Under the Bridge

Only available on StudyMode
  • Topic: Key signature, Relative key, Musical keys
  • Pages : 2 (560 words )
  • Download(s) : 411
  • Published : December 5, 2011
Open Document
Text Preview
Under The Bridge

‘Under The Bridge’ is a relatively slow song with lots of chord progressions. When it was released, on their 1991 album ‘Blood Sugar Sex Magik’, it sent the band into mainstream success. This led to the department of their guitarist, John Frusciante, who couldn’t cope with the fame and spiralled into a serious heroin addiction. However, he would later return to join the band in 1998 to work on the album ‘Californication’. The song remains to be a landmark song for the band.

The song has a 4/4 time signature throughout the entire song. The song is generally in the key of E major.

The first section of the song has a tempo of 69 beats per minute. It only consists of Frusciante playing ascending arpeggios of D major to F sharp major with small fills in between them. This section is in the key of D major. It lasts for 8 bars.

The song then changes into the first verse and has a new tempo of 83 beats per minute. It also changes into the key of E major. Kiedis also starts singing. The chord pattern played from bars 9-16 is E major, B major, C sharp minor, G sharp minor and then A major. So it goes up a 5th, then up a tone, then goes up a 5th and then it goes up a semitone.

In bar 17-18 the percussion joins while the guitar plays the chord Emaj7 and the bass plays an E.

In bar 19, which is the second verse, it goes back to the chord progression with lots of fills to bar 26.

In bar 27-28, the guitar plays the chord Emaj7 and the bass plays an E.

The chorus has the same tempo. The chords change to F sharp minor, E major, B major then back to F sharp minor. Which from F sharp minor goes down a tone, then up a 5th and then up another 5th. This plays from bars 29-36. The bass plays F sharp 5, E, E, B, E, C sharp, B, B, E, F sharp and then F sharp. This is bars 29-36.

The next verse is the same as the second verse but Flea, the bass guitarist, starts to play the notes which harmonise with the chords Frusciante is playing so the...
tracking img