First Circle - Pat Metheny Group

Pat Metheny is a Jazz Guitarist that has been making music since 1974. "Metheny's body of work includes compositions for solo guitar, small ensembles, electric and acoustic instruments, large orchestras, and ballet pieces, with settings ranging from modern jazz to rock to classical." according to his official website.

First Circle is off the self titled album, released in 1984, written by Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays.

"The time signature here is 22/8 or… 11/4. The notation used here (one bar of 12/8 followed by one bar of 10/8) should help with the reading. The top staff is the melody while the bottom staff is the clapping pattern used in the intro of the song" courtesy of halfstepup.com

For those of you that have no idea what that means, think of this in perspective. The 80s rock/pop music primarily had 4/4 time signatures. 4 beats to a measure, with the 4 equaling a quarter note. Very standard sound. The 8 in 22/8 stands for an eighth note (half of a quarter). Seems like a lot of thinking, but it comes naturally after a couple listens/playing times.

The song begins with the group clapping in a rhythm that's extremely difficult to grasp the first time around. The repetition of it grows on you and becomes that natural feeling I was talking about. I'm an extremely rhythmic person. Most of you that know me can relate to seeing me drum my stomach, leg, table etc. and probably have asked me to stop at least once. Sorry about that!

As the song progresses, it's got severely intricate guitar and piano work that meld into a beautiful feeling rather than a sound. I think of this song as elevator music on steroids. It's definitely got the sound of it, as there's no real lyrics. The music is accompanied by singing, but it's more of a feeling groove. Very light and mellow, becoming just another instrument and texture to the song. I really respect a song that doesn't need lyrics to make a piece of art in the form of a song. It's 9:11 time makes this yet another long and fun listen for me.



Mr. Kirk Garrison directed us when I was at T.F. South in the Jazz Band '99 through '01. We played 2 numbers by Pat Metheny: Minuano 6/8 and First Circle. Both were arrangements by Robert Curnow. These two pieces were easily the 2 funnest pieces we played as a group. They were challenging, intricate and extremely gratifying to pull off. I was given one of the trumpet solos in the middle of First Circle, and of course choked on almost every performance/contest. As fun as it was, the pressure was always there too. I really can't complain about it though, as it was my own fault for not preparing as well as I should have.


*Carpe Diem*