Grateful Dead Music Forum

For years, I've never been satisfied with my chord selection for the whip portion of Slipknot. After much thought, I finally came up with an approach I like.

In the chart below, column A shows the chords Jerry is soloing over. One option is to play the same chords as shows in column B. Another option is to play off the 3rd & 5th notes of the chord using power chords (1st & 5th chord notes, omitting the 3rd note), shown in columns C & D.

You can mix & match the chords by choosing any chord from any column.

I choose to play all power chords shown in column F. Column G shows the root string of each chord.

The first (4) chords create an ascending/descending motion. The remainder of the chords create descending motion. This motion parallels what Phil often plays.

Once again, you can mix & match chords from columns B-D, and play them anywhere on the fretboard. Use what you like and make it your own.



ace

Alright, cool,thanks. But WTF is a "whip portion"?

I thought the Slipknot segment above was known as "the whip".

ace

Would anyone care to elaborate on this?

http://jdarks.com/files/HelpSlip2.pdf

Or

https://www.rukind.com/viewtopic.php?t=5863

“The whip is the series of arpeggios that Keith and Jerry do together in unison. Weir's support chords, which are straight root-5 power bottoms, are Em>Bm7>F#m7>Am7>Em7>Bm7>Am7>Em7>Am....”

Ok.So it was named by someone.Not by a band member? It was just arbitrarily arrived at by some stoned guitar player? I'm just curious about why it was named that.If a band member coined the term,then ok.

brbadg wrote: ↑Tue May 14, 2019 4:11 am Ok.So it was named by someone.Not by a band member? It was just arbitrarily arrived at by some stoned guitar player? I'm just curious about why it was named that.If a band member coined the term,then ok.

To me, it's just an easy way to refer to a certain section of the tune. Who cares who coined it?
Also, great chart. Just mix and match. Good stuff, thanks for sharing.
Here's my take on Jerry's part in the last whip, before Franks...
https://youtu.be/5HNTQ1_2qtc

brbadg wrote: ↑Tue May 14, 2019 4:11 am Ok.So it was named by someone.Not by a band member? It was just arbitrarily arrived at by some stoned guitar player? I'm just curious about why it was named that.If a band member coined the term,then ok.

It was coined "The Whip" or "Whip Jam" going all the way back to cassette days... Most notably from the summer of 74' when Garcia first started teasing the arpeggio... It was further solidified when JDarks did his tab and charts for Help, Slip, Franklins. His breakdown of the series of Slipknot arpeggios is well done. Super helpful for those looking for an authentic way to play it...

Nice job Michael on the substitution ideas...

I've heard it called "the whip"as well. ...

Great work! Really cool and useful chart. Gonna work with it for a while....

Here is a lesson I put together a few years ago on the Whip segment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quNQIP3jMkA

Pete B., good to see you back. I've always enjoyed your playing and approach to the music.

john in san diego