Yep, Discipline was a game changer. I've been playing it since it came out on vinyl all those moons ago and I'm still listening to it. It's a true monolithic slab of an album. Infinitely complex yet seemingly accessible and easy for the listener to get into. The three primary coloured albums were and still are on repeat play. The "On and Off The Road" box set is a wonder to behold for anyone who appreciates these albums. (It's so darn good I had to buy the other box sets! Best things I've bought in years!)
i saw the opening show of the Discipline in Philly it came out tuesday, friday i was third row at the Tower theatre they played the album as recorded and beat was in progress so plenty of new it was the best concert up to that point!
@@Bansenshukai9 Moto Perpetuo is the name of that section in Fracture/FraKctured, not a type of section. I think the word you're looking for is arpeggio
No, you’re incorrect. - Buy/borrow this book and see for yourself. - This “meditative” section played by Fripp is marked as Moto Perpetuo in the song Frame By Frame. - Who’s talking about Frakcture(?) - Where did you get that from(?) - Maybe there’s a section in there that’s played in this same manner, but I am strictly referring to Frame By Frame.
@@Bansenshukai9 I didn't know it was also called Moto Perpetuo. But that name is most well known for being Fracture/FraKctured's riffs. Listen to it yourself.
Kudos to anyone tackling either the Fripp or Belew parts. "Robert just goes". lol. With the upcoming new BEAT tour, Steve Vai's adjective "relentless" describing Fripp's guitar work was perfect. The non-stop string jumping and picking is enough to make any guitarist feel like a beginner. Regarding the alignment/phasing part: Levin cracked, "Yeah. What can go wrong." lol. Great video! 🙌
The part Belew sings over is especially easier for me, I think, sweep picking upwards as much as possible. Starting with upstrokes I'm trying to sweep pick a few notes until at some point I have to skip pick. Moving the upwards motion that would be played on that string I'm playing to another string instead then trying to continue sweeps. Eventually there has to be some alternate picking. But trying to keep some sweeps short with articulate phrasing might work? This kind of works on the Fripp parts too. But wow. This is going to take some time to get any kind of consistency yet it's a great workout as much as a great song. So challenging keeping the articulation sounding right. This is crazy fun to try.
Crazy hard to sustain those Fripp sequencer type patterns. I remember playing it 100s of times back 30 years ago. Big fan and have attended 5 KC shows. Thanks for this man!
Damn. I can tell you have the picking down, because I can hear the snap that I hear from Robert's pick on both the record and many live performances when he ends some of these phrases you're discussing. That's terrifying. And badass. Thank you for doing this song. I love your videos! I feel smarter at the end of them, and that's a rare talent. Thank you for sharing.
I saw them in 1981 in Owings Mills MD at a small theater on the Discipline tour... I was 15 and had been playing guitar for about 5 years Mind-bending is about all I can say / also interesting to note - on that first of the Red Blue Yellow tour, they played old Crimson songs as well as Discipline songs whereas on the Blue and Yellow legs, they played only from those three albums - and some of those old Crimson songs were amazing to see
I've been seeing some of the videos of the Beat tour and it is inspiring/crazy/a bit funny watching Steve Vai clearly devoting 100% of his focus to playing this.
This vid shows just how focused and rehearsed Fripp is in order to play this piece live. Mind blowing accuracy needed. I can't think of many guitarist who has the stamina and skill to play Robert's part. Even Steve Vai is gonna have his work cut out in order to make any sort of acceptable interpretation of Robert's parts. Jeez, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. Steve Vai is gonna need another operation for carpal tunnel syndrome and repetitive strain injury after touring with, BEAT (a KC Projekct): Belew, Levin, Vai & Carey! I would love to see that tour in the US. Fingers crossed that they come to the UK.
I don't see any mind blowing accuracy on Fripp's 'Robert at home' playing. The only thing about these parts is : they're kind of the antithesis to music. In the same way that when you're 11 at school and the teacher gets you to stand up and read something the kid stands up and reads in a complete monosyllabic voice with no inflections - if someone speaks that IRL you wouldn't think it was 'mind blowing' or wish you could talk like that. The difficult part about public speaking and the reason people practise it is exactly the opposite. Similarly the reason guitarists are playing for 10000 hours is to make the guitar sound like a voice. Make it sing, create musical phrases. That's what's difficult to do. Playing the same 4 notes over and over with no inflections is only difficult because no one sane would either want to talk or play like that. The pieces are only really saved because of the voice. If Belew wasn't singing over the top with his sublime vocal this music is dull, uninteresting and repetitive and it doesn't become interesting because of odd time signatures (there's a kind of weird thing amongst some western musicians that if they're playing in an odd time signature that makes them intellectual or something and nowhere is that worse than the so-called 'prog rock' pretentiousness ) So yeah, this is difficult to play, but only in the same way that talking in a boring monotonous dry tone would be for an opera singer. And really you may as well just do this part with a sequencer or looper pedal. It's the music equivalent of working in a factory screwing the lids on toothpaste. Sure there's some kind of skill to repeating that same motion thousands of times over and over, exactly the same - but it's a low level skill and one that's the exact opposite of what musicians actually strive to do - and if you went up to a brain surgeon and said "Eww, but if you tried standing here screwing these lids on over and over you couldn't do it!" - nor would he want to - that's not because it's some higher level skill - it's the opposite of that. Not repeating yourself is harder. Making the last 50 notes you played flow together into phrases is harder. And that's why we put a robot in the factory rather than sending people mad with the mind-numbing tediousness of repetitive tasks. Robot Fripp. You have to pity Vai really because Belew roped him into it and he has the fun, interesting part that sounds musical. Vai is being diplomatic, he's praising Robert for the intricacy but you can see he's trying to explain to viewers that he's spent 5 decades playing music, the last 4 decades of which things like tone and phrasing were paramount and this is asking him to ape the kid in class who talks funny - it's dustin hoffman playing rain man. Vai's worry is, if he method acts it then will he be able to play music again afterwards? Better yet is, he hopes he make it musical instead. That's what he's saying when he's saying he wants to do it justice but bring it into his playing style. He wants to stand on stage and play music like he has for the last few decades - and I hope he does because Robert can't do that.
@@michael1 Oh man, you're comparing apples and oranges. The same can be said about Debussy's music and Reich's or Glass music: one is emotional, the other is robotic and repetitive. But these are just different kinds of music, both were written the way they were written on purpose, because this is how this music should sound. That's it.
@MakeWeirdMusic i tell you what grinding this song for like a week straight really upped my chops. It never really gets easy but definitely a fun, im sure my wife hates me for it lmao
I nearly wet myself when the KC box sets started being released. They're the best things I've bought in years! Actually they are great value when compared to other bands box sets and they well presented box sets.
@@megadethmofo-v4iAn interview just came out where Vai said Fripp called him up after a couple of shows and said "Why dont you just tap it?" Ha ha. Even masters have problems following in the steps of other masters.
Ok this was badass. Been trying to hone my picking skills and have always been a "King Crimson'esque" kind of player even though I haven't listened to them religiously. Would love to see more lessons like this of the weird and wacky time signature stuff. Thanks for making this! 🙌🙌
such a great song. Years of aligning the brain. The phased riff consistent downstroke on A is probably how RF play(ed). It feels better than consistent alternation, especially for the RF part with one note missing. BTW as for the picks, pickboy carbon nylon with a bit of extra sharpening seem to do the trick
I’m a lefty guitarist, but I play on a right handed (upside down). Coming across videos like this where it’s broken down and I can hear the notes really helps…thank you for this!
Fun fact - Robert Fripp is a left-handed man who plays right-handed. I sometimes think that has a lot to do with why he sounds the way he does in his playing.
I learned this in college as part of an assessment. I havent played this in 14 years and wanted to re learn it . Really happy to find this now i dont have my guitar tutor walking me through it 😅
5:20. I had a press pass to shoot the G3 show in Vancouver back in 97, which had Fripp opening solo Frippatronics. As I was taking pictures, Fripp waved me off. Someone from the crew-probably press guy-told me to keep shooting. "Look. Robert Fripp told me to stop shooting. I don't know who you are, but between you and Fripp, I'm listening to him." Later, one of the guys that was there to see Satch or Kenny Wayne yelled. "Get off the stage! Nobody wants to hear you play!" I tapped him on the shoulder. "I do," I said, from a height of about 8 inches above him. "I've got a right to say what I like," he said defensively. "So does he," I said, pointing at Fripp. "And I want to hear what he has to say."
I've been laughed at when I've said Fripp is the greatest minimalist guitarist. For some reason they associate minimalism with a lack of sophistication, but when done correctly it's some of the most difficult music ever played.
15:30 I do alternate, BUT I start with an upstroke, that makes the notes C#, B (notes 5 and 6 of the 7-note phrase) both upstrokes on strings B and G, i.e. economy picking. And on Fripp's part that's where it differs. Every other time through the phrase you lose note 7. That leaves you with an even 6 notes, which makes alternate picking easy. SO easy that even I can play it and I'm not very good, it's almost relaxing. I can even sing while playing the Belew's part, and I'm generally terrible at singing and playing. And yeah, it's not 7/8 and 5/8. It's alternating 7/8 and 6/8 for Fripp over with the rest of the band doing 7/8.
I wish my Squier tele thinline had single coils. Just bought a strat copy with hss and the ss are fender noiseless which lose all jangle. I love your tone
I've just purchased this transcription - I purchased the set with Thrak... I am looking forward to this arriving :). Well done on a great channel and informative information. I really enjoy your presentation style as well.
I have been trying to figure this song out for years. Thanks for the breakdown, but I still feel like I am confused. I understand Belew is playing the steady arpeggio in 7. I had always thought the Fripp was playing alternating 7 and 6 (call it 13?), where he would play the full arpeggio in 7, then drop the one note to play the arpeggio in 6, then back to 7, and so on. From this video, it seems that he is playing the full arpeggio in 7 three times, then the bit in 6 once, the back to 7. So Fripp is kinda playing a repeating pattern of 3*7 + 6 = 27. Is that it?
Okay, this should clarify for you. Here are the bars Robert plays starting at the 7/8 riff in unison with Adrian. 7 7 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 Then they move up the minor third and he miraculously stays in 7. Hope that helps!
@@MakeWeirdMusic Thanks Anthony! That makes sense - so it is alternating 7 & 6, just with a few bars of 7 to lead-in. Is there a term for this type of playing? I would not call Robert's playing in 6 against Adrien's playing in 7 poly-rhythm, as Fripp's bar of 6 does not fit into the same amount of time as Belew's bar of 7.
@@76jmlaw The way I think of it, it's like they "start out in sync" and then Fripp "breaks away". If you practice with a looper like Anthony's doing here, you can do this yourself (have the 7 part looped, and then go to the 767676.. part, then come back in sync to playing the 7s, then break away again .. etc) It's two different metres with the same tempo, so I think it's technically called a polymetre and not a polyrhythm. Fripp plays 15 notes in the same timespan that Adrian plays 15 notes, they're just different notes because the 2 patterns are out of phase. If you play the same pattern as your loop, but deliberately make yourself "one note behind" you will sound like a ping-pong delay pedal. The cool thing about these songs is you can't make a delay pedal play them for you.. you need 2 players or a looper. There are similar elements in "Discipline" too - the whole song is about this phasing concept, with several different time signatures that all 'fit over 5'. For example the part near the end has the guitars playing "11 against 12" while Tony's high register stick part is doing the "da-da-DAAAAA-da-da" highlighting the 5s. The first time they do the "15/16 vs 14/16" part (1:43ish), Fripp plays the 15/16 part in sync with Belew 3 times, then starts playing the 14/16 part. Later in the song when they do the same pattern in a higher key (just before it changes to "12 vs 11") he plays the 15 part just once, then switches to playing the 14 part. Toward the end of these two sections, there's a part where Fripp switches out of his pattern 'early' (instead of waiting for 15*14=210 notes to pass before they would resync). See if you can listen for how the drums highlight this! The phasing stuff to me is almost like the two parts are 'rotating around each other' ... if you play by yourself with a looper out of one speaker, and you get really accurate, you basically hear a bunch of 'cycling intervals' note-by-note. It's like you're seeing all the ways the 7 note pattern "multiplies with" the 6 note pattern (or the 12 with the 11, etc). The pair of patterns has its own micro-rhythms. There's a quote somewhere about the lyrics in Frame by Frame - it goes back to Adrian watching Fripp and Bruford arguing academic-style about how all these rhythms and accents should fit together, while the two Americans just wanted to jam and have fun.. something like that anyway. The transcription book really is amazing for practicing this stuff, and just appreciating how much care went into the design of these songs.
Thank you Anthony, that was a great lesson. I was always loving the 'phase' part, but couldn't quite count the 2 parts out. BTW ... the woman's podcast you were on a while back was interesting and enjoyable. I will be re-watching it 'cause I had some Q's for you. Happy Easter 🎵
Awesome. Thanks Marc. Robert plays a bar of 7 and then a bar of 6 by cutting the last note of the motif. Do that 7 times in a row and both guitars are back in unison.
I try these fast 16th notes for a few minutes now and I'm already in pain...:D I play surf rock a lot and there's some fast picking going on too but nothing like this... Wow, very very challenging...
Valiant approach. I'm kinda surprised how close our old band (Ice Nine, UP, MI, USA, '81-'83) came to these transcriptions just making it up on the fly. Of course, I'd have to listen closer (haven't really studied the album in maybe 40 years), but I'd argue with a couple of points in the Big Book. I bought a couple seats to Beat Denver - 4th row center. It oughta be fun! I don't think I've experienced these tunes live since Ann Arbor '8...2?
RF was a nut - in another life he would have made paintings on the head of a pin. The effort expended on that fast opening seems very high given that the part seems to be firmly in the background.
Nice execution of the guitar parts and true - the phasing concept is inspired by Steve Reich/Philip Glass-minimalism. Crimson's later three-drummers-doing-different-stuff is inspired by Kip Hanrahan. Listen to Kip Hanrahan's album "Vertical's Currency" with Jack Bruce - e.g. the track "Smiles and Grins" 🙂
Fantastic work, Anthony, such a gorgeous song, up there for me with Adrian's All Her Love is Mine. My take on the performance... I've always heard a hard palm-muting staccato alternating with sustenuto at the end of the opening phrases that has enough resonance to breath a depth of the instrument that stuck hard in my brain. Da dup DuPP, Da daaa, Da Dah Dap, Da da daaaa... Kind of a jazz tango be-bop? Just my take and now I wonder if I remembered it correctly (given the thousands of times I listened to it it's hard to imagine I didn't, but you know brains). Otherwise, perfect rendition and that's saying a lot for such a delicately layered sound and composition. Thanks for sharing, it really makes me miss my old EHX 16 second delay that I had before I bought Discipline back in the 80s. Your new looper sounds incredible! Edit: after re-listening, I'm hearing the accuracy of your performance more clearly. I still think I hear alternating whammy dives, staccato and sustenuto at the end of the phrase, intermittently in my memory, but from the perspective of using a looper this performance makes more sense. Kind of funny, sad and yet hopeful that I'm still learning to hear and listen after all of these years.
You are correct that Adrian uses a lot of whammy bar dives and whatnot. I was just providing an illustration of what he does purely from a musical standpoint, not an accuracy/replication standpoint.
I think he's also doing stuff like "quickly turning the repeat time down on a delay pedal" (or the feedback up?) for some of the phrase endings. One of the 80s VHS live concerts shows this (he uses some kind of high-mounted pedal/processor box).
@@azngoku666 Yep that's the Electroharmonix 16-Second Delay that I mentioned. It was a blast to play with! I think somebody has built a replica for production. I'd certainly consider getting another one.
Regarding picking direction. I start on an up stroke. I pretty much start most things with an up stroke. I’ve just always done that. Then I remember Robert commenting that Fracture should start on an up stroke!
Robert said that one should try Fracture starting with an upstroke as an exercise, but he starts with a downstroke. I never thought of trying this piece starting on an up, though
People look at me like I'm crazy when I say Fripp is the greatest minimalist rock musician, I guess they connotate minimalist with being simple or easy
i don't play guitar, but this seems so hard to play. just the stamina required to play those motifs for extended periods is insane. i saw KC on their Discipline tour about 40 years ago.
@@MakeWeirdMusic Absofreakinlutely! Add to that he picked other amazing musicians to be in his band, making it all the more mind blowing!🤯 Kapoooooofkaaaaaaaah!🤕 Oh, and Zappa too for that matter.🤪 Thanks for these great videos! Hail weirdness!🤭
Very interesting! I don't have much realistic hope that long work days and 48 year old sausages that only have been on the guitar casually for a few years will get there, but this is cool stuff for a Frippinista and Belewian to understand more about.
Just play Belew's verse part over & over - it's great fun & encouraging. I learned it at 40 & still use it to warm up at 50. Chonky phalanges shouldn't necessarily hold you back from doing that.
I'd love to see how you play Three of a Perfect Pair. The Fripp part in the book seems a bit overcomplicated (no pun intended), but maybe I've just got my fingering wrong. Or I just suck.
Thank you for this! I love your channel. By the way, in Robert's videblog "Robert At Home - May 2023" he addresses Frame by Frame and gives some very useful technical exercises.
I find the riff is a lot more complicated than it seems. I'm usually just happy to play it right, I haven't worried too much about picking direction... don't tell RF.
Thanks for the lesson, turns out I've been playing Belew's intro part a bit wrong having learned it by ear. Question though, didn't Fripp play his parts on Discipline in New Standard Tuning or did that come later?
Hi Anthony. I’ve been messing with this one off & on over the years & for the 1st part of the phasing lic I’ve been using my ring finger to play both the F# & B notes, rolling it (with varying degrees of success). I noticed you & others use your middle finger for the F# & ring finger for the B, which I’ve just now tried & feels awkward to me. I know you might say, “play whatever works for you,” but wondering if you can comment on the advantages of your fingering. I’ve been playing long enough to have developed some bad habits & unlearning them is no stranger to me 😀 Thanks! PS: I also end up using my little finger once the riff changes, due to smallish fingers & the reach.
Rolling the finger (what Robert calls "the Paganini technique") is very tricky to pull off with this riff. I don't advise it. Using separate fingers gives you more control over tone, volume, and note length. I tried playing it your way and it's doable, but I don't see the advantage.
@makeweirdmusic Interesting, in the tab book Robert's into riff - and variations of - are 1 note on the A string and 3 notes on the D string, but that's not how you're playing it and the way you play it is much MUCH easier. I have the First edition December 2020 book, has there been a change in the reprints?
There has been a change and that was my mistake!! We found a video of Robert that looked like he was playing it that way and we couldn’t find any others…until right after the book was printed.
@@MakeWeirdMusic oh no :/ Mr Fripp himself posted a video recently playing it in the "pentatonic" scale shape and my brian just went :boom: Does this mean I need to buy one of the reprints as well ;)
Could you make a small video tutorial practicing fripp’s fast part on a metronome?… Im having a lot of trouble figuring it out, unless I just can’t reach that speed but I feel like I’m playing it wrong because I play it at 157 bpm but I’m not playing it as fast so i think I don’t know what phrasing I’m supposed to be practicing it slow with. Thank you!
@@MakeWeirdMusic wow I had no idea that was a real word but it’s just supposed to be something one of my baby siblings used to call me… 🤣 much appreciated
@@MakeWeirdMusic oh great, i thought he started using NST starting with discipline, i hear that not all strings work with it so i was worried i'd have to buy new strings to sound right, thank you
Great video. When I play this I'm always struck by how the "phasing intervals" seem to match with the vocal changes or the bass notes or something. Don't really know how to describe what I mean, but there's something special going on there..?
No, yeah! When those two guitar licks go out of sync and start phrasing, they loop back around to being back in sync just as Adrian starts singing, which is just an incredible detail.
I have literally no idea. Some pre-built setting in the Quad Cortex and this Chinese knock-off telecaster that I just put a Mad Hatter Guitar Products kit in.
@@MakeWeirdMusic Haha thanks. Would be cool to a follow up explaining Larks Tongues Part III, the intro. I still can't quite figure out the picking...is is straight alternate picking the whole time or D-D-U?
u didnt even play it right at the start
Yeah! How dare you not be perfect?!!
@@BubbaZen10 dude says he got paid to proofread the tab book though 🤔
WRONG!
I never said I got paid because I didn’t. It was for fun.
@@MakeWeirdMusic Not sure if that's worse? 🤔 Here's a platitude, though, still better than I could do.
That red book he's holding is the Necronomicon of Guitar Playing
😈
Best comment
Wich one??
No, it is a King Crimson book..
@@dariocabrera3597, just go to around the minute 1:40..
All of the Discipline album offers chills and thrills. I never tire of listening to Frame by Frame.
Yep, Discipline was a game changer. I've been playing it since it came out on vinyl all those moons ago and I'm still listening to it. It's a true monolithic slab of an album. Infinitely complex yet seemingly accessible and easy for the listener to get into. The three primary coloured albums were and still are on repeat play. The "On and Off The Road" box set is a wonder to behold for anyone who appreciates these albums. (It's so darn good I had to buy the other box sets! Best things I've bought in years!)
i saw the opening show of the Discipline in Philly
it came out tuesday, friday i was third row at the Tower theatre
they played the album as recorded and beat was in progress so plenty of new
it was the best concert up to that point!
I like how you also become emotionless to play the fripp part just like fripp himself
;D
You HAVE to…. You can’t be all laughing, smiling, and jumping around like Adrian for these Moto Perpetuo sections.
@@Bansenshukai9 Moto Perpetuo is the name of that section in Fracture/FraKctured, not a type of section. I think the word you're looking for is arpeggio
No, you’re incorrect. - Buy/borrow this book and see for yourself. - This “meditative” section played by Fripp is marked as Moto Perpetuo in the song Frame By Frame. - Who’s talking about Frakcture(?) - Where did you get that from(?) - Maybe there’s a section in there that’s played in this same manner, but I am strictly referring to Frame By Frame.
@@Bansenshukai9 I didn't know it was also called Moto Perpetuo. But that name is most well known for being Fracture/FraKctured's riffs. Listen to it yourself.
Kudos to anyone tackling either the Fripp or Belew parts. "Robert just goes". lol. With the upcoming new BEAT tour, Steve Vai's adjective "relentless" describing Fripp's guitar work was perfect. The non-stop string jumping and picking is enough to make any guitarist feel like a beginner. Regarding the alignment/phasing part: Levin cracked, "Yeah. What can go wrong." lol. Great video! 🙌
Thank you
The part Belew sings over is especially easier for me, I think, sweep picking upwards as much as possible. Starting with upstrokes I'm trying to sweep pick a few notes until at some point I have to skip pick. Moving the upwards motion that would be played on that string I'm playing to another string instead then trying to continue sweeps.
Eventually there has to be some alternate picking. But trying to keep some sweeps short with articulate phrasing might work? This kind of works on the Fripp parts too.
But wow. This is going to take some time to get any kind of consistency yet it's a great workout as much as a great song. So challenging keeping the articulation sounding right.
This is crazy fun to try.
Crazy hard to sustain those Fripp sequencer type patterns. I remember playing it 100s of times back 30 years ago. Big fan and have attended 5 KC shows. Thanks for this man!
That's when you get that Edgar Froese was clever : he used a sequencer instead : the easier, the better
the best lesson i've seen on this. it almost looks playable now. thank you
Damn. I can tell you have the picking down, because I can hear the snap that I hear from Robert's pick on both the record and many live performances when he ends some of these phrases you're discussing.
That's terrifying. And badass.
Thank you for doing this song. I love your videos! I feel smarter at the end of them, and that's a rare talent. Thank you for sharing.
Haha thanks so much! I love that compliment.
I saw them in 1981 in Owings Mills MD at a small theater on the Discipline tour... I was 15 and had been playing guitar for about 5 years
Mind-bending is about all I can say / also interesting to note - on that first of the Red Blue Yellow tour, they played old Crimson songs as well as Discipline songs
whereas on the Blue and Yellow legs, they played only from those three albums - and some of those old Crimson songs were amazing to see
The late, great Painter's Mill?
I've been seeing some of the videos of the Beat tour and it is inspiring/crazy/a bit funny watching Steve Vai clearly devoting 100% of his focus to playing this.
This vid shows just how focused and rehearsed Fripp is in order to play this piece live. Mind blowing accuracy needed. I can't think of many guitarist who has the stamina and skill to play Robert's part. Even Steve Vai is gonna have his work cut out in order to make any sort of acceptable interpretation of Robert's parts. Jeez, I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.
Steve Vai is gonna need another operation for carpal tunnel syndrome and repetitive strain injury after touring with, BEAT (a KC Projekct): Belew, Levin, Vai & Carey! I would love to see that tour in the US. Fingers crossed that they come to the UK.
It took me years to build up the discipline to be able to play that part. You’re absolutely right.
I don't see any mind blowing accuracy on Fripp's 'Robert at home' playing. The only thing about these parts is : they're kind of the antithesis to music. In the same way that when you're 11 at school and the teacher gets you to stand up and read something the kid stands up and reads in a complete monosyllabic voice with no inflections - if someone speaks that IRL you wouldn't think it was 'mind blowing' or wish you could talk like that. The difficult part about public speaking and the reason people practise it is exactly the opposite. Similarly the reason guitarists are playing for 10000 hours is to make the guitar sound like a voice. Make it sing, create musical phrases. That's what's difficult to do. Playing the same 4 notes over and over with no inflections is only difficult because no one sane would either want to talk or play like that. The pieces are only really saved because of the voice. If Belew wasn't singing over the top with his sublime vocal this music is dull, uninteresting and repetitive and it doesn't become interesting because of odd time signatures (there's a kind of weird thing amongst some western musicians that if they're playing in an odd time signature that makes them intellectual or something and nowhere is that worse than the so-called 'prog rock' pretentiousness )
So yeah, this is difficult to play, but only in the same way that talking in a boring monotonous dry tone would be for an opera singer. And really you may as well just do this part with a sequencer or looper pedal. It's the music equivalent of working in a factory screwing the lids on toothpaste. Sure there's some kind of skill to repeating that same motion thousands of times over and over, exactly the same - but it's a low level skill and one that's the exact opposite of what musicians actually strive to do - and if you went up to a brain surgeon and said "Eww, but if you tried standing here screwing these lids on over and over you couldn't do it!" - nor would he want to - that's not because it's some higher level skill - it's the opposite of that. Not repeating yourself is harder. Making the last 50 notes you played flow together into phrases is harder. And that's why we put a robot in the factory rather than sending people mad with the mind-numbing tediousness of repetitive tasks. Robot Fripp.
You have to pity Vai really because Belew roped him into it and he has the fun, interesting part that sounds musical. Vai is being diplomatic, he's praising Robert for the intricacy but you can see he's trying to explain to viewers that he's spent 5 decades playing music, the last 4 decades of which things like tone and phrasing were paramount and this is asking him to ape the kid in class who talks funny - it's dustin hoffman playing rain man. Vai's worry is, if he method acts it then will he be able to play music again afterwards? Better yet is, he hopes he make it musical instead. That's what he's saying when he's saying he wants to do it justice but bring it into his playing style. He wants to stand on stage and play music like he has for the last few decades - and I hope he does because Robert can't do that.
@@michael1 Oh man, you're comparing apples and oranges. The same can be said about Debussy's music and Reich's or Glass music: one is emotional, the other is robotic and repetitive. But these are just different kinds of music, both were written the way they were written on purpose, because this is how this music should sound. That's it.
Ahhh yes! My favorite King Crimson song, Three of a Perfect Frame.
My favorite is Braless and Slightly Slack.
Please......Sailors Tale
I saw King Crimson live several times in the 80’s. They sounded just like the recordings. What a lineup. See: Robert at Home UA-cam videos. Priceless.
Awesome! Glad you loved it
I have the book. Now I have an awful lot to learn. The speed of that intro riff is just beyond me right now.
Now use some composer's stunt like the retrograde mode and issue a new KC album
I saw King Crimson live several times in the 80’s. They sounded just like the recordings. What a lineup.
Man when those two phasing riffs come together you kind of understand why Robert did it that way. It sounds amazing...
It's so fun to play!
@MakeWeirdMusic i tell you what grinding this song for like a week straight really upped my chops. It never really gets easy but definitely a fun, im sure my wife hates me for it lmao
@@no7590 our poor, dear wives.
Just stumbled on this awesome video... and it convinced me to buy both the book and the 19-disc boxed set from this era! Well done 🙂
I nearly wet myself when the KC box sets started being released. They're the best things I've bought in years! Actually they are great value when compared to other bands box sets and they well presented box sets.
Somewhere, Steve Vai is watching this on repeat.....😉
I did text it to him haha
His part in Frame by frame unfortunately turned out to be much modified in comparison with the original part of Robert.
@@MakeWeirdMusicI just saw BEAT this week. Steve right hand taps the Fripp part. I didn't judge.
@@megadethmofo-v4iAn interview just came out where Vai said Fripp called him up after a couple of shows and said "Why dont you just tap it?" Ha ha.
Even masters have problems following in the steps of other masters.
Ok this was badass. Been trying to hone my picking skills and have always been a "King Crimson'esque" kind of player even though I haven't listened to them religiously. Would love to see more lessons like this of the weird and wacky time signature stuff. Thanks for making this! 🙌🙌
The transcription team would like to make a series of videos playing through the songs. That'd be fun!
such a great song. Years of aligning the brain. The phased riff consistent downstroke on A is probably how RF play(ed). It feels better than consistent alternation, especially for the RF part with one note missing.
BTW as for the picks, pickboy carbon nylon with a bit of extra sharpening seem to do the trick
Crazy how much the intro for 7empest by tool was inspired by this song
I find Robert's riff easier to play starting on the 9th fret of the low E-string, followed by 7-9-11-9-7 on the A-string. Somehow easier to pick, too.
Interesting. Haven't tried that.
I’m a lefty guitarist, but I play on a right handed (upside down). Coming across videos like this where it’s broken down and I can hear the notes really helps…thank you for this!
You’re welcome!
Fun fact - Robert Fripp is a left-handed man who plays right-handed.
I sometimes think that has a lot to do with why he sounds the way he does in his playing.
@@RinhTruth Interesting!
Great video. Just shows how genius Fripp is
"Phasing". Thanks for putting a name to a technique that's been bouncing around in my noggin for years!
I think it’s also known as poly meter
@@adamhall389 you're not wrong, do you have some examples you could share? (I guess classical stuff?)
This is so awesome, Ant! Fantastic!
Glad you liked it!
I learned this in college as part of an assessment. I havent played this in 14 years and wanted to re learn it . Really happy to find this now i dont have my guitar tutor walking me through it 😅
Excellent video and enjoyable presentation! Especially relevant with the upcoming Beat tour.
I kind of had the Beat tour in mind when I made it. :)
Excellent execution Sir 🤘🏽
🤝
5:20. I had a press pass to shoot the G3 show in Vancouver back in 97, which had Fripp opening solo Frippatronics. As I was taking pictures, Fripp waved me off. Someone from the crew-probably press guy-told me to keep shooting. "Look. Robert Fripp told me to stop shooting. I don't know who you are, but between you and Fripp, I'm listening to him."
Later, one of the guys that was there to see Satch or Kenny Wayne yelled. "Get off the stage! Nobody wants to hear you play!" I tapped him on the shoulder. "I do," I said, from a height of about 8 inches above him. "I've got a right to say what I like," he said defensively. "So does he," I said, pointing at Fripp. "And I want to hear what he has to say."
Some people will never understand what makes Fripp's music so beautiful. Maybe people just don't believe in subtlety anymore.
I've been laughed at when I've said Fripp is the greatest minimalist guitarist. For some reason they associate minimalism with a lack of sophistication, but when done correctly it's some of the most difficult music ever played.
15:30 I do alternate, BUT I start with an upstroke, that makes the notes C#, B (notes 5 and 6 of the 7-note phrase) both upstrokes on strings B and G, i.e. economy picking. And on Fripp's part that's where it differs. Every other time through the phrase you lose note 7. That leaves you with an even 6 notes, which makes alternate picking easy. SO easy that even I can play it and I'm not very good, it's almost relaxing. I can even sing while playing the Belew's part, and I'm generally terrible at singing and playing.
And yeah, it's not 7/8 and 5/8. It's alternating 7/8 and 6/8 for Fripp over with the rest of the band doing 7/8.
Try it with a downstroke. Much better and more consistent. Upstrokes don't have the same sound, even with practice.
I wish my Squier tele thinline had single coils. Just bought a strat copy with hss and the ss are fender noiseless which lose all jangle. I love your tone
The tone of your Tele sounds *just* like one of the guitar sounds I like to use in GarageBand.
I've just purchased this transcription - I purchased the set with Thrak... I am looking forward to this arriving :). Well done on a great channel and informative information. I really enjoy your presentation style as well.
Now Anthony, the next step is Discipline.
lekker man, dit keek ik met veel plezier en herkenning
Ah, geweldig om te horen! Fijn dat je er zoveel plezier en herkenning in hebt gevonden! (ChatGPT)
I have been trying to figure this song out for years. Thanks for the breakdown, but I still feel like I am confused. I understand Belew is playing the steady arpeggio in 7. I had always thought the Fripp was playing alternating 7 and 6 (call it 13?), where he would play the full arpeggio in 7, then drop the one note to play the arpeggio in 6, then back to 7, and so on. From this video, it seems that he is playing the full arpeggio in 7 three times, then the bit in 6 once, the back to 7. So Fripp is kinda playing a repeating pattern of 3*7 + 6 = 27. Is that it?
Okay, this should clarify for you. Here are the bars Robert plays starting at the 7/8 riff in unison with Adrian.
7 7 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Then they move up the minor third and he miraculously stays in 7. Hope that helps!
@@MakeWeirdMusic Thanks Anthony! That makes sense - so it is alternating 7 & 6, just with a few bars of 7 to lead-in. Is there a term for this type of playing? I would not call Robert's playing in 6 against Adrien's playing in 7 poly-rhythm, as Fripp's bar of 6 does not fit into the same amount of time as Belew's bar of 7.
I don’t know if there’s a term. You’ll have to ask someone smarter.
@@MakeWeirdMusic Is it polymeter? I have always been a bit fuzzy on those terms
@@76jmlaw The way I think of it, it's like they "start out in sync" and then Fripp "breaks away". If you practice with a looper like Anthony's doing here, you can do this yourself (have the 7 part looped, and then go to the 767676.. part, then come back in sync to playing the 7s, then break away again .. etc)
It's two different metres with the same tempo, so I think it's technically called a polymetre and not a polyrhythm. Fripp plays 15 notes in the same timespan that Adrian plays 15 notes, they're just different notes because the 2 patterns are out of phase. If you play the same pattern as your loop, but deliberately make yourself "one note behind" you will sound like a ping-pong delay pedal. The cool thing about these songs is you can't make a delay pedal play them for you.. you need 2 players or a looper.
There are similar elements in "Discipline" too - the whole song is about this phasing concept, with several different time signatures that all 'fit over 5'. For example the part near the end has the guitars playing "11 against 12" while Tony's high register stick part is doing the "da-da-DAAAAA-da-da" highlighting the 5s.
The first time they do the "15/16 vs 14/16" part (1:43ish), Fripp plays the 15/16 part in sync with Belew 3 times, then starts playing the 14/16 part. Later in the song when they do the same pattern in a higher key (just before it changes to "12 vs 11") he plays the 15 part just once, then switches to playing the 14 part. Toward the end of these two sections, there's a part where Fripp switches out of his pattern 'early' (instead of waiting for 15*14=210 notes to pass before they would resync). See if you can listen for how the drums highlight this!
The phasing stuff to me is almost like the two parts are 'rotating around each other' ... if you play by yourself with a looper out of one speaker, and you get really accurate, you basically hear a bunch of 'cycling intervals' note-by-note. It's like you're seeing all the ways the 7 note pattern "multiplies with" the 6 note pattern (or the 12 with the 11, etc). The pair of patterns has its own micro-rhythms. There's a quote somewhere about the lyrics in Frame by Frame - it goes back to Adrian watching Fripp and Bruford arguing academic-style about how all these rhythms and accents should fit together, while the two Americans just wanted to jam and have fun.. something like that anyway.
The transcription book really is amazing for practicing this stuff, and just appreciating how much care went into the design of these songs.
This song seems to be having a bit of a 'moment'. And rightly so. It's a brilliant one.
Great tutorial as usual!
I have the book--superb . . . very accurate! Thanks!
Thank you Anthony, that was a great lesson.
I was always loving the 'phase' part, but couldn't quite count the 2 parts out.
BTW ... the woman's podcast you were on a while back was interesting and enjoyable.
I will be re-watching it 'cause I had some Q's for you.
Happy Easter 🎵
Awesome. Thanks Marc. Robert plays a bar of 7 and then a bar of 6 by cutting the last note of the motif. Do that 7 times in a row and both guitars are back in unison.
@@MakeWeirdMusici don't get what happens after the 1st time he drops a beat. So, Fripp goes 7,7,7,6 right? and then continues in 7 or what?
I try these fast 16th notes for a few minutes now and I'm already in pain...:D I play surf rock a lot and there's some fast picking going on too but nothing like this... Wow, very very challenging...
Valiant approach. I'm kinda surprised how close our old band (Ice Nine, UP, MI, USA, '81-'83) came to these transcriptions just making it up on the fly. Of course, I'd have to listen closer (haven't really studied the album in maybe 40 years), but I'd argue with a couple of points in the Big Book.
I bought a couple seats to Beat Denver - 4th row center. It oughta be fun! I don't think I've experienced these tunes live since Ann Arbor '8...2?
Wow, you're the real deal! Thanks for sharing
I saw them in Ann Arbor in 1982! State St Theatre, IIRC.
That was excellent! Thank you! 👍👍👍⚡️⚡️⚡️🔥🔥🔥
Glad you enjoyed it
RF was a nut - in another life he would have made paintings on the head of a pin.
The effort expended on that fast opening seems very high given that the part seems to be firmly in the background.
But it propels the song rapidly into the stratosphere.
This song fully broke music open for me and made me want to discover things that weren’t there.
Nice execution of the guitar parts and true - the phasing concept is inspired by Steve Reich/Philip Glass-minimalism. Crimson's later three-drummers-doing-different-stuff is inspired by Kip Hanrahan. Listen to Kip Hanrahan's album "Vertical's Currency" with Jack Bruce - e.g. the track "Smiles and Grins" 🙂
Fantastic work, Anthony, such a gorgeous song, up there for me with Adrian's All Her Love is Mine.
My take on the performance... I've always heard a hard palm-muting staccato alternating with sustenuto at the end of the opening phrases that has enough resonance to breath a depth of the instrument that stuck hard in my brain. Da dup DuPP, Da daaa, Da Dah Dap, Da da daaaa... Kind of a jazz tango be-bop?
Just my take and now I wonder if I remembered it correctly (given the thousands of times I listened to it it's hard to imagine I didn't, but you know brains). Otherwise, perfect rendition and that's saying a lot for such a delicately layered sound and composition. Thanks for sharing, it really makes me miss my old EHX 16 second delay that I had before I bought Discipline back in the 80s. Your new looper sounds incredible!
Edit: after re-listening, I'm hearing the accuracy of your performance more clearly. I still think I hear alternating whammy dives, staccato and sustenuto at the end of the phrase, intermittently in my memory, but from the perspective of using a looper this performance makes more sense. Kind of funny, sad and yet hopeful that I'm still learning to hear and listen after all of these years.
You are correct that Adrian uses a lot of whammy bar dives and whatnot. I was just providing an illustration of what he does purely from a musical standpoint, not an accuracy/replication standpoint.
@@MakeWeirdMusic Can't wait to get the next release of this book!
I think he's also doing stuff like "quickly turning the repeat time down on a delay pedal" (or the feedback up?) for some of the phrase endings.
One of the 80s VHS live concerts shows this (he uses some kind of high-mounted pedal/processor box).
@@azngoku666 Yep that's the Electroharmonix 16-Second Delay that I mentioned. It was a blast to play with! I think somebody has built a replica for production. I'd certainly consider getting another one.
Regarding picking direction. I start on an up stroke. I pretty much start most things with an up stroke. I’ve just always done that. Then I remember Robert commenting that Fracture should start on an up stroke!
Robert said that one should try Fracture starting with an upstroke as an exercise, but he starts with a downstroke.
I never thought of trying this piece starting on an up, though
7:33 fripp said it comes from Balinese gamelan music no? Great video thanks!
People look at me like I'm crazy when I say Fripp is the greatest minimalist rock musician, I guess they connotate minimalist with being simple or easy
When are we going to get a Duck Stab transcription book???
😂😂😂
Awesome!
A bit more detail on the part where Fripp is dropping a note in the phase part would be great. Very hard to grasp exactly what he’s doing
Excellent content. Keep it up! 💪🏻🧠🔥
Thank you, Yoshi!
i don't play guitar, but this seems so hard to play.
just the stamina required to play those motifs for extended periods is insane.
i saw KC on their Discipline tour about 40 years ago.
Thanks for the lesson 😊
You’re welcome!
Talk about a runaway bullet train! Leave it to Robert "Swift fingers" Fripp to pose a challenge! My fingers hurt just thinking about learning that!
Dude is amazing.
@@MakeWeirdMusic Absofreakinlutely! Add to that he picked other amazing musicians to be in his band, making it all the more mind blowing!🤯 Kapoooooofkaaaaaaaah!🤕 Oh, and Zappa too for that matter.🤪
Thanks for these great videos! Hail weirdness!🤭
I hope you’re practicing Steve 😂 looks relentless
I *might* have made this video for him. :)
Very interesting! I don't have much realistic hope that long work days and 48 year old sausages that only have been on the guitar casually for a few years will get there, but this is cool stuff for a Frippinista and Belewian to understand more about.
You can do it!
Just play Belew's verse part over & over - it's great fun & encouraging. I learned it at 40 & still use it to warm up at 50. Chonky phalanges shouldn't necessarily hold you back from doing that.
Fripp could play that stuff because he's a machine. A scary machine.
A terrifying, relentless, but very kind machine.
I'd love to see how you play Three of a Perfect Pair. The Fripp part in the book seems a bit overcomplicated (no pun intended), but maybe I've just got my fingering wrong. Or I just suck.
That’s a good idea. Thanks! I made a TikTok of myself playing it somewhere on here: tiktok.com/@anthonygarone
Thanks a lot !
i'm 20 years younger thanks to this tutorial
One of the best purchases I've ever made
Which edition did you get, Sam?
@@MakeWeirdMusic First edition December 2020
😁
Thank you for this! I love your channel. By the way, in Robert's videblog "Robert At Home - May 2023" he addresses Frame by Frame and gives some very useful technical exercises.
Yes, that has some great insights. Thanks for the compliment.
Down, up, down, up, down, up, down, down... is how Robert explained how he picks that part 15:25 the same as you do.
Down on the 1
I find the riff is a lot more complicated than it seems. I'm usually just happy to play it right, I haven't worried too much about picking direction... don't tell RF.
That first chord is part of the mystery chord that begins
‘A Hard Day’s Night’.
“AM I WRONG?!”
Hahah, well Adrian loves the Beatles
Great stuff but a bit too difficult for me, I'm afraid. But more songs ! Yes, thanks !
Awesome video! What´s the looper you are using in the video? Thanks!
Thanks for the lesson, turns out I've been playing Belew's intro part a bit wrong having learned it by ear. Question though, didn't Fripp play his parts on Discipline in New Standard Tuning or did that come later?
RF started playing in NST for KC with Thrak. Everything prior is standard tuning
No wonder Robert calls his several hours of daily practice his "calisthenics".
Had to come watch this after hearing Steve Vai say that this hurt to play.
i tend to place it in the gamelan genre
damn...those 16th pentatonic killed my right hand...
Yeah, I think I might make a video just about that part.
Nice!
Hi Anthony. I’ve been messing with this one off & on over the years & for the 1st part of the phasing lic I’ve been using my ring finger to play both the F# & B notes, rolling it (with varying degrees of success). I noticed you & others use your middle finger for the F# & ring finger for the B, which I’ve just now tried & feels awkward to me. I know you might say, “play whatever works for you,” but wondering if you can comment on the advantages of your fingering. I’ve been playing long enough to have developed some bad habits & unlearning them is no stranger to me 😀 Thanks!
PS: I also end up using my little finger once the riff changes, due to smallish fingers & the reach.
Rolling the finger (what Robert calls "the Paganini technique") is very tricky to pull off with this riff. I don't advise it. Using separate fingers gives you more control over tone, volume, and note length. I tried playing it your way and it's doable, but I don't see the advantage.
@@MakeWeirdMusic Probably why it doesn’t always work for me. I’ll give the separate fingers a go. Thanks, Anthony.
Neal and Jack and Me next please.🙏
NOOOOOOOOOOO. That’s the one song I do NOT understand haha
@@MakeWeirdMusic LOL
@makeweirdmusic Interesting, in the tab book Robert's into riff - and variations of - are 1 note on the A string and 3 notes on the D string, but that's not how you're playing it and the way you play it is much MUCH easier. I have the First edition December 2020 book, has there been a change in the reprints?
There has been a change and that was my mistake!! We found a video of Robert that looked like he was playing it that way and we couldn’t find any others…until right after the book was printed.
@@MakeWeirdMusic oh no :/ Mr Fripp himself posted a video recently playing it in the "pentatonic" scale shape and my brian just went :boom: Does this mean I need to buy one of the reprints as well ;)
Yep!!
Robert says that if you not practicing "slow", you are not practicing.
Could you make a small video tutorial practicing fripp’s fast part on a metronome?… Im having a lot of trouble figuring it out, unless I just can’t reach that speed but I feel like I’m playing it wrong because I play it at 157 bpm but I’m not playing it as fast so i think I don’t know what phrasing I’m supposed to be practicing it slow with. Thank you!
Goozoo? Like the Persian word? lol
Yeah, I think I can do a video about that.
@@MakeWeirdMusic wow I had no idea that was a real word but it’s just supposed to be something one of my baby siblings used to call me… 🤣
much appreciated
Do i need to use fripp's new standard tuning or is this on standard tuning?
Wonderfully, RF played standard tuning in the 80s!
@@MakeWeirdMusic oh great, i thought he started using NST starting with discipline, i hear that not all strings work with it so i was worried i'd have to buy new strings to sound right, thank you
what's that piece of equipment your guitar is plugged into? noob question, i know
It's a Quad Cortex by Neural DSP
Does it also have Tony's Stick parts?
Yep.
Why am i drawn to this stuff AND two chord punk songs??
Cuz you’re human?
@@MakeWeirdMusic and can play somewhere in between those. On a good day
Great video. When I play this I'm always struck by how the "phasing intervals" seem to match with the vocal changes or the bass notes or something.
Don't really know how to describe what I mean, but there's something special going on there..?
No, yeah! When those two guitar licks go out of sync and start phrasing, they loop back around to being back in sync just as Adrian starts singing, which is just an incredible detail.
meshuggah is also akin to gamelan i like them!
Ha, I cannot say I agree, but I can see where you're coming from.
I love primary colours trilogy.
Hah. Never thought of it that way.
The chords require the whammy in my opinion. Just not the same song without the down bends.
What are your effects and settings to get the tones?
I have literally no idea. Some pre-built setting in the Quad Cortex and this Chinese knock-off telecaster that I just put a Mad Hatter Guitar Products kit in.
@@MakeWeirdMusic Haha thanks. Would be cool to a follow up explaining Larks Tongues Part III, the intro. I still can't quite figure out the picking...is is straight alternate picking the whole time or D-D-U?
Yep. All alternate picking. Crazy.
Wow 75 bucks. Cannot get that with my budget...
But I wanna learn this song!
What is the piece of equipment you’re using to record?
NeuralDSP Quad Cortex
My ear may be off but is he playing the fripp part at x1.5 speed?
No. I don't do that stuff.
The transcript book of the discipline era, is unfortunately sold out. Could I buy a copy from you?
Sorry, I don’t have extras.
Fripp is an actual black magikian
Haha
Playing Fripps part to a human must be same as a CPU trying to mine a block of bitcoin ❤🔥❤🔥
My forearms fine playing this but i get really sore in the left pec
is this in RF's 'modern standard' tuning
That's what I was going to ask about. (I think it's "new standard" tuning.)
Fripp didn't use that tuning in 80s Crimson, he started using it exclusively on everything afterwards
80’s crimson is best crimson
I think Thrak and later are my favorites
🔥