I'm Beginning To See The Light

Autumn Leaves - Martin Taylor

Being more familiar with Martin's solo fingerstyle guitar, Iím amazed to hear his equal facility with a pick. This solo has a freewheelin' feel to it, a joy to listen to but presenting some notational challenges. I find that notating rhythms is usually the biggest compromise, because in real life, musicians do not play "squared off" rhythms. Drum machines and computers can spit out mathematically exact subdivisions, but often musicians play with a certain "push" or "pull" against the beat - not rushing or dragging, but placing their notes relative to the actual pulse of the music. That feel often makes or breaks a performance, and usually eludes notation.

That said, the other transcription dilemma is the choice between readability and accuracy: the more scientific the transcription, the harder it is to sight-read accurately. So, in the bridge here where Martin playfully quotes "Tico, Tico," I used the polyrhythm 5:6, indicating 5 eighth notes in the place of 6. The 5 eighth note attacks are further subdivided into 10 16th notes. This is harder to read than it is to play-itís a feeling of "coasting over the beat," that fans of Frank Zappa's guitar work are familiar with. This phrase ends with a run of 7 16th notes placed in the space of 8, a feeling that fans of John Coltrane's late 50ís recordings are familiar with.

Passed a brain stone yet? OK...also look for some great bluesy phrasing, dark altered chromatic lines, and that nice dissonant shape that begins the last 8 bars- a shape that starts looking like a B triad over a C bass note, and descends like a diminished chord (every 3 frets)- a very useful harmonic structure that can be used in many Dom. 7 chord situations.

It is wonderful to hear masterful playing on a real ACOUSTIC archtop!

Autumn In New York - Martin Taylor

I first discovered Martin Taylor when a friend sent me a recording of him playing a solo set on a BBC broadcast, sometime in the 80's. Martin has a very distinctive approach, and is a versatile player adept at both fingerstyle and flatpicking.

On "Autumn In New York", Martin draws from the chord progession of the tune to create a beautiful freely phrased intro. I've notated it here in a way that fits the phrasing; you'll need to listen closely to match the rhythmic nuances.

The grace note in measure 4 is barely perceptible, the (x) notes is bars 6 and 8 are also quite subtle. I believe in bar 8 the inner notes of the chord (Bb and D) are "planted" with the left hand, but not attacked.

I'd like to point out the lovely Bb/C to C/Bb in bars 2 and 6- the Bb/C functions like a C7 9 11 (no 3rd), while the C/Bb is a tense inversion of C7. The B/C (bars 4 and 5) functions as a D7 sound (D7 b9 13). The melodic lines in bars 3 and 5 are drawn from the G harmonic minor scale (implying D7b9).

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