Description
Notes From John
Tab only, 4/4 at BPM = 142, with swing eighths marked and “clean, reverb” at the top. The intro is high double-stops around the 16th to 18th frets over A♭6, Fm, D♭ and E♭7, with slides off and strokes marked. The verses are mostly rests, broken up by short staccato chord hits, including an E♭9 slid up from the low frets. The choruses at 0:34 and 1:28 play a single-note line with vibrato and slides, coming down from the 16th fret over D♭, Cm and Fm, and walking down over B♭ and E♭7. The solo at 1:01 sits around the 5th to 9th frets, with hammer-ons, pull-offs, full bends, slides and dead notes. The last tag at 1:42 adds staccato double-stops, then high notes with slides off, and ends on an A♭6 chord.
For the player
This is the 1958 Decca cut, with Hank Garland and Harold Bradley on guitar at the session. The verses are mostly rests, so count them and hit it cold on the short chord hits. Keep the staccato hits short, play the chorus vibrato where it’s printed, and keep the solo’s bends in pitch. At BPM = 142 the job is the feel.
Lead Guitar Sheet Music for “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee.
