Oasis has it. Call it attitude, call it the X-factor, call it rock ‘n’ roll… Sporting the same sort of insolent British swagger as their forebears (the Beatles, early Stones, Kinks, and the Who), the Manchester-bred, working-class band is currently spearheading the lat­est assault on the world’s pop charts. The hot sophomore release of 1996, (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, is an eclectic mix of diverse, acoustic-tinged pop rock in the distinctly Anglo tradition of the 60s British Invasion, and has similarly taken America by storm with such prominent hit tracks as “Wonderwall,” and “Champagne Super-nova,” and much-requested al­bum cuts as Roll With It. Yep, Oasis has it, and it’s abundantly self-evident on Roll With It.

Roll With It. The Chords

Roll With It is a rocker – a gritty guitar-dominated rocker resplendent with big resounding open chords and catchy rhythmic hooks. It begins with two guitars (arranged for one) marked by edgy, well-integrated tones. The sonic roles are blurred in the bashing intro chords (and most of the tune) but clearly defined in the arpeggio break which follows. Note the use of common fingering forms in the intro changes. The C9 and G chords share the same fingered shape but are positioned on different strings [Fig. 1]. This economy fingering is the sort of thing to look for in rock tunes based on open chord patterns. The jangly arpeggiated figure which ushers in the verse is pure British Invasion. Built from an open A chord with added suspensions – the sus2 (B) and the sus4 (D) [Fig. 2], it is timeless – the modern equiv­alent of rhythm riffs by the early Beatles, the Searchers, the Hollies et al, and quite at home in today’s alternative rock genre. The chords in the verse are typical of the seamless open chord progressions used by the great guitar songwriters in the 60s tradition. Note the numerous commonalties in the chords, in terms of both common tones and common shapes, of the section [Fig. 3]. These common­alties promote smoother, more confident chord changing and add textural continuity to a pro­gression.

Roll With It. The Solo

The short, simple guitar solo is more a tex­tural outing than an overt melody statement. It sits well within the mix of the track and is processed with a swimming “chorus” effect that adds further to its sonic ambiguity. Solos, or more accurately “anti-solos,” like this are an artistic ethic of the alternative style, whether we’re talking Kurt Cobain, R.E.M., or Oasis. Check out Nirvana’s “The Man Who Sold the World” elsewhere in this site for more corroboration. Like Cobain’s solo, this one is all on a single string (what could be more minimal?), and utilizes a sparse melody which is largely rhythmic, chord-related, and com­pletely locked-in with the backing groove, Rhy. Fig. 2. In the final measure, a high G triad is arpeggiated for a classic/retro British Invasion result. This form is created by moving an open D chord up to the 7th fret [Fig. 4], and using only the upper three notes for Spartan chord-melody playing.

It’s a part of Oasis Roll With It guitar lesson.

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Roll With It with backing track

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