Help a guy out...with a transcription!

[lenron]

Hey all:

I need to be able to play "Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With" by King Crimson in....4 days. Tomorrow after work I will take my first crack at it, but I was wondering if any of you musician types out there either A.) already knew it or B.) would take a crack at it with me, post what you figure out, then we can compare notes. Anyone?

I've yet to start trying to play it, but due to incessant blasting of "Power To Believe" I have all the timing down. In my head. Which is a dangerous place to be. But I digress.

To my non-gifted ear, it sounds like some wicked intervals are happening in some those riffs, particularly the pre-chorus and chorus. Yowza.

Anyone got a riff or two tabbed that I can compare mine to?

NINO

[moses]

Not that I have either part tabbed out, but are you trying to figure out Fripp's part or Belew's part? It's not like they're playing in unison the whole song.

Hmm then again, I'm not sure who's playing which part. How about... the guitar on the left or the one on the right? I just always guessed the left was Belew and the right was Fripp (due to stage setup), but maybe I'm wrong.

I seem to remember descending half-steps at the beginning of the verse riff, but each time the end of the riff is different.

[lenron]

Well, so far I have determined that, as expected, what sounds typical in this song is in fact unique as hell.

The pre-chorus part tricks you into feeling that it is the same riff over and over again when actually, as you said, it ends different each time. Pretty rad.

For the record, I dont think this tune was played in normal tuning. Odds are it very well could be done in Fripp's "NST" tuning, wherein the guitar is predominantly retuned to 5ths (except the 5th and 6th string which are a minor 3rd apart). This would explain the "drop D" flavored chord movements, and also the extra low notes in the chords themselves, as NST tuning brings the 1st string down 2 whole steps from the original E to make it a C.

I am on a similar arrangement on my knock-off Strat, but I am a full 4th down in tuning on the whole instrument (NST, but 2.5 steps lower on each string). I use this guitar in an experimental/prog drum & bass/guitar duo I am working on with a friend. Anyway, I found some of the riff is definitely in the "lower than standard tuning" registers for sure. Alas, I could not try for long as my daughter (1 yr old) was rather invasive today with here demands to play with daddy. Tomorrow is another day, another attempt!

Thanks !

NINO

[moses]

Yeah I have one of my guitars tuned to NST as an experiment. I haven't fully gotten the hang of it, but it is certainly interesting. To make it even more interesting (or more boring to non-musicians reading this), it's a 7-string guitar. The lowest string (keeping with the fifths) is tuned all the way down to an F. I almost have the range of a bass and a guitar all rolled into one!

Sorry, that has nothing to do with helping you learn the song. I seem to remember hearing that Belew uses a modified standard tuning... I think the major 3rd is on a different string, I forget where.

That should complicate things nicely.

Man!!! It's so much less complicated listening to music.

[lenron]

Cool use of NST on a 7 string! That's too rad.

I had my guitar tuned to B, E, A, D, F#, B for years. Basically, standard tuning dropped down a 4th.

I then, later on, applied NST to it, and ended up with G, D, A, E, B, D. Getting me "darn close" to the upper registers of a normal guitar but also quite a bit lower than a regular guitar too. I had to purchase (groan) a Zakk Wylde string set that had a rare .070 in it so I could get that low G without the string being all floppy. It works well, except that I had to file down the nut to accomodate it. Then on the high 5th and 6th strings, I put on a .012 and a .009, respectively. So its a wild extreme of string thicknesses. I have been contemplating raising the 5th an 6th strings higher to...something....since they are so thin they could easily go up 1.5 to 2.5 steps if needed. But I decided a while ago to stick to NST for now, since its a tried and tested tuning. Must be some reason for it. So before I modify it, I continue to study it.

In the end, I call my pawn shop Strat knock-off (that I painted myself, poorly) my "poor man's Chapman Stick" as it allows me a wider range when I play in the bass/guitar & drum duo I play in. If you are wondering what I do with it, check out the BlaBat website. Click on "Music". Its all from a recent all-improv live show here in Houston we did a few days back.

NINO

[teermin8r]

What's wrong with Zakk Wylde and what are you all talking about? I am totally lost. Of course, I can't even play chopsticks!

[Rick and Roll]

Originally posted by teermin8r
What's wrong with Zakk Wylde and what are you all talking about? I am totally lost. Of course, I can't even play chopsticks!

Don't worry about it Term...here's is what he's saying.....

He had to part with money to fatten Zakk's wallet in order to learn to play a crappy Crimson tune.

(my views on the band post-Thrak are well-known)

[moses]

The 7-string sets often have .70s or around there, so you could buy those instead of Zakk Wylde stuff.

Of course, then you'd end up with an extra string.

I'm definitely not "committed to" NST, since only one of my guitars is currently using it, but we'll see how that progresses as I get familiar with it.

Maybe I should be... committed, that is.

Post-Thrak thoughts: The ConstruKction of Light = not bad but it's got some weak tunes; The Power to Believe = awesome.

[lenron]

Yeah I know you don't like much KC in recent years, Rick. But I think I know where you coming from. Is the newer stuff good? Yes. Is it at the same creative level as pre-1994 KC? Nope. Are Levin and Bruford sorely missed? Yes. Is it still 20 times better than the average so-called "prog rock" band in modern times? Heck yeah!

But back to NST....I have been noodling with it for a while now, but as I said a full 4th lower than...um..."standard NST". haha. Anyway, as you can imagine, being tuned in 5ths has its merits and its pitfalls. All of which I've encountered during my exploration. Its been fun.

Well, off to go play with the birthday girl....(she's 1!)

NINO

[lenron]

"What's wrong with Zakk Wylde and what are you all talking about?"

Although my views on Zakk Wylde, et al, have not been said, they mirror Rick's post-1994 Crimson opinions.

NINO