Description
Notes From John
Tab only, 4/4 at BPM = 189, with swung eighths marked. John wrote one Rhythm/Lead Guitar chart for this song, and this page sells the same chart as the Lead page. Read from the rhythm side, it’s a chord chart with chord names printed over the staff wherever the harmony changes. The chorus runs a four-bar loop: three bars of two chords (C#m7 to F#9, D#m7 to G#m9, Emaj7 to A9), then a bar of B. The intro sets up the same loop. Under the vocal in the verses, the harmony slows to Bmaj7, G#m/B, Bmaj9 and B, with each chord held for two bars. The bridges move B to E to F#. The second bridge ends on C#m7/B and F#9, played as two-note shapes in half notes. The 3:22 outro steps through Bmaj7, C#m7/B, B and G#m7/B, then Bmaj7, C#m7/B, B and F#7, one chord to a bar. It’s picked mostly in quarter notes, two strings to a chord. After that, Bmaj7 is held and the chart ends on B6/9 and a tied three-note voicing.
For the player
Paul McCartney played the electric guitars on his 1979 single, and the chord names on this chart tell you where the harmony moves. Ride each gear change: the verses hold each chord for two bars, the choruses mostly change twice a bar, and the outro moves once a bar, mostly in quarter notes. Play the shapes on the strings the tab gives, and keep the swing in the eighths. At BPM = 189 the job is the feel.
Rhythm Guitar Sheet Music for “Wonderful Christmastime” by Paul McCartney.
