Description
Notes From John
Tab only, 4/4 at BPM = 121, with a swing mark (two eighths = a triplet quarter and eighth) and “Capo 3” printed. The chord names are shapes relative to the capo. The guitar rests for the opening bars, then comes in on G6. The part is a two-bar strum pattern: a down-up on beat one, then up strokes on the offbeats with rests between, and a second bar that adds a run of down-up eighths at the end. Down and up strokes are marked on the written bars. The verses at 0:13 and 1:16 and the choruses at 0:44 and 1:48 move through G6, C9, C, C7, D7 and D9, with G and G7 in Verse 2. The 1:48 chorus ends on a single G7 strum, then an A pickup into the 2:19 re-intro, where the shapes move up to A. Verse 3 at 2:27 and the 2:59 chorus keep the same pattern over A6, A, D, D7 and E. The 3:43 outro is marked rit.: a short A hit, then an A9 strum held in “free time”, “wait for drummer’s cue”, and a last accented A.
For the player
This is the strum part from the 2013 Jingle Jangle studio cut. Put the capo on the 3rd fret before you start. Ride the downbeat: the pattern starts with a down-up on beat one, and the rest of the bar is mostly offbeat up strokes, so keep the swing even and the rests clear. In the outro, hold the A9 and wait for the drummer’s cue before the last A. At BPM = 121 the job is the feel.
Strum Guitar Sheet Music for “Silver Bells” by Swing Shift.
