"PONY BLUES," CHARLEY PATTON ARRANGEMENT, COVERED BY PHIL DRUM

Phil Drum has worked his ass off trying to play like the great Delta bluesman Charley Patton. Sure, his vocal suffers by comparison with the master, but his playing is strong and he's obviously labored to figure out the intricacies of Patton's style. Good work, Phil! Phil's clips will be an invaluable reference for anyone trying to play like Patton, a genius who typically gets unfairly cast as an also-ran after Robert Johnson. Johnson is great, of course, but many other geniuses like Patton and Skip James tend to get overlooked, as if Robert Johnson was a giant that towered over his Delta blues rivals.
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MECHANICAL GUITAR, OPERATED BY FEET, ENABLING GUITARIST TO USE HIS HANDS TO PLAY FIDDLE

Another crazy clip from Charlie McCardell. This guy's built a mechanical guitar setup that he operates with his feet, while playing fiddle tunes.
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HOW TO SOUND LIKE CHET ATKINS, (tips from Steve Wariner)

On the Gibson site, Steve Wariner offered these tips on how to sound like Chet Atkins. Stay pure: “Chet did not use a lot of processing. When I was touring with him he used a Lexicon rack mounted delay and the only other thing between his guitar and amp was a distortion pedal, like a Tube Screamer. Earlier I guess he used an Echo-Plex type of tape delay. And he rarely used that fuzz pedal. He would use it when we’d play a funky piece and he’d play one solo with it turned on. He also used a Music Man amp on tour. In the studio he had a vintage Standel amp that was once owned by the great steel guitar player Jimmy Day. It had a plaque with Jimmy’s name on the back.”

Master vibrato: Atkins used heavy strings on the bass side of his guitar neck and light gauge strings for his top three notes. “He used those heavier strings to pick his bass lines with his thumb, so he could play bass and melody at the same time. He kept his vibrato arm set where he could lay his pinky over it, so he could dip it with his little finger. He was also a master of creating vibrato with the fingers of his left hand.”

Pick clean: “So much of what Chet did was with his hands. He had amazing articulation on the guitar.

His notes were always pure and clean and gorgeous. Chet had a reach and tone that was unreal. He had enormous hands, so he could play a chord by wrapping his left hand around the back of his guitar’s neck and pinning down a note with his thumb. He did that on his intro to ‘Mr. Sandman,’ and he’d tell me ‘Steve, why don’t you try it this way?’ And I’d say, ‘With my pudgy little hands? I can’t!’ ”

Think old school: “For Chet, everything was in service of the melody. He could have played a lot of flashy licks, but he was really interested in playing music that everybody could enjoy, not just guitar players. So he would make sure the melody was always at the front of whatever he played.

“He also liked to record with super clean amplifiers and ribbon mikes. One of his favorites was the RCA-77. If you’re really looking for authentic vintage tones, you’re going to need the vintage gear.”

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LES PAUL-- MY KIND OF GUITAR HERO

I offer without comment a clip of Les Paul showing what he does. (thanks to Howard Parker for sending this to me.)

Then here's a Les Paul trio side of Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies." I like Les's early work, because in the absence of all the later studio inventiveness you get to just hear good guitar-playing.

www.karlstraubmusic.com/1-17 Blue Skies.mp3

I guess I always knew Les Paul wouldn't live forever, but (like Irving Berlin) he certainly did his best to try. I'm sure tons of people are writing about him now, somewhere, but I hope it doesn't sound arrogant if I prefer to just ignore what they're all saying. I'm sure there are tons of people who know more about Les Paul's career than I do, and probably many who have stolen more from him than I have. I doubt, though, that there's anyone who enjoys his playing more than I do.

I keep forgetting how much I've stolen, borrowed, or inherited from him-- while people always talk about his recording achievements, and his role in the development of the electric guitar (and rightly so), I'd just like to briefly mention all the things I like about his actual guitar playing, which somehow gets typically ignored or slighted.

I guess that jazz critics and rock critics are for once in agreement in their lack of appreciation for Les Paul's guitar playing. I remember reading some Philistine rock critic in the Rolling Stone Record Guide saying, in essence, Les Paul is really important but his records aren't so great. I guess the idea was that we can all thank Les Paul for developing technology that the real musicians like Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page could use to make the real important records.

Well, naturally I love the records those guys made, but it's important to remember that Les didn't just invent a bunch of technical gizmos. He demonstrated how electric guitar parts can be overdubbed and layered to create a guitar-encrusted world of sound-- with tape echo, sped-up tracks, and sometimes just picking down by the bridge, Les gave different personalities and colors to the timbre of different guitar tracks. This gave much of his best work the timbral richness of a string quartet, and I don't think it's a stretch to say that he was a kind of link between people like Haydn and people like Hendrix. He also brought a puckish sense of humor to the way he attacked a note and developed a line. Not for all tastes, I suppose, but I'll always remember what a friend said to me when we were very young. I'd just played a few Roy Nichols licks, and a skinhead buddy of ours chuckled at my playing. I felt bad until my friend said that if you can make someone laugh by the way you play guitar, you really have something. In retrospect, it may be that that bit of advice was the most valuable of my career; when I needed ideas on bringing more wit into my playing, I knew where to look. I don't think anyone recorded more amusing and comical electric guitar playing than Les Paul.

If Les was arguably "corny" by comparison with the likes of Charlie Parker, or Charlie Christian, who cares? I'm not too concerned with the views of hip jazz purists about thiings like this. I'd argue that most jazz guitarists could benefit from Les's ability to orchestrate with mostly electric guitars, and in fact many jazz records with beautiful improvised playing could arguably still benefit from the orchestral and timbral blending ideas Les used. Hendrix and Page certainly did-- and I'd even argue that, great as their playing is, it wouldn't have had nearly the impact it did if not for the orchestral approach that they both probably learned from Les Paul. Les Paul taught us that electric guitars could paint landscapes and jungles of twang and tone.
Beyond the timbral tone-painting he did on his most famous recordings, he had a beautiful way with articulation. I think he played melodies better than most "hipper" guitarists. I'm tempted to call him the Bobby Hackett of the guitar, except that leaves out his twangy, goofy, country-fried side. I think a lot of jazz and country players were influenced by him; sometimes the influence was one of many, but sometimes people put out whole albums in the Les Paul style. I had a Vinnie Bell record like that, and I found a download of a George Barnes album in that vein too. I suspect there were similar knockoffs by others. Then there's the undeniable influence on rockabilly players, either directly or indirectly (through Chet Atkins).

Any time you catch me playing with a ridiculous amount of slapback, or just trying to sound big, bright, and melodic, you can thank Les Paul.

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GUITAR TABLATURE AND TRANSCRIPTIONS BY STRAUB

BELOW YOU CAN FIND INFO ABOUT MY TABLATURE AND TRANSCRIPTION SERVICE. I CAN DO TRANSCRIPTIONS IN TABLATURE OR STANDARD MUSIC NOTATION. I CAN ALSO RECORD VIDEO OF ME SHOWING YOU HOW TO PLAY THE PARTS. My policy information is all here-- please feel free to email me with questions at karlstraub@hotmail.com

CUSTOMER FEEDBACK
(Karl transcribed various instrument parts from several Warren Zevon recordings. He then arranged the parts for three horns.)

"Karl helped transcribe my most basic head arrangements into three perfectly harmonized horn parts for my performance fronting a thirteen piece band. There was only one run through just prior to the show and so the notation had to be correct, and it was. His experience as a musician playing in many different styles makes him especially easy to relate to conceptually and I would recommend him for any project requiring a keen ear and an accurate transcription."

David Kitchen

There is a ton of guitar tablature available on the web, as you probably know. My students bring in tablature all the time, wanting me to help them learn guitar parts from records. Some of the online free tab is accurate; occasionally it's excellent. However, the vast majority of it that I've seen is flawed. I've seen everything from small mistakes to huge ones; some of the tab online is so wrong it actually works against you. (An awful lot of it is posted by novice players; in many cases I wonder why the person thought they were qualified to post tablature at all.)

The main problem is, unless you already are a pretty good player with a good ear, you're not going to have any idea whether you're looking at good tablature or lousy. Another problem is that most of what's online is current mainstream stuff-- this is not a problem if you're 15 years old and only know the music that's sold to teenagers. The rest of us are aware of an endless avalanche of other music out there, new and old, much of which is not transcribed online anywhere.

That's where I come in-- I have a music education degree, and 25 years of professional playing experience. When I transcribe a guitar solo, I know what I'm doing.

If you're serious about playing music correctly, I'm available to provide quality transcriptions of whatever you're interested in. please contact me at karlstraub@hotmail.com.

PRICING
My base price for a transcription is $30.00. This can vary depending on various elements.

MORE EXPENSIVE

Complicated music, such as chord voicings on a jazz record, 3-part harmonized lines such as you'd find on a Bob Wills record, Chet Atkins fingerstyle arrangements, etc.
These kinds of things take a long time to transcribe. It also takes much longer if you want notation, as opposed to tablature. Notation includes rhythms, adding a lot of extra work. I can also provide a video clip of me demonstrating how to play the parts, or certain techniques. That takes a lot more time, of course.

LESS EXPENSIVE

Single-note solos and fills are easier to transcribe. It's also easier for me to transcribe using tab only, and not notating rhythms. I prefer notation myself, because it's more accurate than tab, but if you don't read notation or rhythms, I can do tab-only quicker for you. The tablature will tell you frets and strings, but you'll have to figure out the rhythms on your own.

BULK RATE

If you are interested in an ongoing service, like taking lessons, I may be able to offer a discount.

SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT THE VALUE AND COST OF THIS WORK.

I've had some customers tell me my prices are too high. Naturally, I understand the concept of "what the market will bear," and I don't expect anyone to pay more than they want to. I also understand money is tight in this economy-- this is part of the reason I'm trying to augment my income with transcribing. If you honestly can't afford what I'm charging, please tell me what you can afford and we may be able to work something out. However, if you think I'm overcharging, please consider the following information, presented as cheerfully as possible--

If you take a guitar lesson from a qualified professional, you would very likely pay more than my transcribing price for just one lesson. (note-- I recognize that I live in a large metropolitan area-- lesson rates may be cheaper where you live.) If your teacher has to write down something he's figuring out by ear, that takes additional time. This is assuming you can find a teacher you trust to figure things out accurately. If you think of one of my transcriptions as a guitar lesson, maybe it won't seem overpriced. (In my view, learning a solo by a master like Oscar Moore, or Eldon Shamblin, or Peter Green, is really the equivalent of a whole bunch of lessons.) Please keep in mind, I encourage customers to ask questions that will enable them to play the transcribed music more easily.

If you have a trained professional come to fix something at your house, in many cases they charge more than $30.00 just to walk in the door.

Transcribing is not like raking leaves-- it's very complex work, and not everyone can do it. I have a music degree and years of experience teaching and performing many different styles. I think sometimes people have trouble thinking of musicians as qualified professionals who should be paid well. Part of the problem is that there is so much free tab and online information. This conditions people into thinking they should be able to get tab without paying for it. Some of the free stuff is good, but much of it is worthless. There is also an awful lot of music you will never find free tab for.

I provide a service for people who are serious about music, and want their transcription to be accurate. I also am doing this for people interested in music that's hard (or impossible) to find in tab form. If I charged my hourly teaching rate for my transcriptions, my price would be much higher! I'm charging less than I think I'm worth because I'm trying to establish an online reputation and not scare people away.

PAYMENT POLICIES

I ask my customers for a 50% down payment before I begin a transcribing project. Customers interested in samples of my work can find some on this site, listed on the right side of the site.
If a customer would prefer to see a brief sample excerpt from the work they have in mind, I can post or email them a few measures before they decide. Please note-- I sometimes get emails from customers reluctant to pay me anything until I've finished the job. I can understand their concern, of course. I don't know if any of you have paid money upfront to someone and then been burned; I do know that quite a few students have taken lessons from me and then told me they would send me a check, but somehow never got around to it (even with numerous reminders from me.) From now on, I require a down payment as a gesture of good faith. (note-- I'll probably have a paypal option pretty soon, so you won't have to mail a check if you don't feel like going through the extra hassle.)
At this time, I ask for payment by mailed check at the conclusion of the work. My address is Karl Straub, 406 Cloverway, Alexandria, Virginia, 22314. I can post the transcription while it's in progress, in case a customer wants to give suggestions for me to do it differently in some way.

MY TRANSCRIBING SYSTEM

I can email a file with the transcription to you. I usually post it on my private site, where you can watch it in progress, and print it out for your own use.

WHAT I NEED FROM YOU

Customers must make the recording available to me in one of the following ways.

1. Mail me a burned CD of the music.

2. Email me an mp3, using YouSendIt (www.yousendit.com/) or similar program. (Note-- if you have ITunes program, it's easy to make an mp3, drag it to your desktop, and send it it to me in an email using YouSendIt. My email address is karlstraub@hotmail.com.)

3. If the song is on YouTube, send me the link. I can usually transcribe from a YouTube clip.

I also need very clear information from you about what you want. This means a clear description of which parts, solos, chords, etc. I also need to know the timings of where a part comes in. (i.e. if you want a guitar solo, I need to know that it is 1:40 to 1:58.)

Here is a partial list of players and styles I've transcribed in the past--

• Chuck Berry


• Bo Diddley


• Freddy King


• Clarence White


• Norman Blake


• Tony Rice


• Dan Crary


• Jimi Hendrix


• the Beatles


• Keith Richards/Rolling Stones


• Jimmy Page/Led Zeppelin


• Black Sabbath


• Angus Young/AC/DC


• B.B. King


• Albert King


• Eric Clapton/Cream/Bluesbreakers


• Roy Nichols/Merle Haggard


• James Burton


• John Cipollina/Quicksilver Messenger Service


• Magic Sam


• Otis Rush


• Jeff Beck/Yardbirds


• George Barnes


• Hank Garland


• Eldon Shamblin/Junior Barnard/Tiny Moore/Bob Wills


• Charlie Christian(Benny Goodman)


• George Benson


• Mick Ronson (David Bowie)


• Nokie Edwards (Ventures)


• Marc Bolan (T. Rex)


• Peter Green/Danny Kirwan (original Fleetwood Mac)


• Hubert Sumlin (Howlin' Wolf)


• Don Rich (Buck Owens)


• Grady Martin (tons of old country records)


• and tons more!

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"PANHANDLE RAG," ARRANGED BY KARL STRAUB

www.karlstraubmusic.com/PANHANDLE RAG straub arrangement.mp3

Here are three different Straub arrangements of "Panhandle Rag."

(Please note-- anyone who would like a copy of these arrangements should email me at karlstraub@hotmail.com. I'm happy to sell a copy to anyone who would like to use it for their own group. I'm also available to write similar arrangements for anyone who wants to spice up their country or western swing music with harmonized stuff like this. Want a Bob Wills style arrangement written for your group? I'm here to help!)


Some of this is in four-part style-- I played these sections as two parts, both playing double stops. It takes a lot of work to play a four-part arrangement with just two players-- the double stops are tough, and it took me many takes to get it right.

(Of course, if I learned how to punchin while overdubbing, it would be easier. But one man can only do so much.) It's a lot easier to play these kinds of lines with four players, but how many groups have that many soloists handy? (In fact, this arranging approach is even stronger with five players-- with a fifth line an octave below the top line.)

The eight bar intro is four-part style.

Next is thirty-two bars (the whole head) in two-part style. This is two lines, and could be more easily played by two players. This section is a fairly straight rendition of the original melody, harmonized.

Then I have more four-part style, thirty-two bars. This is again played by two guitars with double-stops.

Last, I have another two-part section. This is the variation that departs most from the original melody. It's hotter and more swinging.

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"LIMEHOUSE BLUES," FRANK VIGNOLA AND BUCKY PIZZARELLI

Hot jazz-- after a slow reading of the melody, a nice uptempo version of this old chestnut.
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