"Jordan" is a

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called ...

by American musician

Buckethead Brian Patrick Carroll (born May 13, 1969), known professionally as Buckethead, is an American guitarist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has received critical acclaim for his innovative electric guitar playing. His music spans severa ...

. Originally featured as a playable track on the 2006

music video game A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a ...

Guitar Hero II ''Guitar Hero II'' is a music rhythm video game developed by Harmonix and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 and Activision for the Xbox 360. It is the second main installment in the ''Guitar Hero'' series and is the sequel to 2005's ...

'', "Jordan" was officially released as a

downloadable In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote s ...

single via iTunes on August 18, 2009.

Background

Prior to the inclusion of a studio version of "Jordan" on ''Guitar Hero II'', the instrumental was performed live by Buckethead at a number of shows. While performing the track, Buckethead would omit the

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular m ...

s and interpolate another song (often "Post Office Buddy" from '' Giant Robot''), a series of songs or an improvisation. One such early live version was released as "Vertebrae" on the

Praxis Praxis may refer to: Philosophy and religion * Praxis (process), the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practised, embodied, or realised * Praxis model, a way of doing theology * Praxis (Byzantine Rite), the practice of fai ...

live album '' Tennessee 2004'' in 2007. Since the release of the studio version, Buckethead has often included the solo in his live performances of "Jordan". An alternate version of "Jordan" was re-created specifically for the video game ''

''. It is considered one of the most difficult tracks to play in the series on Expert difficulty, due to the complexity of its guitar solos, particularly the "Guitar Solo B" and "Guitar Solo C" sections. On the Xbox 360 version, the "Kick the Bucket Award" is an achievement worth 30

gamerscore The Xbox network, formerly and still sometimes branded as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft. It was first made available to the Xbox system on November 15, 2002. An ...

, and is awarded for completing "Jordan" on Expert difficulty. The fastest tapping portions of the solo reach approximately 15.47 notes per second (32nd-notes @ 116 BPM in a 4/4 meter). In this part of the solo, Buckethead frets the notes using only his left hand, instead of resorting to two-handed tapping. The picking portion of the solo reaches a speed of 11.6 notes per second (16th-note triplets @ 116 BPM in a 4/4 meter). The ''Guitar Hero'' series' resident guitarist Marcus Henderson stated that Buckethead feels "Jordan" to be one of the best things he has ever recorded. It was also stated in an interview with Henderson that "Jordan" is named after

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

, of whom Buckethead is a huge fan, even referencing the single cover to the Jumpman logo seen on many Jordan-related merchandise, like the

Air Jordan Air Jordan is an American brand of basketball shoes produced by American corporation Nike. The first Air Jordan shoe was produced for Hall of Fame former basketball player Michael Jordan during his time with the Chicago Bulls in late 1984 and ...

shoe brand.

Technique

The main riff of "Jordan" is played using left hand

hammer-on A hammer-on is a playing technique performed on a stringed instrument (especially on a fretted string instrument, such as a guitar) by sharply bringing a fretting-hand finger down on to the fingerboard behind a fret, causing a note to sound. This ...

s and

pull-off A pull-off is a stringed instrument playing and articulation technique performed by plucking or "pulling" the finger that is grasping the sounding part of a string off the fingerboard of either a fretted or unfretted instrument. This intermediate- ...

s, while Buckethead's right hand uses his trademark

kill switch A kill switch, also known as an emergency stop (E-stop), emergency off (EMO) and as an emergency power off (EPO), is a safety mechanism used to shut off machinery in an emergency, when it cannot be shut down in the usual manner. Unlike a normal ...

. The main guitar

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

also features extensive use of a

Digitech Whammy The DigiTech Whammy is a pitch shifter pedal manufactured by DigiTech. It was the first widely used effects pedal that could do foot-controlled pitch shifting effects. The pedal emulates sounds that a guitarist normally makes using the vibrato ...

pitch shifter. The off-beat 16th note rhythm scheme is reminiscent of Buckethead's earlier songs "Jump Man" (also dedicated to Michael Jordan) and "Night of the Slunk", both first released on ''

Monsters and Robots ''Monsters and Robots'' is Buckethead's fifth studio album, released April 20, 1999, by Higher Octave records. A large part of the album was co-written with Les Claypool, who also plays bass on several tracks and lends his vocals to the track "Th ...

'' (1999). According to

Travis Dickerson Travis Dickerson is an American musician and producer best known for his work with Buckethead and Viggo Mortensen. He also runs TDRS music, a recording studio with its own record label that has released albums by Bill Laswell, Jethro Tull, Lin ...

, operator of the studio where "Jordan" was recorded, "the take ultimately used or the studio versionwas played in one unbroken, unedited pass".About Buckethead, TDRS music web-site
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References

{{authority control Video game soundtracks Rock instrumentals Buckethead songs Cultural depictions of Michael Jordan Songs about basketball players 2009 singles 2006 songs