Transcription Exercises

Date Submitted: 20-Mar-96
By: Reginald Hunt (rphunt at tiac dot com)

I plan to submit some transcriptions of King Crimson and Fripp pieces to Elephant Talk, however I have what seems a neat idea. The intense skill level required by a lot of Fripp's work demands that certain guitar fundamentals be mastered. The great thing is, certain parts of Crimson material, when extracted, make great exercises for preparing to play Frippmusik. So I thought I would present a few Fripp riffs that I find helpful for bringing up one's chops. Please note that everything is in standard tuning.

1. "Fracture" Riff #1
Play this slightly stacatto. Alternate pick direction constantly (i.e. down, up, down, up). Try to keep the pick pointing straight at the guitar body. Try not to rest your hand on the guitar, let it swing free from the wrist.

 1       2       3       4         1       2       3       4
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
|-5-------7-------5---7---5---7---|-5-------7-------5---------------|
|---6-4-6---6-4-6---6---6---6---6-|---6-4-6---6-4-6---6-4-------4-6-|
|---------------------------------|-----------------------5-3-5-----|

2. "Fracture" Riff #2
All notes should be allowed to ring constantly. Alternate pick strokes as above.

  1       2       3       4       5         1       2       3       4       5

|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
|-----6---6-------6---6-------6-------6---|-----6---6-------6---6-------6-------6---|
|---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6-|---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6-|
|-------------3-----------5-------6-------|-5-----------3-----------5-------6-------|
|-4---------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------|

2. "Lark's Tongues in Aspic" Riff #3
Same performance notes as Riff #1. Note that the "(____)" is an attempt at a tie. The "^5" means to bend the note above it to the pitch of the 5th fret.

  1   2   3   4   5     1   2   3   4   5   6
|---------------------|-------------------------|
|---------------------|-------------------------|
|---------------------|---------------5---6---7-|
|-----6-----6---5---4-|-----6-----6-4---5---6---|
|---5-----5---4---3---|---5-----5---------------|
|-3-----3-------------|-3-----3-----------------|


  1   2   3   4   5   6    1    2    3    4    5     6
|-------------------------|--------------------11-------13-|
|-------------------------|-----10----------10-------12----|
|-----------------8-----9-|---8------10-9-8-------10-------|
|-----6-----7---7-----8---|-7------8-----------------------|
|---5-----6---5-----6-----|--------------------------------|
|-3-----4-----------------|--------------------------------|

  1     2     3      4   5   6     1     2
|-------14-----------------------|------------|
|----13----13--------------------|------------|
|-11----------11-----------------|------------|
|----------------10--4-------4---|------------|
|----------------------3---3---5-|-5-----3----|
|------------------------2-------|------------|
                               (___)     ^5 (bend, slowly release)

These three are a good start. Enjoy.

One of the more amazing facets of Fripp's playing is his use of rapid jumps around the fingerboard, usually with octaves. The two examples below are good for getting that technique under one's belt. Try to keep the left hand loose.

1. "21st Century Schizoid Man" Riff #1

----------------------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------------------|
-15--10--12----15--10--12----15--10--12---10--8--5--|
----------------------------------------------------|
-13--8---10----13--8---10----13--8---10---8---6--3--|
----------------------------------------------------|


--------------------------------------------------||
--------------------------------------------------||
-12--8---10---12--8---10---12--8---10---10--8--5--||
--------------------------------------------------||
-10--6---8----10--6---8----10--6---8----8---6--3--||
--------------------------------------------------||

2. "Great Deceiver" Riff #2

------------------------------------------------------|
--------------------------------------------14--12-10-|
-9--12--12--9--12--12--9--12--12--9--12--9------------|
--------------------------------------------11--9--7--|
-7--10--10--7--10--10--7--10--10--7--10--7------------|
------------------------------------------------------|


---------------------------------------------------||
--------------------------------------------15--14-||
-9--12--12--9--12--12--9--12--12--9--12--9---------||
--------------------------------------------12--11-||
-7--10--10--7--10--10--7--10--10--7--10--7---------||
---------------------------------------------------||