Been working on Tommy Emmanuel stuff lately and thought I would share some of the available tab that I have tried. Some of these are pretty accurate and are almost the same as the stuff in my TE Note for Note book. Anyway, hope this helps in your quest to learn Tommy’s music.
- Freight Train/Trambone: Pretty good transcription from, what seems to me, the “Up Close” DVD. Very similar to the “Note for Note” transcription which was based off of that DVD as well. Choose the acoustic power link and you will need Power Tab to read it.
- Dixie McGuire: Another transcription that is close to the “Note for Note” one. I used the Power Tab version from the Ultimate Guitar Archive. It is worth noting that the “Note for Note” version was a great help filling in a couple of fingering holes that the other missed. The same goes for Blue Moon.
- Those Who Wait: Great transcription and pretty accurate to the “Only” CD version. I then used that to adapt it to the “Live One” CD and the PBS Sierra Nevada version. He really never does it the same way twice, it seems. Anyway, choose the Ultimate Guitar Archive link and the Guitar Pro
and Power Tab versions are both good versions.
- Borsalino: Currently working on this myself an it’s the best version I can find and is accurate enough. A few of the fingerings are wrong and the transcription is incomplete but if you have a video version of Tommy playing this live, you’ll be able to figure it out. Used the the Guitar Pro version from the Ultimate Guitar Archive.
- Angelina: My first Tommy E. that I learned. I didn’t use this tab myself, I used the transcription that was in December 2005 issue of Acoustic Guitar Magazine, which is the best Angelina transcprition out there. I would use the Guitar Pro tab but there is a high rated ASCII version of the tab but I’m not a big fan of that kind of transcription. Hint: If your trying to figure it out yourself, it’s in drop D tuning with the capo on the 2nd fret.
- Blue Moon: Once again this is very similar to the “Note for Note” songbook. I used the Guitar Pro transcription that could be found at Ultimate Guitar Archive. Still struggling with this song, got the notes down but the feel is lacking.
That’s a short list on the Tommy E songs I have been working on. Of those, I could probably perform Dixie, Angelina and Those Who Wait without too much trouble. I would still say they need some polishing. So if you need to Tommy E songs to work on, I hope this helps. If you can afford it, I would strongly recommend getting the “Note for Note.” Not only for the great transcriptions but there is some useful information on Tommy’s playing and his influences. Like it says in the book, you need to learn about what influenced him if you really want to play like him. Anyway, I hope this helps and if you find any good transcriptions, please leave a comment.
Keep Playin’
More Tommy E song books here.
