June Blog (English)

Hello!  

Here I am again with more material from my lessons.

I'd like to thank you all for your visits and your comments.

I've just checked that this blog has more 5.000 views since I started it. I'm not sure if that is a relevant figure or not, but it's encouraging for me anyway.

"Plug in baby" (Muse)

 

 

I normally talk about several songs or subjects, but I thought, just for this month, I could focus on a single song.

"Plug in baby", by the band Muse, is a song I've taught to my students in several occasions. Juan Carlos was the student who requested it this time.

I supposed it's an intermediate level song. I guess it wouldn't be a good choice for a very beguinner, but it isn't hard with a bit of practice.

One of my students in Alicante recorded it. The following link will take you to the section of my web where you'll be able to listen to it.

http://www.joemoreg.com/grabaciones-de-alumnos


The following tab is my full transcription of the song, and some other notes I wrote for my student in order to help him learning it.

The Intro section can also be played as follows. In fact, Matt Bellamy seems to play it that way live.

I learned this song by ear, and I thought it was confortable to play it near the second fret. As you can see, the guitar always gives you options.

The next diagram will show you the scales used in the INTRO riff.

The melody of this Riff comes from two different scales, depending of the chord played at the time.

The root of each scale is marked with a red square. The root, or tonic, of the scale is basically the note which gives its name to the scale, and where the scale starts. For instance, the note B, is the root of B Harmonic Minor Scale, and F# is the root of F# Harmonic Minor Scale.

B Harmonic Minor 

F# Harmonic Minor

In the following diagrams you'll see the chords matching the scales used in the Intro riff.

The first two chords, F# and G, belong to the Harmonic Minor Scale in the key of B.

D chord, in this case, comes from the F# Harmonic Minor Scale.

I've suggested fingerings for the left hand so you can figure them out easily.

D chord is easier to play the way it appear in the next image. I thought I would write it like that just to match the notes in the scale diagram.

Comparing the chord and the scale diagram, you'll see all the notes match.

The following is a chord dictionary, with all the chords involved in the song.

There's a little arrangement in the Verse, which I've included here as well, to help you visualize it on the fretboard.

They are basically two major chord positions on strings 1, 2 and 3.

This diagram represents the Bridge section.

I hope you've found this blog-lesson helpful. In case you have any doubt or question please contact me, and I'll update this entry as soon as I can.

I hope everybody is having a lovely Summer.

Regards,

Jose