Radiohead: Paranoid Android/House Of Cards, String Quartet

Category: String Quartet; Two violins, Viola, and Cello ** Title: Paranoid Android/House Of Cards ** Arranged by: Eric Gorfain ** Book/Part: Score and Parts ** Publisher: String Letter Publishing ** Difficulty: A4/A5.

Orchestral in scope, but rock by instrumentation, Radiohead pushed the musical limits of rock music with its 1997 landmark album OK Computer. This arrangement of the albums epic track Paranoid Android will challenge any string quartet. Tricky rhythms and time-signature changes are just the tip of the iceberg for this complex piece of music.

Polar opposite in tone to Paranoid Android is the Grammy-nominated song House Of Cards (In Rainbows, 2007), an uncharacteristically relaxed Radiohead love ballad. Melodically deadpan, the crux of the song lies in the rhythmic groove created by the guitar figure faithfully played in this string quartet arrangement by the viola.