Product Description
One does not simply walk into their local music store to find a string arrangement like this one... Unlike much of what you'll find out in the world of cheap gig music, this was in fact written BY a string player who has played in symphony orchestras, rock bands, and everything in between; who knows what gigging as a quartet looks like, but also what will wow your audiences without requiring weeks of rehearsal to prepare. So leave your days of sight-reading through piano scores behind and give your quartet some firepower with this hard hitting chart, that will surely enable your ensemble to do at least a little justice to this legendarily emotional banger from Ireland's finest!
Bono's soaring vocal melodies on this tune offer more than enough material on their own to tug at an audience's heartstrings, but in this chart you'll also find faithful adaptations of the iconic guitar & bass parts (performed by cello & viola) that truly make this song one of a kind. Using extended string techniques like chopping & strum bowing, you'll feel as if you're rocking out with the band... with no need to hire those annoying extra musicians. But as we all know, strings have much more to offer dynamically than simply plodding along mimicking a rock band, so I've taken several select moments in this chart to break away briefly from those driving grooves into more open, contemplative textures, truly allowing this instrumentation to shine in its own unique way.
All of that said, maybe rhythmic string playing isn't your thing and you just need a chart that classical string players can read through on a cocktail gig where the buyer clearly doesn't pay attention to the lyrical content of their song requests. If that's the case, I've provided a couple alternate figures at the back of the book that can be used to replace the percussive stuff in the viola part, making it much simpler without sacrificing too much of the energy. OR if you want to go even further, maybe you DO want to hire that band after all so you can just relax and play some melody lines. Lucky for you I have included a rhythm section lead sheet as part of the music packet, so that any auxiliary musicians you want to add in will be able to follow along with ease.
If you have absolutely no idea what "chopping" and "strum bowing" are, and you'd like to expand your horizons and learn a bit more, I highly recommend this resource: https://strum-bowing-groove-academy.teachable.com?coupon_code=KYLE20&affcode=459429_z8y3atf
As mentioned before though, these techniques are not 100% necessary to handle this arrangement, so feel free to experiment on your own and add them in as you feel comfortable.
Enjoy this chart, and don't be afraid to do a little head-banging once that groove really locks in!
Performance time - approximately 4:05-4:20 depending on how hard you want to push the tempo
Questions? Feel free to contact me via my website, www.kylepudenz.com/ or on the 'Insta @theviolinvagabond
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.