Transcribing Notes From John Neil (Head Transcriber)
Ghostbusters – Ray Parker Jr. – Song Breakdown
Melody
Mr. Ray Parker Jr. doing this cinematic classic. Very much of this is actually spoken, signified with the “x” note-heads. I tried to estimate the general pitch of the speaking, but that’s just a suggestion of course. Suffice it to say it’s very expressive with a high range of low and higher pitched speaking. The range of the actual singing part is F#3-D5.
Download the Melody Sheet Music Here
Keyboard
Being a nice 80’s song, there are plenty of keyboard parts. I included as many as humanly possible, which should cover the song nicely. Some parts are done in a different octave in order to be able to play it on 1 keyboard, and also some notes are in “( )” because they will clash if on 1 keyboard. The ultimate way to play this would be on multiple keyboards with patches as described throughout the song. I had to leave some parts out – in particular the sustained string synth. Some parts I gave to lead guitar when it’s not busy with its part.
Download the Keyboard Sheet Music Here
Lead Guitar
This part contains the lead guitar parts, and some keyboard parts. It also doubles some rhythm guitar. I specified “overdrive” as opposed to “distortion”, as it sounds more like the gain is breaking it up rather than a stomp box/distortion effect.
Download the Lead Guitar Tab Here
Rhythm Guitar
This is the rhythm guitar part, which is pretty consistent with the actual recording. This part along with the basic keyboards hold the basic rhythm down. I specified “distortion”, as this part sounds like it uses a distortion effect.
Download the Rhythm Guitar Tab Here
Strum Guitar
There isn’t a strum guitar in this song, so a part was made up at capo 2 to keep the chords more open and basic.
Download the Strum Tab Here
Bass Guitar
This is actually a synthesizer in the recording, but easily transferrable to bass guitar. I can hear this either with a pick or fingers. A pick would make it more punchy, which the synth sound is.
Download the Bass Tab Here
Drums
This song consists of a steady drum machine beat with added tom fills, and sometimes shaker and percussion samples. This is all arranged for a normal drum kit, so some drum fills may be tricky, but the end result will be a great combination of beat and fills simultaneously.
Download the Drum Music Here
Download the Lead Sheet Here
