[Lcjones]

A mini-lesson on Requiem for A Summer Rain
You can hear the original here.

Sound bytes for the lesson are listed at the bottom of the page.


Disclaimer: I'm not a tab guy, so I hope what I've tabbed out works. Thanks for being patient!



The Guitar

In the Requiem I used a method of tuning called Nashville Tuning. I used an Ibanez PF5-MS model acoustic 6 string. The strings are actually "tuned" in standard tuning, however, the strings used are Octave strings from a 12 string pack. While I was tuned in standard, I was actually tuned in standard pitch an octave higher than normal.

To string up for Nashville tuning you will need a regular set of 6 strings and a regular set of 12 strings. We'll be using the Hi E and B from the 6 string pack and the rest will be used from the 12 string pack. Usually all strings sleeves are printed with their respective string gauge and size. We'll string it up as illustrated below:

A|------HiE-----.010--------unwound---------------(
N|--------B-----.014--------unwound-------------(
U|--------G-----.009 (.010)-unwound------------(
T|--------D-----.012--------unwound------------(
A|--------A-----.018--------unwound-------------(
A|------LoE-----.027 (.030)---wound---------------(

Remember when you're stringing up, you're going to be tuning a full octave higher. NOTE Be sure to use a tuner. Do not over tune the strings! They will break. You may need to adjust the neck or set the intonation, but that's entirely up to you and beyond the scope of this mini-lesson.

The Music

Requiem is a seriously simple tune. Even the melody is quite simple. The finger-picking is done using the Travis method or alternating thumb picking. The main melody is nothing more than an alternating thumb bass run done with the thumb. In several parts of the melody I use triplets to break up the melody a bit.

Here is the chord progression of the first section of Requiem:

G / C / G / C / Am / D / G

Played Twice (G/C)
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---0-------0-------0---------------1-------1-------1---------------0---|
|-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------|
|-----0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-------0-|
|-------------------------0h2-----3-------3-------3-------0h2-----------|
|-3-------3-------3-----------------------------------------------3-----|


And the drop to Am

Triplet
|----------------------------0-------------------------------------2-------|
|---1-------1--------1-----------1-------1-------1---------1-----------3---|
|-------0-------0------2-------------2-------2-------2---------2-----2-----|
|-----0-------0----------2---------2-------2-------2---------2---0-------0-|
|-3-------2-------0------------0-------0-------0-------0h2-----------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------------|


That progression is played through twice. The next section includes an Em9 and a Cmaj7

Em9 Chord
..............................5th
A|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-------
N|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-------
U|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-------
T|-----|-----|-----|--M--|-----|-----|-------
A|-----|-----|-----|-----|--R--|-----|-------
A|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-------


Cmaj7 Chord
..............................5th
A|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-------
N|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-------
U|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-------
T|-----|--M--|-----|-----|-----|-----|-------
A|-----|-----|--R--|-----|-----|-----|-------
A|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-----|-------

I chose to use the Ring/Middle finger because I'm going to slide from the Em9 to the Cmaj7 and set up a triplet pulloff move that walks down to a G chord.

Bass Triplet walk to a G Chord

Em9 Cmaj7
|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----0-------0-------0-------0-----0-------0-------0-------0---------|
|---------0-------0-------0-------------0-------0-------0---------0---|
|-------4-------4-------4-------0-----2-------2-------2---------2-----|
|---5-------5-------5-------5-----3-------3-------3-------3p2p0-------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------3-|



**
Well, I hope I pulled that off, so to speak. If anyone has an interest on how to play this tune or how to get the triplets working or if something is not clear in the lesson above, just let me know.

Best,

**
LC