Infused With Confused

Been dazed and confused,

for so long it's not true...

(Please don't annihilate me SOPA...)

Song of the week time! Perhaps one of the most over-referenced songs, Dazed and Confused takes track 4 on Led Zeppelin's album, Led Zeppelin I. I think I've probably referenced the first lyrics of the songs so many times, it could probably invert the meaning into leaving me clear-headed and unclouded...

The song starts off with John Paul Jones' signature descending bassline, synchronized with Bonham's bass hits, creating a percussive punch with every note played. Going through the live versions, they all generally start this way; sometimes Bonham adds a few hits in, but it doesn't ever stray too far from the studio version. Jimmy Page also contributes his share with some natural harmonics, with some wah pedal effects and altering of pitch by bending the string behind the nut; others might achieve the same sound with a whammy bar, but true authenticators use the bending-at-the-nut technique.

Not too long after, Plant adds his vocals in, officially starting the song; this song isn't a genuine favorite of mine to play, with a long break during the midsection, which also contributes to me not listening to it as much. During the breakdown, Page used a cello bow with his guitar, something not too often seen in the guitar world. It's definitely something I want to try in the future, as soon as I somehow get my hands on a cello bow...

The song really starts to pick up after the bowed guitar section; the tempo picks up, once again starting with JPJ's bassline, but this time playing a box-shaped (on the guitar) ascent of notes, which he continues to play for the next few minutes. An interesting this to note here is in the live versions of this song; although JPJ plays the same rhythm and notes, he plays it MUCH faster in the 1973 TSRTS version; what astounds me further is the amount of time he manages to do this, probably somewhere around 4-6 minutes of Page's bantering on his guitar. Definitely a great show of stamina and endurance.

After Bonham adds his frantic cymbal-crashing, Page resumes his lead position in the band, playing the same riff as JPJ, but an octave up; this continues on for a while, until the true solo starts. The solo is fast and abrasive, using a wah pedal to push the treble levels up beyond the norm. Although the solo sounds somewhat difficult, it's not entirely too bad; it's fast, but not impossible. Page stays within the same area and two positions on the neck for most of the solo, so no large movements across the fretboard are needed. Playing this solo helped me a lot with my bend technique, especially with getting fast bends in with subsequent notes played.

After the solo, the signature triplets for which Bonham is famous for are played; learning this section can often help understand a key feature of Bonham's playing style, and any drummer who knows any Zeppelin should, at the very least, know this drum riff. Afterwards, the song slows back down and resumes its initial tempo, and JPJ re-establishes his descending bassline. After a few more bars and a few little flourishes from Page's guitar, the song ends on a strong, hard tone with powerful chords synchronized with JPJ.

Next blog post will cover the live portions of Dazed and Confused; the vast amounts of variations played by Zeppelin are massive enough to be an entirely different section, or at least a separate post.