Ethan Semone

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Richard Thompson transcription: “Keep Your Distance”

August 28, 2018
Ethan Semone

“Keep Your Distance” from 1991’s Rumour and Sigh  has become a Celtic folk-rock classic over the years having been covered by Julie and Buddy Miller and Patty Lovelace among others.  Starting in the key of E major with a pick and fingers intro and adding mandolin and bagpipes along the way, the song showcases Thompson’s slightly overdriven Strat tone and his sublime baritone voice .  The solo comes in at 2:49 with bagpipe inspired double-stop bends and proceeds to showcase both a Celtic and a Nashville influence.

Enjoy!

 

 

Download a .PDF copy of the transcription here:

Keep Your Distance

 

You can find Guitar Pro and Tab Pro versions here:

https://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/richard_thompson/keep_your_distance_guitar_pro_2434017

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Little Charlie and the Nightcats Transcription: “Eyes Like a Cat”

December 18, 2015
Ethan Semone

Charlie Baty is an ace blues, jazz and swing guitarist from Northern California.  In 1976 along with harpist and vocalist Rick Estrin, Baty formed Little Charlie and the Nightcats in Sacramento and they soon began playing clubs and festivals up and down the West Coast.  After spending a decade on the road they finally released their debut album, 1987’s All the Way Crazy, on Chicago’s famed Alligator Records.  “Eyes Like a Cat” is a stand out track from that album and a great introduction to Baty and Swing/Jump Blues in general.

Based on a familiar 12 bar from in B major, the song opens with a quick verse and chorus.  Baty then takes over playing a solo that goes through the form 9 straight times (108 bars).  He incorporates major and minor pentatonic runs along with licks that carve out the changes giving the solo a Bebop flavor.  Look at bar 56 where Baty plays a slick run that implies a C#-7  to F#9  (ii-V) change.  Beginning around bar 89 and continuing for the rest of the solo he begins using a number of double stops and other repetitive figures to finish things out.  Check out the neat little call and response bit at bar 121.

Download a .PDF of the transcription here:

Eyes Like a Cat

You can find Guitar Pro and Tab Pro versions here:

http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/esemone/http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/esemone/

Good luck with this one!

Ethan

 

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Richard Thompson Transcription: “Walking on a Wire”

November 3, 2014
Ethan Semone

 

 

 

Great, great song, even better guitar work.

Track two from Shoot Out the Lights.

Enjoy

Download a .PDF of the transcription here:

Walking on a Wire

 

You can find Guitar Pro and Tab Pro versions here:

http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/esemone/contributions/ 

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Richard Thompson Transcription: “Shoot Out the Lights”

September 27, 2014
Ethan Semone

Written the day the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, “Shoot Out the Lights” is the title track of Richard Thompson’s 1982 album, the last with his then wife Linda.   It became RT’s signature tune (at least until “1932 Vincent Black Lightening” came along) and a staple of his live set for many years.

With it’s stark arrangement and Thompson’s aggressive Strat (on the bridge pickup) enhanced by amp tremolo and slap back echo, “Shoot Out the Light’s” rhythmically recalls Link Wray’s “Rumble” with simple, sustained power chords.    The solos use E minor and E major pentatonic and a heavy pick attack to heighten the already tense, uncomfortable mood.

Download a .PDF of the transcription here:

Shoot Out the Lights

You can also find Guitar Pro and Tab Pro versions here:

http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/esemone/contributions/

Thanks for looking and please feel free to comment.

Ethan

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Richard Thompson Transcription: “I Still Dream”

September 24, 2014
Ethan Semone

Here’s another Richard Thompson transcription.  This time I chose the solo for “I Still Dream” from his 1988 Capitol release Amnesia.

Here’s .pdf of the transcription

I Still Dream

Unlike “Shoot Out the Lights” or some of his other longer excursions, this solo is short and tight yet very soulful  much like you’d hear someone like Steve Cropper play.  The duration doesn’t keep RT from throwing in some cool double stop 6th’s (bars 8-9) as well as some beautiful legato phrases (bars 6-7 and 12) giving the solo a variety of flavors without sounding contrived.  Although based in C Major , the unresolved nature of the solo recalls  F Lydian and G Mixolydian at times.

You can also find Guitar Pro and Tab Pro versions here:

http://my.ultimate-guitar.com/main.php?mode=contributions

You can find my transcription of the live version of RT’s “I Ain’t Going to Drag My Feet No More” here.

http://www.ethansemone.com/richard-thompson-transcriptions-i-aint-going-to-drag-my-feet-no-more-live-version/

Thanks for looking, comments and questions are always welcome.

Ethan

 

 

 

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Richard Thompson Transcription: “I Ain’t Going to Drag My Feet No More” Live Version

September 22, 2014
Ethan Semone

Richard Thompson is my favorite guitar player and one of my favorite musicians.   I’ve always wanted to spend some time really examining his electric playing so I’m doing a series of transcriptions of some of my favorite RT solos.

Here are the solo sections from the  live version of ‘I Ain’t Going to Drag My Feet No More”  from the Watching the Dark boxed set released by Hannibal in 1993.

Here’s  .pdf of the transcription

I Ain’t Going to Drag My Feet No More solo

You can also find Guitar Pro and Tab Pro versions here:

http://profile.ultimate-guitar.com/esemone/contributions/

I welcome any comments and good luck.

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