How to play "Zombie" on Gesture Synth
Zombie is a song of one loop and one mood. The chart cycles Em, C, G, D/F# for all sixteen bars, and the whole arrangement — the famous delay-soaked riff, the driving drums — hangs off that single progression.
It is the first song in the songbook with a slash chord: D/F# is still a D major triad, but it sits over an F# bass. In gesture terms the shape is the same D major; the bass note is the synth engine’s job, not yours.
Difficulty: Intermediate
A grunge-power-chord loop in E minor, with a slash chord that moves the bass under the same shape.
The whole song
Em → C → G → D/F#, repeated four times. A i–VI–III–VII loop in E minor that keeps walking the harmony back down to the tonic — relentlessly.
Practice tips
- Three of the four chords are in the minor world: Em (degree I), C (VI), and G (III). Only the D is a major-world chord.
- The D/F# reads as D in the chart — do not hunt for a special shape; play the plain D triad and let the engine handle the bass.
- Practice the G → D transition until it is instant; it is the pivot the loop returns to every four bars.
Keep going
Once you can play "Zombie" from memory, try these next:
Ready for the next challenge?
Browse the rest of the songbook or review the gesture reference.
Browse the songbookChord gesture reference