ANDERSON MURIEL, HOMETOWN LIVE! CD TABLATURE
Sheet music: 72 pages
Publisher: John August Music, Mel Bay Publications (1995)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0786614471
ISBN-13: 978-0786614479
HOMETOWN LIVE!
by Muriel Anderson
This was originally a song I wrote about one of my favorite hangouts in Nashville (my second home), the Ultra Violet Cafe. Anne Sullivan recorded it as the title track for her CD, Ultra Violet Cafe. Renamed "Hometown/' ·this solo guitar arrangement incorporates the melody into the accompaniment. The basic concept of the composition is an arpeggio - feel with a gentle melody floating over the top. The right hand fingering is crucial to getting the fluid yet rhythmic character, especially in the introduction.
Note where the thumb (p) drops down to play the notes on the third string. Think of the notes played by the thumb as a separate rhythmic figure. Beginning in measure five, bring out the melody notes louder than the accompaniment. In general, the right hand fingering stays to the one-finger-per-string concept; the ring finger (a) plays the first string, the middle finger (m) plays the second string, and the index finger (i) plays the third string, although often the thumb takes the index finger's job and plays the third string. This adds to the cascading feel of the arpeggio. Exceptions: Where there are several consecutive melody notes on the same string, alternate fingers. Two consecutive notes on the third string (measure 24) are played index (i) - thumb (p). As is true of many of the compositions in this collection, some of the accompaniment notes are played so quietly that they are meant to be felt more than heard, These" ghost notes" help to subtly keep the rhythm moving along. After you've been playing the piece for a while, you may vary the accompaniment a little while keeping the chordal structure and feel of the piece intact. Play with dynamic swells and fades. Start by getting louder as the melody goes up and getting softer as the melody goes down. Then vary the dynamics as you feel the melody leads you. Also, sing the melody as you play it, and even make up lyrics to help phrase the melody. The piece ends with right hand harmonics an octave higher than the fretted note. With the right hand, touch the point on the string exactly twelve frets higher than the fretted note with the index finger, and pluck with the ring finger. This leaves the thumb free to play the bass notes.
NOLA by felix Arndt
I discovered Nola when I was experimenting with bluegrass banjo techniques on the guitar; using as many open strings as possible in scale passages and fingerjrg the succeeding notes on different strings. This technique is often called "cross-string fingerings," used extensively by Chet Atkins and others. The notes ring into each other with a harp-like or "cascading" sound. Cross-string fingering also allows the notes to be played more quickly than would be possible otherwise. Some of the left hand fingerings in this transcription are a bit difficult, but necessary in order to keep the notes ringing on as many different strings as possible. When I first started arranging Nola, I played it at a music store for my friend and mandolin teacher Jethro Burns while he played a descending line on the mandolin. With the new line in my ears, I went home to work on incorporating it as an inner voice into my solo arrangement. From measures 21-26, the new line fits into the solo arrangement on beats two and four of the measure (instead of beats one and three where it was originally played). Pay close attention to the fingerings in this section. The descending line is indicated with accents in the arrangement. When Nola is played in the key of G with the 6th string dropped down to D and the 5th string down to G, it is possible to play all the notes of the piano transcription on the guitar (although sometimes in a different octave). In addition, this tuning allows for a great number of open strings in both the melody and bass. As the arrangement evolved, some phrases were modified from the original to maintain the momentum of the piece in a more guitaristic way. The piano version of the long run beginning in measure 54 goes below the range of the guitar.
To change the octave register of these notes would disrupt the shape of the run. Because of the cascading nature of the run, the most graceful resolution to the problem (however nonstandard) was to shorten the run by three eight notes (one beat). This is the reason for the 9/8 bar in measure 55. Another option, to keep consistent 12/8 measures (if you're playing with a drummer, for instance), is to repeat the first three eighth notes at the beginning of measure 56. (These are the notes that are an octave lower in the piano arrangement.) Sometimes the same note functions as a bass note and a melody note. This is indicated in the music by a double note with the stems going in either direction, as in measure four, fourth note. In this case, the double note head indicates the note's (double) musical functions, not to play the same note on two different strings. The notes with x's marked "muffle" are played with a down-stroke with the backs of the nails, bringing the palm down to muffle the strings quickly after they are struck. This creates a percussive effect with just a hint of the harmony. For some right hand fingering suggestions for Nola, refer to Fingerstyle Guitar Magazine, NO.5. If you are comfortable with using the pinkie finger, there are a couple of places in the theme where it would be handy to use it (in addition to the ring, middle, and index fingers.) I originally wrote this arrangement to be played on a Martin 00-21 strung with nylon strings in the bass and steel strings in the treble. Then I came to prefer the sound played on all nylon strings, on my Paul McGill classical guitar.
PERFORMARNCE NOTES
A Roman numeral means to bar all (or part) of that fret. 1/2[Roman numeral] means to bar specifically half way across.
[SQUIGGLY LINE] means to strum down or arpeggiate. In Fantasia de Fuego and In Memory of a Friend, a squiggly line indicates a rasqueado: a down strum with the backs of the finger nails, one finger after another in quick succession starting with the pinkie finger, then ring, middle, index.
Measures are numbered from [!]as the first full measure.
Right hand fingerings are indicated by p = thumb, i = index, m = middle, and a = ring.
Thanks to all my students at Wheaton college who helped me carefully proofread this music. Special thanks to Kathy Tyers. Music typography by Paul Kurtz.
To order Muriel Anderson's recordings:
MURIEL ANDERSON, Elmhurst, IL 60126
Note: Anderson's CD Hometown Live! contains three additional selections not included on the book edition CD.
Titles - AUTHOR - YEAR
- Hometown - MURIEL ANDERSON - 1995
- It Never Gets Easier - MURIEL ANDERSON - 1995
- All Thumbs - MARK CASSTEVENS - 1995
- The Three Sisters - MURIEL ANDERSON - 1995
- Arioso - MURIEL ANDERSON - 1995
- Fantasia De Fuego - MURIEL ANDERSON - 1995
- In Memory of a Friend - MURIEL ANDERSON - 1995
- Mister Chester - MURIEL ANDERSON - 1995
- After Tonight - MURIEL ANDERSON - 1995
- Nola - FELIX ARNDT - 1995
- The Water Is Wide - AMERICAN FOLK SONG -
- Andante From Symphony For a Country Gentleman – JEAN-FELIX LALANNE - 1995