EKS Songbook Level One Darkened Streets – Nu metal
EKS Songbook Level One Darkened Streets – Nu metal
Download and print out the score, so that you can refer to it as you follow the keyboard chart.
Go 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, ‘Darkened Streets’, 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 track starts with an Introduction section that has only the guitar and hi-hat of the drums playing. This is a four bar section. The Introduction continues for another four bars, with the drums coming in with a full, backbeat, rock groove.
Throughout the Introduction you will see a small, horizontal, line in each of the eight bars. This is a called a ‘rest’, which means that you do not play anything. As you are resting for the whole bar, this is a ‘whole note rest’. Rests will be dealt with fully in Level 2 of the course.
After the first four bars of the Introduction, you then rest through the first four bars of the Chorus. Then, there are another eight bars of the Chorus to play.
The rhythm is a straightforward pattern, made up of quarter notes and eighth notes. Both left and right hands play the same rhythm; but you play triads in the right and single bass notes in the left. If you look closely, you will see that you are repeating a two bar pattern. So, go round the two bars to make sure you can play them comfortably.
The very last bar of the Chorus has a final half note to take you into the Verse.
The Verse comes down from the Chorus, in terms of dynamics. The chords have been thinned out in the arrangement so that you only have two notes in each chord.
The Verse is in two clear sections. In the first eight bars, you play half notes. In the second half, you play triads, with a whole note rhythm. This has the effect of building into the Chorus. The sixteenth bar (bar 32) requires you to play two quarter notes and a half note. Make sure you play this rhythm tightly, as it is played with the rest of the band.
You have now played each of the sections you need to complete the track. The structure of the remainder of the song is: sixteen bars of Chorus 2, followed by a second Verse and finishing with a third Chorus. This last Chorus is longer: twenty four bars in total. The only variation is found in the very last bar, where you are required to play two quarter notes and a half with the left hand, whilst playing two half notes with the right.
As usual, ‘Fine’ indicates the end of the song.
Now, watch and listen to the multimedia files and follow the chart through a couple of times. Once you have done that, have a go yourself. You can play with the keyboard player, or mute the keyboard track so that you can play with the band on your own.
Remember to: