Tuesday, September 13, 2016

"Twist and Shout"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

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A couple days ago I listened to the Tremeloes' version of "Twist and Shout" and thought I could easily figure out the guitar part in the middle of the Beatles' version (which has the same structure).  I ended up getting (I think all of) the guitar parts.  I'm not sure I have the final chord right though.  I was actually surprised at how simple these chords are; they're just tonic, sub-dominant, and dominant.

I'd always thought that the Isley Brothers' version was the original, but apparently not.  For what it's worth, the Isley Brothers' version is in F major (which, based on the other songs I know by them, seems to be their favorite key); the Tremeloes' is in C major; and the Beatles' is in D major, which makes the guitar part in the middle (it's a horn part in the Isleys' version) easy to play.

In my recording, I skipt the first verse entirely because it would have been pretty much the same as the second.

Saturday, September 10, 2016

"She Said She Said"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

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Yester-day I also learned part of the fuzz guitar in "She Said She Said."  I'm definitely missing some parts though.  What I have is just the introductory phrase and some (I don't even think all of) the parts during the first two verses.

Friday, September 9, 2016

"And Your Bird Can Sing"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

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I felt like figuring out a part last night, and - while it wasn't the first thing I tried to figure out - I got almost all of the fuzz guitar part in "And Your Bird Can Sing."  I think I have the guitar chords too, although I'm a bit unsure of one.  I'm pretty sure there aren't any guitar chords during the bridges, and that's the only section of the fuzz guitar that I didn't figure out, so there are some gaps in this.  Still, I'm surprised I figured out as much as I did.

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

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Yester-day I listened to the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and I noticed an interesting thing about the bass part in "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."  During the "Newspaper taxis appear on the shore..." section, the bass part is almost entirely quarter notes (and a pair of eighth notes), so the single half note (second measure of the second line) sticks out: 
 
(click the image for a larger view)
(A few comments on this notation.  First, I did it myself, so there's the standard disclaimer that I might have something wrong.  Second, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is partially in 3/4 and partially in 4/4, and at the end of this section, there's a transition from 3/4 time to 4/4 time, so it might be that the last measure should be in 4/4 instead of 3/4.) 
That half note corresponds to "take" in the line "Waiting to take you away," so musically there's a pause to reflect the taxis' standing by.
From my Collection Audit project

Like I mentioned there, parts of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" are in 3/4 and parts are in 4/4.  I have a majority of the bass parts for the 3/4 sections, but I have nothing for the 4/4 sections yet.  I'm going to try to write out the 3/4 parts in notation, but I don't know if I'll get around to recording anything.

Thursday, September 1, 2016

"Girl"

Backdated, archival post

[link to original on tumblr]

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Two days ago, I listened to Rubber Soul, and yester-day I figured out two of the guitar parts in "Girl."  The note values for this are entirely quarter notes and eighth notes, so I even wrote out the notation.