message in a bottle - piano vocal gtr chords + gtr riff tab
DESCRIPTION
Message in a Bottle: Piano, Vocal, GTR boxes + GTR Riff. Piano & GTR sheet.TRANSCRIPT
Fast
Cf m9
WORDS AND MUSIC BY STING
Just a cast - a - way,- anA year
- has passed since I
Walked out this morn - ine I
AmaJ?
ffi3rd
Con 9va
-l:r 9
Flm
ffiis - land
wrote mydon't be
lost -
atnote -lieve what
here- but
on-. the
saw
me
shore
I2x
sea
I
stm.
a - nuz-zer lonebut X should have knowna hun-dred bil - lion
more loneonly hope can
seems like I'm not
no - onestart
washed up
than an - yto - getha - lone
man - could bearer
the
-t,rr9
ffill:
ü
A
O COPYRIGHT 1979 VIRGI.ry V-U^S]Q.(EqB!Iq!ERS) LTD., 95/99 LADBROKE GROVE, LONDON W11.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHTSECURED. '
Amaj? AmajT
Amaj? Flm
ffiAmaj?
Amaj?
iy day, -this right from
bot - tles
-
- li - nesskeep me
-'a-lone in being-
AmajT
53
Amat?
ÉH
Con 8ve
To Coda Q cf-
Amaio
ffiCf m9
ffi
loco
ffi
Res - cueLovg- can
me- bemend- yourcast - a
fore- Ilife
- but
ways -
fall -
inlove
- can
look - ing
to- des - pairbreak your heart-
r -
a home-
tr
I11 send- an S.- O.- S.- to the world- I'11 send- an S.- O.- S.- to th:
I hope- that some - one gets _ ffiy, I hope that some - one ,gets -
ffiy,
I hope-that some - one gets- my- mes-sage in- a bot tle- ye¿:--
mes- sage
., ,t Con 8ve
$cona
a
bot tle -
oh yeah.
Repeat to fade
D.X. al.Coda ffi
Con Svecfm
mes-sage m
-
Cf m9
ffi
loco
Amaj?Amaj?
f-rCon 8ve
55
MESSAGE IN A BOTTLEWords and Music by Sting
FigurelT-lntro, verse, pre-chorus, and chorus
Melding punk, reggae, R&B, 20th century modernism, and various divergent
forms of rock, The Police forged an arresting new sound for the coming decade as the sev-
enties drew to a close. Presaging the textural school, new wave, techno pop, and post-
punk minimalism, the resourceful British trio brought some truly innovative musical tan-
gents to the contemporary scene. Though the majority of their output was more rhythmi-
cally-based than riff-oriented, "Message in a Bottle," from 1979's Regatta De Blanc (liter'
altranslation:"white reggae"), is an exception, containing one of the most imaginative and
intriguing melodic riffs in rock and pop. With Stewart Copeland's unique rhythm feel,
Sting's inimitable vocal style, and Andy Summers'strikingly brave new guitar approach, it
is more than a message in a bottle-it is a blaring wake-up call for the eighties.
"Message in a Bottle" revolves around Summers'strange but compelling interval-
lic riff. Harnessing his background in jazz and 20th century composition, he came up with
one of the most exotic and immediately recognizable figures in rock history. The riff is
based on quintal harmony (chords built on fifth intervals). Quintal is derived from "quintas,"
meaning five in Latin. The four chord shapes in the rifl are arpeggiated forms of Cfsus2,
Asus2, Bsus2, and F#sus2, and each of these voicings is made of two consecutive fifths.
These stacked fifth chords give the riff its unusual, open, intervallic sound. lt is heard
throughout the song: in the intro, verses, and outro, and is harmonized with a second gui-
tar (Gtr. 2) playing a similar intervallic melody a third or fifth above. Two other notable riffs
include the driving, clean power-chord rhythm figure in the pre-chorus and the sustaining
Cfm to A progression of the chorus. Both were virtual prototypes for the minimalistic "new
wave" guitar approach of the early eighties.Featured Guitars:Gtr. 1 meas. 1-46
Slow Demos:Gtr. 1 meas. 1-2
t3r313
F# sus2
Fig. 11
Gtr. 1 (clean)
x Verse1 . Oh ! Just a cast aw&], an island2. A year has passed since I
Gtr. 2: w/ Rhy. Fill 1, 1st time , (7 ll2 times)
C#(sus2) Asus2 Bsus2 F# sus2
lntroFastRockJ =I52
Gtr. 2: w/ Rhy. Fill 1, 2 times
C#(sus2) Asus2 Bsus2
Rhy.Fill 1
Gtr.2 (clean)
let ring throughout
Copyright @ 1979 Gordon M. SumnerPublished by Magnetic Publishing Ltd. (PRS)
Represented by Blue Turtle Music and Administered by Almo Music Corp. (ASCAP) in the U.S. and CanadaInternational Copyright Secured All Rights Reserved 51
lost at sea.wrote mv note.
no one here but me.start.
Another loneI should have
ly day,known this from the
oh. More lonelinessOnly hope can keep me
any man could bear.together.
into despair,love can break
oh.heart.
Gtr. 2: w/ Rhy. FlIl 2
RescueLove can
Pre-ChorusI'11 send
A5an s.o.s.
Ilife
the worldE5
beforeyour
fallbut
your toD5
/ ,D^) )1
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I'll send an
Gtr. 3: w/ Fill 5, 3rd time
A5
to the world.
E5
I hope thatGtr. 3: w/ Fiil 2, 2nd ttme
Ffs
some - one _gets m) .
Gtr. 3: w/ Fill 6. 3rd time
D5mmDmP.M.
To Coda fi
F#s
I hope that some - one gets ffiy,
D5
I hope that some
F#s
one gets my
D5
ffN TTD ID ITD IT) ITD IT) D )
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Chorusmessage in a bottle, yeah.
Gtr. 3: w/ Fill 3, 2nd time
C#m A
Message in a bottle, yeah.Whoa.Gtr. 3: w/ Fill 1
A
/{}
c#m
/A
/
-
full
(8va) TAAAAI
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Message in a bottle, Yeah.Gtr. 3: w/ Fill 4
Message in a bottle, yeah.
A
/A
/C#m A
//cfmI
c#m
// --
€)-------{}e-..--{E}-------
€l ------ €)c---c-------
r ^AAa^
t
l3l -----//TAAA'IAAA'
P.H.(8va)
,
1aF -/F-t
* Notes in parenthesises indicate octave-above harpharmonic. Use your pickhand index finger to engageharmonic and pluck behind with your thumb.
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G
@3fr
DE@openRHYTHM SLASHES are written above the
staff. Strum chords in the rhythm indicated.Use the chord diagrams found at the top ofthe first page of the transcription for theappropriate chord voicings, Roundnoteheads indicate single notes.
THE MUSICAL STAFF shows pitches andrhythms and is divided by bar lines intomeasures. Pitches are named after the firstseven letters of the alphabet.
TABLATURE graphically represents theguitar fingerboard. Each horizontal linerepresents a string, and each numberrepresents a fret.
HALF-STEP BEND: Strike the note and bendup 112 step.
BEND AND RELEASE: Strike the note andbend up as indicated, then release back to theoriginal note, 0nly the first note is struck.
4th string, 2nd fret
WHOLE-STEP BEND: Strike the note andbend up one step.
Notes:
F5FF
Strings:
HAMMER-0N: Strike the first (tower) note withone finger, then sound the higher note (on thesame string) with another finger by fretting itwithout picking.
TRILL: Very rapidly alternate between thenotes indicated by continuously hammeringon and pulling off.
PULL-OFF: Place both fingers 0n the notesto be sounded. Strike the first note andwithout picking, pull the finger off to soundthe second (lower) note.
TAPPING: Hammer ("tap") the fret indicatedwith the pick-hand index or middle finger andpull off to the note fretted by the fret hand.
PRE-BEND: Bend the note as indicated, thenstrike it.
VIBRAT0: The string is vibrated by rapidlybending and releasing the note with thefretting hand.
LEGATO SLIDE: Strike the first note anothen slide the same fret-hand finger up ordown to the second note. The second noteis not struck.
NATURAL HARMON|C: Strike the note whitethe fret-hand líghtly touches the stringdirectly over the fret indicated.
PICK SCRAPE: The edge of the pick isrubbed down (or up) the string, producinga scratchy sound.
MUFFLED STBINGS: A percussive sound isproduced by laying the fret hand across thestring(s) without depressing, and striking themwith the pick hand.
PALM MUTING: The note is parlially mutedby the pick hand lighfly touching thestring(s) just before the bridge.
TREMOL0 PICKING: The note is picked asrapidly and continuously as possible.
VIBRATO BAR DIVE AND RETURN: Ihepitch of the note or chord is dropped a
specified number of steps (in rhythm) thenreturned to the original pitch.
VIBRATO BAR SC00p: Depress the bar justbefore striking the note, then quicklyrelease the bar.
Guitar Notation LegendGuitar Music can be notated three different ways: on a musical staff, in
DAtablature, and in rhythm slashes.
WIDE VIBRATO: The pitch is varied to a greaterdegree by vibrating with the fretting hand
SHIFT SLIDE: Same as legato slide, exceptthe second note is struck.
PINCH HARM0NIC: The note is frettednormally and a harmonic is produced by addingthe edge of the thumb or the tip of the indexfinger of the pick hand to the normal pick attack
RAKE: Drag the pick across the stringsindicated with a single motion.
VIBRATO BAR DIP: Strike the note and thenimmediately drop a specified number ofsteps, then release back to the original pitch
m4 r)
1st & 2nd strings open, open D chordplayed together
GRACE NOTE BEND: Strike the note and bend up asindicated. The first note does not take up any time.
SLIGHT (MICR0TONE) BEND: Strike thenote and bend up 1/4 step.
-1t2 -1t2 -U2VVV
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