Loop tab by Jonny Greenwood

LOOP

(Many arigatous to Taka for helping me figure this out. You can see his great cover on
YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bryUrybp-xk)

This is a fascinatingly strange bit of music. At first listen, it sounds nightmarishly
unpredictable and chaotic. But there’s actually a formula to the madness.

As the title implies, the piece is built around a single looped phrase. To play it,
you’ll need a loop pedal (or some other means of looping your playing, like software).
Jonny uses an Akai Headrush E2, but any loop pedal will do the job. You’ll also need
extraordinary powers of concentration.

First you record the loop, then you play over the top. As each additional phrase is
shorter than the original loop, the entire piece phases, cycling out of sync and creating
wild patterns.

As there is a logical pattern to the piece, it doesn’t require as much memorisation as
it might appear. But the tricky part is the timing. You need to play BETWEEN the notes
of the initial loop. This takes a lot of practice, and it’s easy to get thrown off. I
suspect that Jonny “feels” the beat with the looped phrase on the off-beat, which is
counter-intuitive, but that’s Radiohead for you. (See also: Videotape, Little by
Little, The Butcher…)

So. First: the main loop. It’s an arpeggiated Ebm chord in 11/4, played staccato:

E||---------------------------11-----------------------11---||
B||------------11-----------------------11------------------||
G||----------------------11-----------------------11--------||
D||-------13-----------------------13-----------------------||
A||-----------------13-----------------------13-------------||
E||--11-----------------------------------------------------||

This loops for the entire piece.

Once that’s looping, play an arpeggiated Dm chord in 10/4, making sure to play each
note BETWEEN the notes of the original loop.

It follows exactly the same picking pattern as the main loop, but with the final note
chopped off:

E||---------------------------10-----------------------||
B||------------10-----------------------10-------------||
G||----------------------10-----------------------10---||
D||-------12-----------------------12------------------||
A||-----------------12-----------------------12--------||
E||--10------------------------------------------------||(x4)

Play this four times. Now play the same pattern in Db - but this time let the notes ring:

E||---------------------------9-----------------------||
B||------------9-----------------------9--------------||
G||----------------------9------------------------9---||
D||-------11-----------------------11-----------------||
A||-----------------11-----------------------11-------||
E||--9------------------------------------------------||(x4)


[Then C]

(staccato):
E||---------------------------8-----------------------||
B||------------8-----------------------8--------------||
G||----------------------9------------------------9---||
D||-------10-----------------------10-----------------||
A||-----------------10-----------------------10-------||
E||--8------------------------------------------------||(x4)


[Then B]

(let it ring):
E||---------------------------7---------------------||
B||------------7-----------------------7------------||
G||----------------------8----------------------8---||
D||-------9-----------------------9-----------------||
A||-----------------9-----------------------9-------||
E||--7----------------------------------------------||(x4)


[Now Bb]

This one is the exception, a simple strummed chord in good old 4/4:
E||--6--6--6--6--||
B||--6--6--6--6--||
G||--7--7--7--7--||
D||--8--8--8--8--||
A||--8--8--8--8--||
E||--6--6--6--6--|| (x4)

Finally, Ebm, back in staccato arpeggiated 10/4, as with the other overdubs:

E||---------------------------11-----------------------||
B||------------11-----------------------11-------------||
G||----------------------11-----------------------11---||
D||-------13-----------------------13------------------||
A||-----------------13-----------------------13--------||
E||--11------------------------------------------------||(x4)

Now we’re back to the start - but the notes have switched positions relative to the
loop thanks to the irregular timing. Play Db, C, B and Bb again, just as before.

Now for the ending. Keep the same picking pattern and 10/4 time signature throughout.


[First Ebm]

(staccato):
E||---------------------------11-----------------------||
B||------------11-----------------------11-------------||
G||----------------------11-----------------------11---||
D||-------13-----------------------13------------------||
A||-----------------13-----------------------13--------||
E||--11------------------------------------------------||(x4)


Then E

(let it ring):
E||---------------------------12-----------------------||
B||------------12-----------------------12-------------||
G||----------------------13-----------------------13---||
D||-------14-----------------------14------------------||
A||-----------------14-----------------------14--------||
E||--12------------------------------------------------||(x4)


Then Ebm again

(let it ring):
E||---------------------------11-----------------------||
B||------------11-----------------------11-------------||
G||----------------------11-----------------------11---||
D||-------13-----------------------13------------------||
A||-----------------13-----------------------13--------||
E||--11------------------------------------------------||(x4)


Then E again

(let it ring):
E||---------------------------12-----------------------||
B||------------12-----------------------12-------------||
G||----------------------13-----------------------13---||
D||-------14-----------------------14------------------||
A||-----------------14-----------------------14--------||
E||--12------------------------------------------------||(x4)


Then Gb

(let it ring):
E||---------------------------14-----------------------||
B||------------14-----------------------14-------------||
G||----------------------15-----------------------15---||
D||-------16-----------------------16------------------||
A||-----------------16-----------------------16--------||
E||--14------------------------------------------------||(x4)


Finally, Ab

(let it ring):
E||---------------------------4---------------------||
B||------------4-----------------------4------------||
G||----------------------5----------------------5---||
D||-------6-----------------------6-----------------||
A||-----------------6-----------------------6-------||
E||--4----------------------------------------------||(x4)

To finish, stop the loop and end on Ab.

To recap, the full series is:

Initial loop: Ebm (arpeggiated, staccato, 11/4) x 4


Overdubs:

Dm (arpeggiated, staccato, 10/4)  (x4)
Db (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4)
C (arpeggiated, staccato, 10/4)   (x4)
B (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4)   (x4)
Bb (strummed 4/4)                 (x4)

Ebm (arpeggiated, staccato, 10/4) (x4)
Dm (arpeggiated 10/4)             (x4)
Db (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4)
C (arpeggiated, staccato, 10/4)   (x4)
B (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4)   (x4)
Bb (strummed 4/4)                 (x4)

Ebm (arpeggiated, staccato, 10/4) (x4)
E (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4)   (x4)
Ebm (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4) (x4)
E (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4)   (x4)
Gb (arpeggiated, let ring, 10/4)  (x4)