Spirits in the Material World - The Police (cover)
Cover notes: 1. Why this song? 2. The groove: Jamacian ska 3. Time signature 1. My dad introduced me to The Police when I was just a wee lad. Their album "Every Breath You Take -- The Singles" was nearly on repeat mode throughout my childhood. The musicianship with the songs on that album is amazing, and it is particulary good on this track, "Spirits in the Material World." I chose this song as a test for myself, to see if I can craft a product that is somewhat worthy of their skill level. 2. The Police had many songs with a raggae punk feel. This song, thanks to Wikipedia, is a Jamacian ska groove. The feel for this song is incredibly unique, an interplay of ska on the verses and good 80's rock on the choruses. 3. On the verses, beat 1 is hard to find. There is so much going on "around" beat 1 that it becomes hard to "feel." Either there are time signature changes or it's just something in my head, I'm not sure, but whatever the case I had to use different clues to signal me when to play. I listened to the keyboard hits and used them to help me know when to come back in after each chorus. A pair of drum sticks to any of my students who can figure out if there are time signature changes in this song or not!
Cover notes: 1. Why this song? 2. The groove: Jamacian ska 3. Time signature 1. My dad introduced me to The Police when I was just a wee lad. Their album "Every Breath You Take -- The Singles" was nearly on repeat mode throughout my childhood. The musicianship with the songs on that album is amazing, and it is particulary good on this track, "Spirits in the Material World." I chose this song as a test for myself, to see if I can craft a product that is somewhat worthy of their skill level. 2. The Police had many songs with a raggae punk feel. This song, thanks to Wikipedia, is a Jamacian ska groove. The feel for this song is incredibly unique, an interplay of ska on the verses and good 80's rock on the choruses. 3. On the verses, beat 1 is hard to find. There is so much going on "around" beat 1 that it becomes hard to "feel." Either there are time signature changes or it's just something in my head, I'm not sure, but whatever the case I had to use different clues to signal me when to play. I listened to the keyboard hits and used them to help me know when to come back in after each chorus. A pair of drum sticks to any of my students who can figure out if there are time signature changes in this song or not!