When Bay Area Rap And Classical Music Collide

Andre Nickatina is a rap artist from San Francisco’s Fillmore District. Nickatina began gaining notoriety in the early 90’s after releasing albums “The New Jim Jones” and “I Hate You With A Passion” under the aka ‘Dre Dog.’ Since then Nickatina has been releasing music consistently while reaching a diverse audience.

On Saturday July 24 2023 I was fortunate enough to have attended his show title “Andre Nickatina Reimagined by Symphony.” The show started with, engineer and long time friend, Mark 5 giving a speech introducing himself and telling the story about how he got started working with Nickatina. According to Mark 5 he owned a recording studio in San Francisco in the early 90s. He convinced Nickatina to come to his studio to record and also managed to slip a couple of production credits on his album “I Hate You With A Passion.” Those 2 songs are “Situation Critical” and “Killa Whale.” In the video highlights below Mark 5 can be seen standing up from his from row seat and bowing to the symphony giving them his blessing as they began performing “Killa Whale.”

An hour goes by and Andre Nickatina is no where to be seen by the audience. Many even questioned whether he was going to show up at all. When the symphony finished performing the last song of the show the audience cheered and the demands to bring Nickatina on stage grew louder and louder. Then finally he came out on stage and said a few words.

I put together a video highlighting some of the Andre Nickatina songs that were performed.

A Major chord

A Major chord on Piano, Guitar, Bass and 7 other music instruments

Formula: 1 – 3 – 5
Notes: A – C♯ – E
chord suffix: A

A Major chord inversions

root position	1st inversion	2nd inversion
A – C♯ – E	C♯ – E – A	E – A – C♯

A Major chord on a Piano

A Major chord on a Piano Keyboard

A Major chord Guitar tab

A Major Chord on Guitar tab

A Major chord on a Bass

A Major chord Soprano, Concert & Tenor tab

A Major chord on a Ukulele tab

A Major chord Baritone Ukulele tab

A Major chord on a Baritone Ukulele tab

A Major chord on a Banjo

A Major chord on a Mandolin

A Major chord on a Violin

A Major chord on a Viola & Cello

A Major chord on a Upright Bass

A Major chord on a Upright Double Bass

A#/B♭ Major chord

Formula: 1-3-5
Notes: B♭-D-F
chord suffix: B♭

Bb Major chord inversions
root position	1st inversion	2nd inversion
Bb – D – F	D – F – Bb	F – Bb – D

Use these charts to create your own B♭ chord or play a B♭ Major melody.

Bb Major chord on a piano

Bb Major chord on a guitar

Bb Major chord on a bass

Bb Major chord on a ukulele

Bb Major chord on a baritone ukulele

Bb Major chord on a banjo

Bb Major chord on a mandolin

Bb Major chord on a violin

Bb Major chord on a viola & cello

Bb Major chord on a upright double bass

B Major chord

Formula: 1-3-5
Notes:B-D#-F#
chord suffix: B

B Major chord inversions
root position	1st inversion	2nd inversion
B – D# – F#	D# – F# – B	F# – B – D#

Use these charts to create your own B chord or play a B Major melody.

B Major chord on a piano

B Major chord on a guitar

B Major chord on a bass

B major chord on a ukulele

B Major chord on a baritone ukulele

B Major chord on a banjo

B Major chord on a mandolin

B Major chord on a violin

B Major chord on a viola & cello

B Major chord on a upright double bass

C Major chord

Formula: 1-3-5
Notes: C-E-G
chord suffix: C

C Major chord inversions
root position	1st inversion	2nd inversion
C – E – G	E – G – C	G – C – E

Use these charts to create your own C chord or play a C Major melody

C Major chord on a piano

C Major chord on a guitar

C Major chord on a bass

C Major chord on a ukulele

C Major chord on a baritone ukulele

C Major chord on a banjo

C Major chord on a mandolin

C Major chord on a violin

C Major chord on a viola & cello

C Major chord on a upright double bass

C#/D♭ Major chord

Formula: 1-3-5
Notes: C#-E#-G#
chord suffix: C#

C# Major chord inversions
root position	1st inversion	2nd inversion
C# – E# – G#	E# – G# – C#	G# – C# – E#

Use these charts to create your own C# chord or play a C# Major melody.

C# Major chord on a piano

C# Major chord on a guitar

C# Major chord on a bass

C# Major chord on a ukulele

C# Major chord on a baritone ukulele

C# Major chord on a banjo

C# Major chord on a mandolin

C# Major chord on a violin

C# Major chord on a viola & cello

C# Major chord on a upright double bass

D Major chord

Formula: 1-3-5
Notes: D-F#-A
chord suffix: D

D Major chord inversions
root position	1st inversion	2nd inversion
D – F# – A	F# – A – D	A – D – F#

Use these charts to create your own D chord or play a D Major melody.

D Major chord on a piano

D Major chord on a guitar

D Major chord on a bass

D Major chord on a ukulele

D Major chord on a baritone ukulele

D Major chord on a banjo

D Major chord on a mandolin

D Major chord on a violin

D Major chord on a viola & cello

D Major chord on a upright double bass

D#/E♭ Major chord

Formula: 1-3-5
Notes: E♭-G-B♭
chord suffix: E♭

Eb Major chord inversions
root position	1st inversion	2nd inversion
Eb – G – Bb	G – Bb – Eb	Bb – Eb – G

Use these charts to create your own E♭ chord or play a E♭ Major melody.

Eb Major chord on a piano

Eb Major chord on a guitar

Eb Major chord on a bass

Eb Major chord on a ukulele

Eb Major chord on a baritone ukulele

Eb Major chord on a banjo

Eb Major chord on a mandolin

Eb Major chord on a violin

Eb Major chord on a viola & cello

Eb Major chord on a upright double bass

E Major chord

Formula: 1-3-5
Notes: E-G#-B
chord suffix: E

E Major chord inversions
root position	1st inversion	2nd inversion
E – G# – B	G# – B – E	B – E – G#

Use these charts to create your own E chord or play a E Major melody

E Major chord on a piano

E Major chords on a guitar

E Major chord on a bass

E Major chord on a ukulele

E Major chord on a baritone ukulele

E Major chord on a banjo

E Major chord on a mandolin

E Major chord on a violin

E Major chord on a viola & cello

E Major chord on a upright double bass

F Major chord

Formula: 1-3-5
Notes: F-A-C
chord suffix: F

F Major chord inversions
root position	1st inversion	2nd inversion
F – A – C	A – C – F	C – F – A

Use these charts to create your own F chord or play a F Major melody.

F Major chord on a piano

F Major chord on a guitar

F Major chord on a bass

F Major chord on a ukulele

F Major chord on a baritone ukulele

F Major chord on a banjo

F Major chord on a mandolin

F Major chord on a violin

F Major chord on a viola & cello

F Major chord on a upright double bass

F#/G♭ Major chord

Formula: 1-3-5
Notes: F#-A#-C#
chord suffix: F#

F# Major chord inversions
root position	1st inversion	2nd inversion
F# – A# – C#	A# – C# – F#	C# – F# – A#

Use these charts to create your own F# chord or play a F# Major melody.

F# Major chord on a piano

F# Major chord on a guitar

F# Major chord on a bass

F# Major chord on a ukulele

F# Major chord on a baritone ukulele

F# Major chord on a banjo

F# Major chord on a mandolin

F# Major chord on a violin

F# Major chord on a viola & cello

F# Major chord on a upright double bass

G Major chord

Formula: 1-3-5
Notes: G-B-D
chord suffix: G

G Major chord inversions
root position	1st inversion	2nd inversion
G – B – D	B – D – G	D – G – B

Use these charts to create your own G chord or play a G Major melody.

G Major chord on a piano

G Major chord on a guitar

G Major chord on a bass

G Major chord on a ukulele

G Major chord on a baritone ukulele

G Major chord on a banjo

G Major chord on a mandolin

G Major chord on a violin

G Major chord on a viola & cello

G Major chord on a upright double bass