Hey folks,
I hope this finds you well. I've had a student interested in pop music bring up a tune to look at. I have yet to do a Trap Music transcription, so I thought it'd be worth while. This track by The Chainsmokers has an eclectic sound. It really isn't hip-hop, where some of the stylings are coming from. The vocalist Daya is definitely singing and using melody. I think of this as club music. It's intended for dancehalls. Give Don't Let Me Down a listen and we'll get started.
Instrumentally there are a few components that are created. The song itself has two main pieces. The first section is a two bar loop using half note bass lines. We're in the key of B. The chord progression goes:
E B F# G#m
(IV I V vi)
Outside of the vocal melody there are two sub melodies present. The first one is the guitar that moves in a generally stepwise motion. It uses patterns from scales more often and is further in the mix than the second sub melody that is mainly arpeggiating.
The second section of the tune that could be called a chorus is where the "Trap" sound is present. Try to feel this visual representation when the song switches sections.
A: 1 e + a 2 e + a 3 e + a 4 e + a
B: 1 2 3 4
This is a great opportunity to expose 16th notes. When we break a beat of time into 4 equal pieces we get sixteenth notes that are counted 1 e + a. To make this piece feel authentic there are rests to acknowledge as well. The grid of 16th notes is the grid of modern pop music. Almost everything seems to primarily operate on this level of detail.
This difference is exaggerated by a build up that uses lots of rhythmic action and drops you off a cliff with hardly anything other than the strong beats to leave you flying.
The chorus is vastly simplified harmonically. There is one primary chord and a second that gets used to turn the phrase around. The melody is two notes with variations in articulation. There is hardly any harmonic information other than what is implied. It really is two melodies stacked over each other.
The main melody is very rhythmically intense. This syncopation is the largest complexity in the tune. If you're going to study this section take your time to learn the parts independently.
You can download the sheet music here.
As always, take your time, enjoy the process and keep playing.
Christopher
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