The Appoggiatura: Now With Extra Funk

In our transcription of “Break Out” on pages 42–43, Neal Evans of Soulive makes great use of a musical technique called appoggiatura (a.k.a. leaning note) to create tension and release, as well as to make the keyboard simulate the slides and pitchbends of a guitar, violin, horn, or voice.

Though it can be applied to different musical situations, in the context of Neal’s playing on “Break Out,” the appoggiatura begins as one chord, then a single note moves — while the other note (or notes) stays the same — to give the chord a different character. The first chord is a tense one and after the single moving note does its thing, the chord resolves itself into a simple, familiar major or minor harmony.

Go through the examples and take it slow, and you’ll soon have a new, powerful tool to funk up your own playing.

Ex. 1. To get familiar with the way Neal plays an appoggiatura, first play the “before” chord (G and D) and the “after” chord (G and E) as two completely separate, unconnected chords (1a). Notice that, while the chords sound quite different, only the bottom note changes between them by a full step. Once you’re comfortable moving back and forth between the two two-note chords, play the first chord and hold down the G for two counts while giving the D and E a single count each, playing the D first and releasing it to play the E in its place. You can notate this figure both as you see it in 1b and as written in 1c; whether you use ties as in 1c or a mixture of half- and quarter-notes as in 1b, you can play the figure exactly the same way. Next try playing an appoggiatura with a three-note chord. Start by getting familiar with the “before” chord (C, D, and G) and the “after” chord (C, E, and G) as two chords completely independent of each other (1d). As with 1a, only one note changes between the two chords. Next, play all three notes of the “before” chord and hold down the C and G for two counts, while giving one count to D first, then E, as shown in 1e. 1f shows another way to notate this exact musical gesture.