ever all 3rds or all root notes etc.  Nor do octaves stay the same ever.  Sometimes it's an "A" on the 10th fret 2nd string, and sometimes it's an "A" on the 7th fret 4th string.  Always mix things up to create both interesting elements to your song, and drama.  Nothing makes drama like harmonized leads.  Just ask Queen about that, I'm sure Brian May would back me up on that statement without a doubt. 

The leads below are a mixture of the 3rds, roots, and 5ths mostly.  So the roots, 3rds and 5ths of the notes that guitar 2 is doing.  Obviously in key, so that means that some of the 3rds are minor 3rds etc.  See video for added tips, the tabs for this guitar 3 part are below.  Try to spot how they relate to the notes that guitar 2 is doing.


 

E__________________________________________________________________________________
B__________________________________________________________________________________
G_______14___________7~---5________________14__12-11____14________________4_________
D__12~______7~__4___________5---7~____12~___________12______________________4~~___
A__________________________________________________________12---10___1~_____________
E__________________________________________________________________________________

E____________________________________________________________________________
B____________________________________________________________________________
G__________________________________14-12---11__________________________________
D___** guitar 1 does first half alone_____12~____________12-10---9________________4~~_____
A____________________________________________________10-9---7__1~__2__________
E____________________________________________________________________________

Verse riffing

As stated on the video there were some mixing things done to this.  It sounds the way it does and was created the way it was for a specific reason.  That reason is mostly to do with vocals..   See video
 

Guitar 1



         E5        Em7                                                                            C5                          B5               G        

E____________________________________________________________________
B__________8-7___7______________8~~__________________________________
G___9_________9____9-7_7~~___7______7____5___5-4~~___4_______________
D___9__9x________________________________5___________ 4___4___________
A___7__7x________________________________3___________ 2___2__2~_______
E_______________________________________________________________3~~__

          E5        Em7                                                                      C5                                          F#dim    

E_________________________________________________________________________________
B___________8~________8~~____8~~__________5______________________________________
G___9__________9_7~_______9_______9____5_____3____________________________________
D___9__________________________________5___________4______________________________
A___7__7x______________________________3_________5___5_3__________3^1/2>release_3~~~ _
E_________________________________________________________2~~__2__________________

 

                                                                     B5       G

E____________________________________________
B____________________________________________
G___________________________4________________
D___________________________4________________
A_________3^1/2>release_3~~~___ 2___2____________
E__2~__2__________________________3~_________

          E5        Em7                                                                       C5                                            B5               G        

E____________________________________________________________________________
B___________8~________8~~____8~~____________________________________________
G___9__________9_7~_______9_______9____5_____5-4___4_______4_________________
D___9__________________________________5__5______5___5-4___ 4_________________
A___7__7x______________________________3__3________________2___2__2~a.h_______
E_______________________________________________________________________3~___

          E5        Em7                                                      C5                                            F#dim        

E___________________________________________________________________________
B__________8~~________8~_8~_________5______________________________________
G___9____7______9_7~________9___ 5______3___________________________________
D___9____________________________5___________4______________________________
A___7____________________________3_________5___5_3__________3^1/2>release_3~~~ _
E___________________________________________________2~~__2__________________

 

                                                                     B5            Eb      

E____________________________________________
B____________________________________________
G___________________________4_____8~~~ *guitar 2_
D___________________________4________________
A_________3^1/2>release_3~~~___ 2_____6~~~______
E__2~__2_____________________________________

Outro Main Theme Riffing version 2

This time I've done the main theme riffing, but included our stupid little scale concept as part of the riffing.

What this proves is that a song is the sum of its parts.  Every little thing means something.  This is part of what I like about songwriting.  I like the control.  I like to be able to decide how my song is going to go.  That's a lot of power actually.  Rarely in life to we have that kind of god like control.  Only artists have it really.  Like painters for example deciding how their landscape will look etc.. 

So even though I'm just doing simple vocal melody scales around the Main rock riff of guitar 1.  It has a much bigger effect than that because of how it's mixed, and the different colors of sound that the added guitar 4 part's harmonized 3rds and root notes etc bring to the picture...  See video for more detail and tabs below too.
 

Guitar 1:  Same as before but with power chord F# part for more juice this time.



E_____________________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________________
G_____________________________________________________________
D_____________________________________________________________
A___7_______7____5_______5____3_______3____2_______2__________
E_____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0________

E__________________________________________________
B__________________________________________________
G__________________________________________________
D___________________________________5__4___________
A___7_______7____5_______5_____4____3__2___________
E_____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0___2___________________

E_____________________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________________
G_____________________________________________________________
D_____________________________________________________________
A___7_______7____5_______5____3_______3____2_______2__________
E_____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0________

E__________________________________________________
B__________________________________________________
G__________________________________________________
D___________________________________5__4___________
A___7_______7____5_______5_____4____3__2___________
E_____0_0_0___0____0_0_0___0___2___________________

Guitar 2:  Primary lead

 

E_____________________________________________________________________________
B_____________________________________________________________________________
G______11_______7___4~---2___________________11__9-7___________________________
D__9~______7~______________2~----4~______9~_________9-7____________5__________
A_______________________________________________________9-7__1~~_____2~~_____
E_____________________________________________________________________________

E_______________________________________________________________________________
B_______________________________________________________________________________
G______11_______________7_4~~---2__________________________________ 5__4_________
D__9~_____7~____7_9_10____________2~----4~_____9~__________________5__4_________
A__________________________________________________9-7__5_2~~___4__3__2_________
E_______________________________________________________________ 2_______________

Guitar 3:  Doing our concept #2 from earlier vocal melody

E____________________________________________________
B____________________________________________________
G____________________________________________________
D___9~___7~___2~___4~~______9~___7~___8~__9~~~____
A____________________________________________________
E____________________________________________________



 

E____________________________________________________
B____________________________________________________
G____________________________________________________
D___9~___4~___2~___4~~______9~___7~___8~__9~~~____
A____________________________________________________
E____________________________________________________

Guitar 4:  Harmonizing a similar line to guitar 2 but utilizing the 3rds and roots in some cases.  Try to spot how the pitches below relate to the pitches above in Blue.


 

E_______________________________________________________
B_______________________________________________________
G_______________________________________________________
D______________________________________________10_9~~__
A___10~___9~___7~___5~~______10~___9~___9~~__________
E_______________________________________________________



 

E__________________________________________________________
B__________________________________________________________
G__________________________________________________________
D__________________________________________________________
A___10~___9~___7~___5~~______10~___9~________3_2~~______
E_________________________________________2~~_____________

End