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The Snarky Puppy Songbook

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The Snarky Puppy Songbook Notes from Michael “Binky” written and arranged by Michael League transcribed by Chris McQueen recorded on groundUP, GroundUP Music / Ropeadope Records 2012 “Binky” was actually the first of the batch of new songs set to be recorded on groundUP. I think it came from the Afro-beat craze that had been dominating my current hometown of Brooklyn, New York (the working title was “Afropup”). Everyone that was cool had an Afro-beat band. I was not cool. I figured that the least I could do was write an Afro-beat song, and “Binky” was my attempt at it. As is normally the case with compositional intentions, I got distracted and the song drifted out of the desired direction into some strange other realm. We rehearsed it for the first time at Nate’s tiny apartment in Denton, Texas, during a tour in May of 2011. It was MUCH faster, and listening back to it now, feels a little more Afro-beatish that way. One of the most interesting things about the recording of this song on “groundUP” is Nate, Marcelo, and Keita’s very intricate and well-thought-out percussion parts. They interact with the bass line in an integral way… sliding them over even by an eighth or quarter note affects the groove massively. If you know Nate, you know how much he thinks about this stuff. Similar to the structure of the song “Flood” on Tell Your Friends, the hip-hop-ish outro to “Binky” is a metric permutation of previously stated musical material. I know that sounds really nerdy, but I can’t think of any other way to say it. Basically, the chords are the almost the same as the previous section (letters R & S). The section is still technically in 3/4, despite the fact that the band is playing with a 4/4 feel. To get REALLY nerdy, do this. Take the dotted quarter note of the original feel (in 3/4) and isolate it. This becomes the new quarter note of your 4/4 feel. In fact, everyone can play the written parts identically and if only the drums/percussion switch between 3/4 and 4/4 grooves, everything still locks in. Try it. It’s pretty crazy. But just like “Flood,” no one should know (or care) that the outro uses previously stated harmonic material in a metrically related-but-permutated manner. They should just want to shake their butts. So if you play everything absolutely correctly and nobody in the audience is moving, the band is missing the point. As for the title, we used “Afropup” for a while (I couldn’t think of anything that made sense). Normally, song titles reveal themselves to me in a natural way that relates deeply to the emotion or imagery that I’m trying to convey musically. In this case, I went months of playing it with no luck. I got desperate one night in Birmingham (Alabama, not UK) and asked people to scribble out song titles on napkins at the conclusion of the tune. There were some pretty funny suggestions, and there was “Binky.” It just sounded right. Sometimes you have to go with your gut. Off-the-page stuff to try: 1) Play the whole thing at a much faster tempo. 2) Change the feel of the first A section to anything you want. The melody is very versatile and sits well on top of loads of different grooves. 3) Change the harmony for the ramp-up (letters R and S), or keep it static (stay on C#m) and then revert to the original chords after building tension for a while. 4) Try a slow, half-timish groove over section S before building up 5) Abandon the bass line on the sax solo and just groove in C#. It can get really open here. 6) On the groove section at the end of the tune (letter U), experiment with pulling each part in and out, hip-hop-production-style. It works nicely. 7) On that same section, try having the drums play a more 3/4-based groove. C Melody Binky Michael League shakers A congas 11 B 17 C 24 D E 36 F 44 51 G 55 59 H legato V.S. Copyright © 2012 2 C Melody 62 I 66 J Open for solos 76 K Play melody 1st & last x 83 L 4x 90 M Esus9 Fmaj9 Esus9 Dm9 96 N Bsus7 C6 Bsus7 Bbmaj7(#11) 4x 98 O Esus9 Fmaj9 Esus9 Dm9 102 P Bsus7 C6 Bsus7 Bbmaj7(#11) 104 Q legato C Melody 3 106 108 R 1st x only 4x - build throughout 112 S melody on synth only 1st x 115 118 Slower 120 T rit. Swung 16ths Drums Melody 2nd/4th x 126 U Repeat and fade with sass on repeat 130 B-flat Melody Binky Michael League shakers A congas 11 B 19 C 26 D E 40 F 46 51 G 55 59 H legato V.S. Copyright © 2012 2 B-flat Melody 62 I 64 Open for solos 68 J K Play melody 1st & last x 80 L 86 4x 92 M F#sus9 Gmaj9 F#sus9 Em9 96 N C#sus7 D6 C#sus7 Cmaj7(#11) 4x 98 O F#sus9 Gmaj9 F#sus9 Em9 102 P C#sus7 D6 C#sus7 Cmaj7(#11) 104 Q legato B-flat Melody 3 106 R 108 1st x only 4x - build throughout melody on synth only 1st x 112 S 115 118 120 Slower T rit. Swung 16ths Drums Melody 2nd/4th x U Repeat and fade 126 with sass on repeat 130 Guitar Binky Michael League shakers A congas 11 B C 27 D mf 33 E 39 F 45 51 G Esus9 Fmaj9 Esus9 Dm9 55 Esus9 Fmaj9 Esus9 Dm9 59 H Bsus7 C6 Bsus7 Bbmaj7(#11) Bsus7 C6 Copyright © 2012 2 Guitar 62 Bsus7 Bbmaj7(#11) I arp chord with open E pull-offs, let ring C#m9 66 C#m J 72 Open for solos 76 K Play melody 1st & last x 82 L 86 4x 92 M Esus9 Fmaj9 Esus9 Dm9 96 N Bsus7 C6 Bsus7 Bbmaj7(#11) 4x 98 O Esus9 Fmaj9 Esus9 Dm9 102 P Bsus7 C6 Bsus7 Bbmaj7(#11) Guitar 3 104 Q Bsus7 C6 Bsus7 Bbmaj7(#11) Bsus7 C6 107 R Bsus7 Bbmaj7(#11) C#m9arp chord with open E pull-offs, let ring 109 4x - build throughout 112 S C#m9 melody on synth only 1st x sim. 115 119 T C#m9arp chord with open E pull-offs, let ring Slower 123 F#m11 Drums rit. Swung 16ths mp Melody 2nd/4th x 126 U C#m Repeat and fade F#m C#m F#m hi voicing, reverb 130 C#m F#m C#m F#m D .
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