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Loop by Jonny Greenwood
Loop
Capo:no capo
This is a fascinatingly strange bit of music. At first listen, it sounds
nightmarishly
unpredictable and chaotic. But there’s actually a formula to the madness.
As the title implies, the piece is built around a single looped phrase. To
play it,
you’ll need a loop pedal (or some other means of looping your playing, like
software).
Jonny uses an Akai Headrush E2, but any loop pedal will do the job. You’ll
also need
extraordinary powers of concentration.
First you record the loop, then you play over the top. As each additional
phrase is
shorter than the original loop, the entire piece phases, cycling out of sync
and creating
wild patterns.
As there is a logical pattern to the piece, it doesn’t require as much
memorisation as
it might appear. But the tricky part is the timing. You need to play BETWEEN
the notes
of the initial loop. This takes a lot of practice, and it’s easy to get thrown
off. I
suspect that Jonny “feels” the beat with the looped phrase on the off-beat,
which is
counter-intuitive, but that’s Radiohead for you. (See also: Videotape, Little
by
Little, The Butcher…)
So. First: the main loop. It’s an arpeggiated Ebm chord in 11/4, played
staccato:
E||---------------------------11-----------------------11---||
B||------------11-----------------------11------------------||
G||----------------------11-----------------------11--------||
D||-------13-----------------------13-----------------------||
A||-----------------13-----------------------13-------------||
E||--11-----------------------------------------------------||
This loops for the entire piece.
Once that’s looping, play an arpeggiated Dm chord in 10/4, making sure to play
each
note BETWEEN the notes of the original loop.
It follows exactly the same picking pattern as the main loop, but with the
final note
chopped off:
E||---------------------------10-----------------------||
B||------------10-----------------------10-------------||
G||----------------------10-----------------------10---||
D||-------12-----------------------12------------------||
A||-----------------12-----------------------12--------||
E||--10------------------------------------------------||(x4)
Play this four times. Now play the same pattern in Db - but this time let the
notes ring:
E||---------------------------9-----------------------||
B||------------9-----------------------9--------------||
G||----------------------9------------------------9---||
D||-------11-----------------------11-----------------||
A||-----------------11-----------------------11-------||
E||--9------------------------------------------------||(x4)
[Then C]
(staccato):
E||---------------------------8-----------------------||
B||------------8-----------------------8--------------||
G||----------------------9------------------------9---||
D||-------10-----------------------10-----------------||
A||-----------------10-----------------------10-------||
E||--8------------------------------------------------||(x4)
[Then B]
(let it ring):
E||---------------------------7---------------------||
B||------------7-----------------------7------------||
G||----------------------8----------------------8---||
D||-------9-----------------------9-----------------||
A||-----------------9-----------------------9-------||
E||--7----------------------------------------------||(x4)
[Now Bb]
This one is the exception, a simple strummed chord in good old 4/4:
E||--6--6--6--6--||
B||--6--6--6--6--||
G||--7--7--7--7--||
D||--8--8--8--8--||
A||--8--8--8--8--||
E||--6--6--6--6--|| (x4)
Finally, Ebm, back in staccato arpeggiated 10/4, as with the other overdubs:
E||---------------------------11-----------------------||
B||------------11-----------------------11-------------||
G||----------------------11-----------------------11---||
D||-------13-----------------------13------------------||
A||-----------------13-----------------------13--------||
E||--11------------------------------------------------||(x4)
Now we’re back to the start - but the notes have switched positions relative
to the
loop thanks to the irregular timing. Play Db, C, B and Bb again, just as
before.
Now for the ending. Keep the same picking pattern and 10/4 time signature
throughout.
[First Ebm]
(staccato):
E||---------------------------11-----------------------||
B||------------11-----------------------11-------------||
G||----------------------11-----------------------11---||
D||-------13-----------------------13------------------||
A||-----------------13-----------------------13--------||
E||--11------------------------------------------------||(x4)
Then E
(let it ring):
E||---------------------------12-----------------------||
B||------------12-----------------------12-------------||
G||----------------------13-----------------------13---||
D||-------14-----------------------14------------------||
A||-----------------14-----------------------14--------||
E||--12------------------------------------------------||(x4)
Then Ebm again
(let it ring):
E||---------------------------11-----------------------||
B||------------11-----------------------11-------------||
G||----------------------11-----------------------11---||
D||-------13-----------------------13------------------||
A||-----------------13-----------------------13--------||
E||--11------------------------------------------------||(x4)
Then E again
(let it ring):
E||---------------------------12-----------------------||
B||------------12-----------------------12-------------||
G||----------------------13-----------------------13---||
D||-------14-----------------------14------------------||
A||-----------------14-----------------------14--------||
E||--12------------------------------------------------||(x4)
Then Gb
(let it ring):
E||---------------------------14-----------------------||
B||------------14-----------------------14-------------||
G||----------------------15-----------------------15---||
D||-------16-----------------------16------------------||
A||-----------------16-----------------------16--------||
E||--14------------------------------------------------||(x4)
Finally, Ab
(let it ring):
E||---------------------------4---------------------||
B||------------4-----------------------4------------||
G||----------------------5----------------------5---||
D||-------6-----------------------6-----------------||
A||-----------------6-----------------------6-------||
E||--4----------------------------------------------||(x4)
To finish, stop the loop and end on Ab.
To recap, the full series is:
Initial loop: Ebm (arpeggiated, staccato, 11/4) x 4
Overdubs:
Dm (arpeggiated, staccato, 10/4) (x4)
Db (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4)
C (arpeggiated, staccato, 10/4) (x4)
B (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4) (x4)
Bb (strummed 4/4) (x4)
Ebm (arpeggiated, staccato, 10/4) (x4)
Dm (arpeggiated 10/4) (x4)
Db (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4)
C (arpeggiated, staccato, 10/4) (x4)
B (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4) (x4)
Bb (strummed 4/4) (x4)
Ebm (arpeggiated, staccato, 10/4) (x4)
E (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4) (x4)
Ebm (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4) (x4)
E (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4) (x4)
Gb (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4) (x4)
Ab (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4) (x4)
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