intros

[shawlie]

Did a search, but found not much from the past few years (a short topic about worship music intros but little else - if I did not overlook anything).

Ending songs is kind of fun - sometimes you might spend a bit of time on it and other times you might just end it, but seems like you have a lot of interesting options. Melody an octave higher or lower, or modulate to another key for a bit, harmonize the melody in a different way, or lose some of the bass notes, add a whole new repetative section (decending type progression). And lots more, of course.

I like to sometimes make up endings, but intros - don't think I ever came up with one. Maybe a few pick-up notes, a measure or two of the opening chord or just play the verse once with no singing/other instruments.

But now I am working on a few songs and would like to at least make up some kind of introduction for each, even a short one. One idea is a very shortened version of the verse (but that's kind of just like playing the song a bit before it starts). I'd love to work out something that "hints" at whats coming, without actually being "a bit of what's coming, but just a bit shorter."

It's all a matter of personal choice and your own creativity, but wonder if anyone has ideas to share. I suppose some things for the endings could be used for intros too, of course - perhaps that's also a way of thinking about it.

[Bern]

Personally, I use at times (if not most of the time) interludes as an intro. I find it somewhat pleasing to the ear in that it creates some cohesion in the piece.
That said, though, a lot depends on the composition and the mood you want to set. I believe, if listen closely, any composition will actually tell you if an intro is necessary or not.

[JonPR]

As you've discovered, intros mostly come from some other section of the song - that's if they're not simply a vamp on the opening chord (the lazy person's solution ).

Commonly, they consist of a catchy riff, that often seems like the first thing the composer would have thought of. (That was the case with the Stone's Satisfaction, and no doubt with a lot of classic pop/rock songs.)

It's best (IMO) if an intro does consist of some material from the main part of the song - because (a) it will then sound like it belongs, and (b) it saves you some work!

One idea is to convert the chord sequence of the chorus (or whatever part of the song has the most interesting sequence) into arpeggios of some kind. That's a way of producing a distinctive, riff-like opening.
It helps if you have some interesting chords (eg sus or add chords), but even simple chords can make an interesting intro when arpeggiated. Don't just arpeggiate up and down, but try strings in different orders.

[patrickgm60]

A short (~4 bars) figure that is unique from the verse or chorus and reappears later in the song is a nice intro method. Steely Dan has many good examples of this (Peg, Josie, Deacon Blues, Kid Charlemagne, etc.)

[spitco]

Check out Norman Blake. Grey Coat Soldiers comes to mind.

[stanron]

A long time ago I used to deputise lead guitar in bands and often got a line like; "This ones in G give us an intro. 2, 3, 4" and I'd have to start playing. If I didn't know the song, or even what the song was I found out that playing chord I, chord V and chord I and the singer would start the song without too much of a car crash. Later when I got to know some of the material I found that if I played the last line of the verse everyone would follow with no trouble.

You know the song you want to play and that is a great advantage. Chord I, chord V and chord I will still work with a lot of songs if you want a short intro and playing the last line of the verse will tell your audience in advance what you are about to play.

[JonPR]

The typical thing in 32-bar AABA jazz standards - at least when a vocalist needs cue-ing - is to play the last 4 bars of the sequence as an intro. Sometimes (maybe in faster tunes) this can be the last 8.
That's because the tunes tend to repeat the sequence a few times, so the ending is always a cue - a "turnaround" - back to the beginning.

BTW, probably the most famous example of a song where the intro is the chord sequence converted into arpeggios: Hotel Callifornia. (A great chord sequence, and they really milk it .)
Another one is "Sweet Child o'Mine", although the arpeggios become a riff that returns later in the song.

[Bern]

Originally Posted by JonPR

BTW, probably the most famous example of a song where the intro is the chord sequence converted into arpeggios: Hotel Callifornia. (A great chord sequence, and they really milk it .)

Heh, English man...you forgot the most famous above all famous ones...Satisfaction.

[JanVigne]

You should start by playing ... and this is THE RULE, not just some rule ... the sharped fourth degree of the Locrian mode and then proceed to the natural ninth of Dorian by sliding into it from the flatted sixth of ...

Obviously, I have no idea what I'm talking about. I was just trying to sound like those writers in the guitar magazines who do the "Play like ... " articles.


My advice; listen to some Patsy Cline and Jim Reeves.

No, really.

I just the other day heard an interview with Vince Gill and Paul Franklin. They have just released a new recording titled "Bakersfield" which is their tribute to the Bakersfield sound of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. Now, a lot of folks think of "country" music as a very simple style of playing. I tend to think of it as some very sophisticated musicians plying their trade in less than three minutes each.

Gill and Franklin made the comment that the time restrictions of traditional country recordings didn't allow for musicians to play around with stretched out ideas and themes. Within the allotted time which could fit on a ten cent (12 for a dollar) jukebox, the musicians needed to come up with hooks which, when dealing with intros, immediately set the tone for the song which was to follow. Usually based on a small section of the song (typically, the turnaround), within two measures or sometimes as few as four notes, you knew exactly the type of song you would hear.

Franklin is one of the most recorded musicians in Nashville today and ranks up with players such as James Burton in his ability to create a "style" for each song.

Listen to the intro to this and see if it gives you any ideas; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkeejskypV0

[Davis Webb]

Originally Posted by JonPR

As you've discovered, intros mostly come from some other section of the song - that's if they're not simply a vamp on the opening chord (the lazy person's solution ).

Commonly, they consist of a catchy riff, that often seems like the first thing the composer would have thought of. (That was the case with the Stone's Satisfaction, and no doubt with a lot of classic pop/rock songs.)

It's best (IMO) if an intro does consist of some material from the main part of the song - because (a) it will then sound like it belongs, and (b) it saves you some work!

One idea is to convert the chord sequence of the chorus (or whatever part of the song has the most interesting sequence) into arpeggios of some kind. That's a way of producing a distinctive, riff-like opening.
It helps if you have some interesting chords (eg sus or add chords), but even simple chords can make an interesting intro when arpeggiated. Don't just arpeggiate up and down, but try strings in different orders.

+1 on this. Arpeggios are a great way to open.

[mr. beaumont]

Any way you can get to V is good, particularly for singers...on duo gigs, whatever I use for an intro, I always make sure I give 'em that V.

[Mr Fixit eh]

In my experience with worship groups, the intro needs to be short - usually less than a full verse or full chord - folks lose interest and will get confused.

I often play the last line or phrase from the chorus, if there is one. These leads very naturally back to the opening line of the verse.

Steve

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Bern

Heh, English man...you forgot the most famous above all famous ones...Satisfaction.

Hi Bern,

I was thinking…Sweet Home Alabama…California Dreamin'…Dust in the Wind

And Steve (Mr Fixit) the culture of a congregation determines how long or brief musical intros need to be in a worship context.

[JonPR]

Originally Posted by Bern

Heh, English man...you forgot the most famous above all famous ones...Satisfaction.

Satisfaction is not an arpeggio!
(Maybe you're thinking of The Last Time??)

Another famous one is the Byrds Mr Tambourine Man - combination arp and scale riff.

There are - of course - countless riff-based intros, and there is some overlap between riffs and arpeggios.

[shawlie]

Thanks a lot for the all the ideas, replies and the link! I have been thinking about the suggestions and have been playing with them in some of the songs I want to work on.

Certainly one is fun to try. A section of the second part, single-line in melody, which leads back into the first section (well, maybe - the root chord anyway). I can now use that in the second section, too, more or less for some more variation.

The arpeggios I will try to use, too. I have one song that is a bit quick (think maybe 220 or so when it is ready - or 110 in cut-time, not sure how to best describe that) and was thinking of doing a short arpeggio over the first two/three chords but in half-time (then the song would seem to go into double-time when it starts).

If not arpeggio, perhaps a sort of simple chord-melody type intro. Just need to work out the chords better - have the sound in my head, but just can't seem to settle on something on the guitar (I "hear" it, just can't find it).

The third tune - wull think on more suggestions. Perhaps if I can find a third part/bridge first it will give more ideas - but all the suggestions are helping to get thinking about it all, thanks for the time and replies!