Is it Michael Rubin y'all go to when you can't find a song tabbed and you can't seem to crack that "musical safe" that unlocks a song?
I have two I just cannot get that have been requested by some of the old folks at the homes I visit as a minister and volunteer that I am totally lost on.....one is Blake Shelton's "Old Red" and another is more jazz "Bye Bye Blackbird" I heard sung by Etta James I think it was....but I think a few people did that song.
Any help or nods in the correct direction would be appreciated...I know these are not exactly masters of the Blues as far as artists go...still good enough songs I'd spend time on them. Thanks.
All I did was type the song name (and added "harmonica") in YouTube. That's how I find a lot of stuff. Google also. Other than that I really didn't look at it or listen to more than a few seconds. But now that I look, good question. I'll have to look deeper. I don't know at this point. ---------- Tommy
Last Edited by Tommy the Hat on Jul 23, 2017 9:02 AM
This is in 1st position and only has a bends on draw 4 and a double bend on draw 3 if my interpretation is right. 2nd position wasn't as easy.
Pack up all my care and woe +5+5+5+5-5+5+5 Here I go, singing low +5-4-4, -4+4+4 Bye-bye, blackbird +4-4+4-3
Where somebody waits for me -5-5-5-5, +6-5-5 Sugar's sweet and so is he -5+5+5, +5-4-4 Bye, bye, blackbird -4+5-4+4
No one here can love and understand me +3+6+6+6+6-5+5-4-4-4* Oh, what hard-luck stories they all hand me -3**-5-5-5-5+5-4+4+4-3 Make my bed, light the light, I'll arrive late tonight +5+5+5, -5+5+5, +5-4-4, -4-4*-4* Blackbird, bye bye-4-5-3+4
EDIT TO ABOVE POST: Maybe I screwed up...sorry. I don't know much (anything) about Chromatic but apparently this tab is for Chromatic. Does that make a difference? Maybe the asterisk applies to that also? My bad. ---------- Tommy
Thank you both either way...I'll play it out later...thank you for trying....GreyOwl I'll try that in first...second....I hear that song is hard even for the jazz guys but could find no tab on it except chromatic....thanks again
Michael Rubin can definitely do this with quick precision and will notate when the notes are played and for how long, which notes are being played, and what chord they're being played over. Usually with tabs you can't tell if they're whole notes, quarter notes, 16th notes, dotted 8th notes, etc. I've been transcribing a song or two a month for like a year as I learned from him and getting better at it but he blows me out of the water, lol.
Slidemeister, per google search for Slidemeister Chromatic Tabs, has a pdf sheet with a long song list of tabs, including tabs for 2 versions of "Bye Bye Blackbird" FOR KEY OF C CHROMATIC HARMONICA played in Eb and G, with links to Vicky Carr and Julie London versions. The version in the YouTube above is in G, I believe. Chromatic is solo tuned, and the tabs for diatonic are different.
Michael Rubin did offer to give someone a rate on tabbing out a song for them (something by Hall and Oats, sax part) on FB the other day. For a fee I'm sure there are a lot of guys on here who might do it, as well as a lot of guys who would do it just for fun. (Wait, are we undercutting our own marketplace?)
I never did figure out what the person on FB figured out. We managed to get her onto the right key harp at least. It sounded like she was just starting out and only had one key.
Yeah I'm not looking to get into anyone's pocket....I just knew what I was getting on Bye Bye Blackbird just wasn't "right" and Old Red is beyond my skill level I believe for ear playing until I learn the hook. Usually if I play through the tab once or twice and I know the song at all I can catch it and progress to where I need no tab. I'd pay for a good version if it's reasonable....surprised me an older patient at that facility likes that song so much he asked if I'd learn it...I said it would take some time but I'd have a go at it.
I am fotunate to play mostly with professional musicians, some of whom have advanced degrees in music. One of the advantages of working regularly with these guys is they will write out parts for me if I ask them to. I can readily convert note names to hole numbers, so I make my tab from what they write out for me. I don't transcribe consistently well on my own, so being around guys like this is a big advantage to me.
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