Sunny War’s “No Reason” Is Built from a Cool and Distinctive Riff

In a profile on Sunny War for this publication’s September 2018 concern, editor at big Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers blogged about the similarity of the singer-songwriter’s distinctive guitar technique to that of Malian artists like the late Ali Farka Touré. Rodgers was shocked to hear that War was uninformed of that custom till some fans pointed it out to her and she looked for it on YouTube.

At the time, War remained in the routine of busking at the vibrant boardwalk in Venice, California, playing a 1989 Guild True American DC-1E NT she called Big Baby. That cutaway dreadnought is still War’s primary guitar, and it– and the West African tint– can be heard to exceptional impact on her current single “No Reason.”

War plays “No Reason” in the secret of G significant, with a fourth-fret capo shifting it to B. The tune is based upon a curious riff that, with its pull-off accessories and fixed consistency, has a non-Western ambiance. At the very same time, a constant root-fifth bass pattern links the riff to the Travis choosing custom. These parts concerned War from out of no place. “I was simply noodling around and believed it sounded enjoyable,” she states. “The riff resided in the voice memo app of my phone for a very long time prior to I was all set to attempt putting words to it.”

To play the riff, stress the sixth-string G with your 2nd finger, keeping it held down throughout the G chord steps. For the double pull-offs on string 3, utilize your 3rd and very first fingers, respectively, to play the 3rd- and second-fret notes. If you discover yourself having a hard time to play the pull-offs easily, practice them by themselves till each note sounds even and clear.

Due to copyright limitations, we are not able to publish notation or tablature for this musical work. If you have a digital or physical copy of the March/April 2023 concern ofAcoustic Guitarpublication, you will discover the music on page 62.