EBS Songbook Level One Euphoria – House
EBS Songbook Level One Euphoria – House
Download and print out the score so that you can refer to it as you follow the bass chart.
Start by going through the chart, step by step, looking at each section and understanding what the chart is asking you to do.
The first thing you will see is the name of the tune, ‘Euphoria’, and the name of the composer. The title is the important one as, if you had a number of songs to play, it is essential that you play the correct one!
At the top left hand side, before the tune starts, you will see the note '4 Clicks'. This means that you will hear four clicks before the tune starts. This will help count you into the song.
Next is the time signature ‘C’, which is the sign for ‘common time’ and means there are four beats in each bar. This is familiar territory for you.
The first section of the song is the Introduction. It is written quite dramatically, building up to the first Chorus. On the bass though, your job is to create some tension by playing whole notes, through the first eight bars, on the note of E.
When the piano comes in, at bar 9, you stay on E but now play four bars of half notes. In bar 13, you build the intensity by moving up to quarter notes for three bars. You then push into the first Chorus playing eighth notes.
The first Chorus is up-tempo, with a heavy backbeat. It uses quarter notes very effectively to achieve this.
The Chorus is a simple two bar groove, played using E, C, D and A. This sequence is repeated eight times – giving a sixteen bar Chorus.
After the first Chorus comes to the first Verse; which is in two distinct halves. For the first half, you play just quarter notes on E. This is for sixteen bars, and creates a lot of tension and is very dramatic.
The second half increases in intensity as the guitar plays powerful rock chords. However, you continue playing the low E for a further ten bars. You then release the tension by following the chord changes, which come every two bars, playing two bars each of G, D, and C. There is one small variation, which comes in the last bar of the verse, where you change the very last note from C to D.Step Six
From the first verse we go into a middle section which starts with a Breakdown section for four bars. A breakdown section is when a few of the instrument drop out of the mix and the song drops in intensity. This is used as a way of settling the tune after a dramatic section. It is a great way of bridging different dynamic sections and of allowing some breathing space in the music.
This Breakdown section is an extension of the Introduction and all you have to play is E. Note, however, that you need to play both a high E and a low E; so again you are using your octave shape skills. After the Breakdown, you continue to lay octave shapes on E through for a further four bars. You then play seven bars of quarter notes and a bar of eighths. This is another building section and plays the same role as the opening Introduction to the song.
After the Introduction section in the middle of the tune, you are back to the song's main theme — based around the two bar Chorus groove. This is played ten times (twenty bars in total). You finish on the twenty first bar of the Chorus (bar 105) with a low E, held for a whole bar.
Now, listen to the multimedia files, and follow the bass chart through a couple of times.
Once you have done that, have a go yourself. You can play with the bass, or mute the bassist on the track so that you can play on your own. Remember to:
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