Could It Be Magic - Throwing this out there for ideas

I'll second the giving up on internet tab it's mostly junk and a waste of time, there are more things wrong with a given tab then right usually.

But I have to give you props for going through the pain of trying to transpose the song from piano...

Thanks. I haven't started it yet, and I really wasn't planning to get into it this soon. I'm kind of like a hummingbird. I go from song to song as an idea hits me. Though I always go back to the one(s) I was working on before another one piqued my interest. So, I do get to finish them. And learn something in the process.

I know it won't be anywhere near the piano version... it can't be. Someone told me there are always concessions when transcribing from piano to guitar. You wind up putting your own touches and flourishes into it as necessary.

I guess those are the issues you have to deal with when you are a solo performer. Personally that's one thing I never really had a desire to do just play by myself.

If I came across a song like that I'd need to at least have other musicians play those other parts.

I do resemble you or at least did as far as the humming bird analogy you made. I used to skip from song to song riff to riff based on what I heard that day on the radio or wherever.

Since playing with th eband and taking lessons I pretty much put a stop to that as I didn't have enough time to get the songs we are working on with the band down and mess around with other stuff, it became counter productive.

The other problem I have with arranging a song very different than the original is that you're really not going to play that with anyone cuz they aren't going to know "your" version. I see that at the open mic I have gone too. Some people get up there and play their version of some cover and not one can really play along well, sometimes it works many times it doesn't.

I know we all have our own anal ways of doing things mine is to try and learn songs close to the original...I can't really say note for note all the time that's pretty hard to do too. Many songs I have dropped because I couldn't play what the original artist was doing (lack of skill usually) but I don't like to dumb it down to something I can play.

What you're saying is not lost on me. I often think "OK, so now what am I going to do with this song?" (whatever the song is). I really only have a couple of choices, as do any of us, I think... I can learn to sing, and do it for my own fun and entertainment; I can learn to add melody notes in so that it's not just the song's rhythm; I can find a couple of guys to garage or basement gig with; I can play along with backing tracks or recordings. Maybe not a song like this, though. This is for my own challenge and entertainment. While it's fine to add a little different touch to a song, too much of a good thing is no good. You can wind up with Theseus's ship... so many planks and beams and parts have been replaced, it's no longer the original ship.

well we are all moving down to Roy's neighborhood anyway (he's got the best toys) so when we get there we can start an original GN band

In case anyone is keeping score: Manilow's chorus changes the harmonies in the third and fourth chords -- the A-flats become A-naturals, and that F-sharp becomes a G. In fact he does this in the intro, which I had always thought was straight Chopin. It loses some of the pungency of the original, but it makes a better pop song, I suppose. Also will make it easier to play.

Mino, from your posts in this thread you are apparently a pit bull-hummingbird hybrid, which is a very frightening image. :lol:

Mino, from your posts in this thread you are apparently a pit bull-hummingbird hybrid, which is a very frightening image. :lol:

In addition to the half man half bull. Now there's an image that will require Ambien CR. :wink:

I'll third that internet TAB thought. Sometimes good, sometimes bad. The better I get, the worse it gets. I've got lots of books. I'll surf for some stuff online sometimes still, especially because it saves me from typing up a chord sheet. I can get one online and use my songbooks to get it correct and make other changes.

I've got a couple books, like y'all mention, are simply not that good. My Beatles book is pretty bad. I've got a few "easy" guitar books that stink to the point of even getting the lyrics wrong, not to mention chords. There are a few book publishers that do better jobs than others. I make it a point now to find sample pages and make sure there are certain logos on it before I buy. The exception being pretty much anytime I stray away from guitar music, like with Billy Joel or Barry Manilow.
I can use all the advice and help I can get.
Yeah, advice from me. That's a bad idea. :lol: I'm just sharing what I do. People jump in sometimes with tips and thoughts that often helps me.
especially if there is too much of a reach for my fingers
Yeah, that's the key for me sometimes. Mostly when the open chords get too spread out. I can't fret 3-4 strings across 4-5 frets. Especially going from the high b-e srings to the low e-a strings. Forget it. I'm better off barring until my hand hurts.
.....I can only play the chords.......
That's what convinced me to expand my horizons. I practice House Of The Rising Sun, Everybody Hurts and a couple others just to keep working at it. I'll get there.
Mino, from your posts in this thread you are apparently a pit bull-hummingbird hybrid, which is a very frightening image.
Sounds like a Tarrantino Movie....

Crow, I thought I heard a difference mid song. Good catch and thanks for the info. 8)

well we are all moving down to Roy's neighborhood anyway (he's got the best toys) so when we get there we can start an original GN band
And we already have beverage fridge, a bassist and drummer. We're set! :D

I've got a couple books, like y'all mention, are simply not that good. My Beatles book is pretty bad. I've got a few "easy" guitar books that stink to the point of even getting the lyrics wrong, not to mention chords. There are a few book publishers that do better jobs than others. I make it a point now to find sample pages and make sure there are certain logos on it before I buy. The exception being pretty much anytime I stray away from guitar music, like with Billy Joel or Barry Manilow.

Is that The Beatles Complete Chord Songbook? A small fat white book? If it is, it sucks! Come Together, Get Back, Revolution, are all shuffles and there is no mention of shuffles, just chords. No beginner could possibly play those songs right from that book. The notations are horrid.

I have a few books too, some better than others. One thing I noticed is that most of them do not include songs' intros. Someone told me the reason is that people just want to start singing or humming the song in the living room or at the campfire. Hey, I'm sorry, but the intro to Sundown ringing on the 12-string makes it what it is.

Bass tabs are no better. Most of them on the interwebz suck. Unless I find one that is genuine (Sundown for example), I just make up my own using R or (b)3 or 5, or some chord tone, even an occasional non-chord tone that works.

I just downloaded Serenity (Godsmack) tab from sheetmusicdirect for .99. It is just a tab. I have an internet tab that matches the fingerings, but are incomprehensible matching up to the lyrics. The .99 was worth it because now I can work up my own tab/lyrics sheet to work off of.

This is my Beatles book.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Beatles-Best/The-Beatles/e/9780881885989/?itm=32&USRI=beatles+sheet+music+songbook
It could be worse. The one I know I want was way too much at the time, but I'll likely end up with it. I saw it out of the wrapper for the first time a few weekends ago. I don't like some of the font and print size, but it seems to have it all.
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-Beatles-Complete-Scores/The-The-Beatles/e/9780793518326/?itm=2&USRI=beatles+sheet+music+songbook

I've found that, generally speaking, the Album books seem to have the most detail. This one is a good example. It's a one album book and it does give you some good detail, complete and including instrumentals and introductions and outros. From Hal Leaonard: http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/look_inside/2962470 Also notice the publisher's series logo on the top left. That Triangle thing with the words "Recorded", "Versions" and "Guitars". Most of those that I have really have been top notch. They also do small to big collections of others too, not just albums. This Allman Brother's Band collection is really good and it that format I just mentioned. http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/The-Definitive-Collection-For-Guitar-Volume-2/2964342 Same publisher, same logo, same series, etc.

This series here isn't too bad. Not great, but one of the best multi-artist compilations. I got the volume 1,2 and 3 package that was on Musician's Friends. http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/title/Guitar-Tab-White-Pages-Volume-3/6370566 Has most of the important solos, intros, etc. Skips one once in a while.

Here's another publisher's attempt. I got it too. I think it's good. Foreigner. http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/look_inside/3829152 It's the first one I got from that publisher with that logo, but so far so good.

And one last one, I think it's Cherry Lane that does them. Notice the logo under Knopfler's name. http://www.sheetmusicplus.com/look_inside/2961669 No, I can't play any of it yet, but did want to know what chords and picking patterns they were doing. Maybe another five years. :)

I'm going to start using sheetmusicplus as a resource also. It seems that most of the books I see or have don't have most of what I want to play. I've pretty much now got my songbook set up, but it's taken me two years, and I'm still improving it, as we're discussing. I think from now on if I'm at all dissatisfied with any tab or chord sheet from the 'net, I'll pay the few bucks to download a sheet. I'm also leaning towards the guitar and bass tab white pages and some fake books.

Those fake books can be mighty fun. I've got a few of them. They generally get you started int he right direction of a song. One of them even has key intros and signature riffs tabbed out. Most of them are chords and lyrics, but that's a good thing. All in one page. Once you've otherwise learned the song's strum pattern, you're pretty much set.

I've thought about using the one song sheet purchase before. There are a couple other really good non-guitar songs that I've been messing with, trying to get playable. Maybe I'll give it a whirl and see how it goes.

Those fake books can be mighty fun. I've got a few of them. They generally get you started int he right direction of a song .

It's much the same with online tabs & transcriptions. Sometimes I'll look at several versions of the same song, then "triangulate" the correct version with my ears as the final judge.

It's much the same with online tabs & transcriptions. Sometimes I'll look at several versions of the same song, then "triangulate" the correct version with my ears as the final judge.
I've done that too. I've got many versions of "Rainy Night In Georgia" floating around my hard drive. :?

I didn't know about sheetmusicplus before this thread. Thanks!

Sitting around this morning with a 12-string tuned low to open C (CGCEGC), and "Could It Be Magic" seems to sit pretty well in that tuning. The chorus bassline is one of the most distinctive parts of the composition, and you can get melody & bassline together in open C. If I were arranging a solo, fingerstyle, instrumental version of the tune, I'd probably pursue it that way. Maybe I'll try it in DADGAD next....