Description
Notes From John
Tab only, 4/4 at BPM = 142, with swing eighths marked, “Drop C Tuning (C G C F A D)” and “clean, start palm mute” printed at the top. The intro is quarter-note roots on the low strings over A♭, Fm, D♭ and E♭7. The verses and tags are a palm-muted single-note line on the low strings over A♭, A♭6, E♭7, Bm/E♭ and E♭9, mostly roots and short figures with eighth rests between. The choruses at 0:34 and 1:28 move through D♭, Cm, Fm, Fm(maj7) and Fm7 with slides and hammer-ons, hit an accented B♭, and walk down on E♭7. After “end palm mute” at the end of the first tag, the part plays A♭5 double-stop hits up the neck, and the solo section at 1:01 is mostly double-stops around the 10th to 15th frets, with half-step bends and slides over A♭6. The last tag ends with short slides up to the 11th fret over A♭, Fm, D♭ and B♭m7.
For the player
Retune to drop C first. Hank Garland and Harold Bradley were the guitarists on the 1958 session. Most of this part is a palm-muted low-string line, so ride the downbeat, keep the eighth rests short, and play the swing as marked. Take the palm mute off for the double-stop hits and the solo section, and put it back on at the 1:28 chorus where the chart says “start palm mute”. At BPM = 142 the job is the feel.
Rhythm Guitar Sheet Music for “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee.
