Inside a song, Part V:
Don't Keep Me Waiting
Get an inside look at the song and download notations.
Inside a song
Part IV: Dreamworld
"Hi everyone!
Here’s another song from ‘Tides’ that has been requested: Dreamworld.
Again, some background: this is one of the many Leverage songs that have got started ‘accidentally’ while just toying with a keyboard. That is still heard in the intro (bars 1 – 8).
The main riff is based on a scale that I really like, the natural minor with a raised 4th, that some call the Hungarian minor mode. We tried to keep it almost muted in the beginning and have it open a bit on the second round, also adding some pinch harmonic to one of the notes (bars 13 – 17).
The verse is in G minor, and is very simple to play.
The chorus changes to D minor first before coming back to G minor, Lampinen stays in a pedal tone with his bass the first time around before joining the chord changes, that always sounds good.
Ok, so after the second chorus the song goes into the ‘breakdown’(bars 33 – 37), the higher voice is the lead guitar’s part, we slow down with the last beats before hitting the long C-minor.
The first part of the solo is a slow melody in C-minor with some extra color in the chords (bars 39 – 54). I wrote the section as if it still were in the original tempo, that way the notation should be easier to follow than it would be if written in half time. I wanted to keep it al on the same string to have a consistent sound and to be able to tie the notes together with sliding. The only hard part here is that the thing is so slow and ‘alone’ that if you screw up it will be heard.
The breaks (55 – 66) bring the song back to the uptempo, I ried to make the guitar squeal a bit at the repeated bends.
The rest of the solo follows the chords of the verse,. I wanted to start with a theme-like thing and came up with the sequenced 8th thing (bars 63 – 67) before headin upstairs for some regular pantatonic licks.
From bar 74 on I tried to put in some extra noteswith the diminished scale and the C-minor arpeggio before ending the solo with some harmonized lines, the one written here is the one I usually play live.
So, that’s pretty much all there is to play ‘Dreamworld’, tune down half a step, play along with the album and, hopefully, have some fun!"
See you,
TH
