Give It... bass intro

[eht13]

Silly question, but I've always been kind of curious... maybe one of the bassists/guitarists here can help. I can't "figure out" the bass intro of Give It, as far as what that riff comes from (not from a playing perspective, just a listening one... I only play the drums). Is it its own stand-alone riff or does it come from one of the main riffs of the song? Is it a repeated snippet of a larger riff, or part of the one of the riffs played backwards or something? Thanks.

[JonCurcio]

I think it's a standalone riff.

[IFutureman]

I know this is a very old post, but what the hell, it was never really answered, so here is my tab for the intro to "Give It".

It is a stand-alone riff.

The song itself is in 4/4, with each quarter note consisting of an eight-note triplet. So, it's really in 12/8. But the intro is in 5/4, or more accurately, 15/8. Just think 5/4 with a triplet feel to each beat. The whole feel of this song is not really that different from a blues shuffle like, say "Pride And Joy" by Stevie Ray Vaughan or "Roadhouse Blues" by the Doors. it's all about the triplets. Of course Stanier's jazzy drumming and crazzy accents take it well out of the realm of a blues shuffle, but the basic rhythm is still there.

The bass actually just plays one weird cycle in 15/8, over and over.

This message board does not allow for elaborate formatting that I would normally use for tab. You can't leave more than one space between characters. So what I've done is insert a dash to signify: let the note ring for that beat.

First, the bass all alone (two measures of 15/8):

5 - 0 3 - 5 0 - 3 0 - 3 5 - 0
5 - 0 3 - 5 0 - 3 0 - 3 5 - 0

Then the band crashes in. The guitars play each chord 15 times (steady eighth notes, triplet feel) except the last one (G, 5th fret), where they do a slight twist at the very end before dropping into the body of the song.

5 - 0 3 - 5 0 - 3 0 - 3 5 - 0 (bass)
12 (guitars - steady triplets)

5 - 0 3 - 5 0 - 3 0 - 3 5 - 0 (bass)
10 (guitars - steady triplets)

5 - 0 3 - 5 0 - 3 0 - 3 5 - 0 (bass)
9 (guitars - steady triplets)

5 - 0 3 - 5 0 - 3 0 - 3 5 - 6 (bass)
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 - 6 (guitars)

I hope somebody finds this useful or at least amusing.

[bornannoying]

The song itself is in 4/4, with each quarter note consisting of an eight-note triplet. So, it's really in 12/8. But the intro is in 5/4, or more accurately, 15/8. Just think 5/4 with a triplet feel to each beat. The whole feel of this song is not really that different from a blues shuffle like, say "Pride And Joy" by Stevie Ray Vaughan or "Roadhouse Blues" by the Doors. it's all about the triplets. Of course Stanier's jazzy drumming and crazzy accents take it well out of the realm of a blues shuffle, but the basic rhythm is still there.

I hope somebody finds this useful or at least amusing.

Those 5/4 triplets stumped me for close on a whole day when I first tried to transcribe this tune. You obviously know your theory way better than I do, so it's nice to hear that I got it right after all that effort!

[eht13]

Thanks, IFutureman!