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The Big Lad

It Bites

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                     'The Big Lad In The Windmill' by It Bites
		     ------------------------------------------

>From the album 'The Big Lad In The Windmill'
Transcribed by Wayne Ellis and Mandy Vivian.
email ellis_w_wayne@bt-web.bt.co.uk and mandy@mandy.co.uk

The guitar is tuned as follows: C G C F C D (from low to high)

	       rake~~~~		        	    ~~~ harm   rake
E-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
C---------------0-|---------------0-|0----------------|---------0-------|
F-----------0---0-|-----------0---0-|0----------------|-7-------0-------|
C---------2-----2-|--------0------0-|-----------------|-7-------2-------|
G-0-h2--3---------|---3-2-----------|-----------------|-7-------0-------|
C-----------------|-----------------|----2mb-p0--0----|-----------------|


		   rake~~~		 	     ~~~~  harm~~~~
E-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
C-----------------|-0---------------|-0-0-------------|-----------------|
F-------------0---|-0------------0--|-0-0-------------|-----7-----------|
C-----------2-----|-2---------0-----|-0---------------|-----7-----------|
G---0--2--3-------|------3-2--------|-----------------|-----7-----------|
C-----------------|-----------------|------2mb-p0--0--|-----------------|


 rake~~~~	      rake~~~~	      	      	     ^ ~~~~harm
E-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
C-0---------------|----0------------|-----0-0---------|-----------------|
F-0---------------|-0--0------------|--0--0-0---------|-----------------|
C-2-------------2-|----2------------|0----0-----------|------7----------|
G--------0-h2-3---|-------------3-2-|-----------------|------7----------|
C-----------------|-----------------|--------2mb-p0--0|-----------------|

							      muted
 rake~~~~	      rake~~~~~	                     X  X all harms~~~~~
E-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
C-0---------------|----0------------|------0-0--------|---7-------7-----|
F-0---------------|-0--0------------|--0---0-0--------|-----7----7------|
C-2-------------2-|----2------------|-0----0----------|---------7-------|
G--------0-h2-3---|-------------3-2-|-----------------|-----------------|
C-----------------|-----------------|---------2mb-p0-0|-7---------------|

TAB Key
--------

	p  - pulloff
	mb - microtone bend (see record for further details)
	X  - mute with palm of picking hand
	~  - hold note
	^  - emphasise note
	harm - harmonic
        rake - exagerate the strumming of the chord
	      (but not enough for it to be an arpeggio)

Tuning Notes
-------------
The tuning used for this short instrumental piece is:
		    C G C F C E (low to high)

Overall the guitar sounds 'slack', giving a clue that a dropped
tuning is being used. Also you can hear string rattles in a few
places.

When tuning up, if you wish to play to the record, use the open
'C' which occurs in bar 3 as your reference. As, according to my
tuner, the actual note is close to C - but is actually somewhere
between C and C#. The difference isn't great - but when playing
along to the record it is noticeable.

Getting the exact tuning is just a matter of listening for open
strings - if you scan the TAB you can see that there are plenty
of open strings being sounded. Heres how I went about figuring
out the tuning.

The first note of the piece is 'G', so a good guess is that the
whole piece might be in standard tuning but with reference to D
(instead of E). The guitar would be tuned, to begin with, as:
		    D G C F A D (low to high)

This tuning gets you the initial notes, but the raked chord at
the end of bar 1, sounds as if the highest note is 'open'. The
actual note played is a 'C'. To cure this problem the open-A
string is raised a tone and a half to 'C'.
The tuning becomes:
		    D G C F C D (low to high)

Everything now sounds OK, until bar 3 - the open note sounded
from the pulloff is lower than the 'D' note which the lowest
string tuned to. Tuning this string down a full tone to 'C',
gives the desired note. So the tuning becomes:
		    C G C F C D (low to high)

The high D-string isn't used, and is left tuned to D.

This tuning looks a little bit strange, but if you transpose it
up a full tone, it gives:
		    D A D G D E
This appears a little more familiar as it is almost 'Dropped D'
tuning (DADGBE), but with the B-string raised to a D.

Notes
------

Once you've got the tuning, this is quite an easy piece to play.
It is roughly in 4/4 time - but is played 'freely' so things do
wonder a little through the bars.

Because of the slack tuning, the notes resonate longer, filling
the sound out. Try not to kill the notes too quickly after they
have been played. Use a plectrum throughout to get a full sound.
Let the raked chords and harmonics ring, dig into the strings
with the plectrum when playing the rakes.

This Transcription (c) Copyright DarkMusic 1997.

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The Big Lad

It Bites