Nowhere Man

Should i play this in D or E? I guess it really depends on my voice.

I always played it in E.
That riff works well on an E chord.
I don't recall but it must be the key the Beatles played it in.

Here is a pretty good site for Beatles Tabs:

http://members.tripod.com/~jpgr_beatles/tabs/tabs.html

And here is Nowhere Man

http://members.tripod.com/~jpgr_beat...NowhereMan.txt

with the capo on the 2nd fret on that tab it is in E

just like jtal909 said... the proper key is "E", and John capo'd his acoustic at the 2nd fret (so the "E" is played like a '"D").

The electrics are in standard tuning - the only tuning that you can play the solo and lick in properly.

Originally Posted by kmac

Here is a pretty good site for Beatles Tabs:

http://members.tripod.com/~jpgr_beatles/tabs/tabs.html

And here is Nowhere Man

http://members.tripod.com/~jpgr_beat...NowhereMan.txt

That transcription of the solo is a bit simplistic. If you're interested in it, here's another one you might try (without a capo). That's how I play it (in E), and I think I got it from "The Beatles Complete Scores".

-0--0------------|----------------|--0---------------|
-0-----0----0----|--4--5---7-----|--2--2-----------|
-1---------------|--4-------------|--2-----2---2----|
-2---------------|--4-------------|--2---------------|
-----------------|-----------------|------------------|
-----------------|-----------------|------------------|




--------------|---------------|--------------|--------------------|----5(H)
---------0----|---------------|--------------|--------------------|------
-1--2---------|--2--2--------|--2--2-------|--------------------|------
-2------------|--4------4----|--2-----------|--------------------|-----
-2------------|--4-----------|--0------3----|--3--2-----2S1P0-|-----
--------------|---------------|--------------|---------------------|-0---


You should play the first chord in each bar as an arpeggio (each note slightly after the previous one, not all at the same time). The last note in the solo is a harmonic (if you play in in the 12th fret instead of in the 5th, you'll get a note an octave lower than it should).

Originally Posted by El Gos Coix

That transcription of the solo is a bit simplistic. If you're interested in it, here's another one you might try (without a capo). That's how I play it (in E), and I think I got it from "The Beatles Complete Scores".

Thanks, my abilities are very rudimentary but I enjoy learning.

It's the same over here. I keep on trying to learn as much as possible. It's always good to start with something easy that makes the song recognizable and then add things here and there to improve it. The first time I played that solo I made it more or less like in the transcription in that link (that's the most complicated thing my ear allowed). I copied the tab I've put up there long before I was able to play it. The biggest surprise was the harmonic (I hadn't realized that I was playing the wrong harmonic all the time until I played the right one once!)

It's one of the simplest guitar solos ever.... but one of the most perfect solos ever. As a guitarist, as well as a fan, it's one of my favorites guitar solos of all time.

One of the coolest things about that song is the bass part. Which I never noticed for YEARS until I started trying to learn to play it and I was like "What the HECK is he doing?!!?" It's so hard to play that and sing at the same time ~ it's like patting your head and rubbing your stomach. And yeah, E.

Originally Posted by Rellevart

One of the coolest things about that song is the bass part. Which I never noticed for YEARS until I started trying to learn to play it and I was like "What the HECK is he doing?!!?" It's so hard to play that and sing at the same time ~ it's like patting your head and rubbing your stomach. And yeah, E.

Rellevart, way back when I was first learning to play guitar and first listening to The Beatles (both went hand-in-hand), I would turn off the right speaker to listen to Paul's basslines.

When I did so on "Nowhere Man", it was one of those musical revelations that impacts me to this day. If not THE favorite bassline of mine by Paul, then it's at least in my top 5. It really is a very "active" bassline. He never stops playing it seems - even when you think there's a space where there's a rest, he hits a note. He really follows Ringo's kick drum for the most part, but it's so melodic and not by any means a strictly "rhythmic" bassline. He mixes it up, too - as he always does so well. He never plays the same passage quite the same way twice.

He makes a good job of it on the live version from Munich show (on the Anthology DVD).

I had not paid much attention to Paul's bass line until I saw him playing it in Munich on the Anthologyy DVD (as 62hofner has said, it's worth seeing). Somehow, it's not the kind of bass line that stands out and amazes you, but once you notice it's there, and how busy it is, you cannot help admiring Paul for playing it and singing at the same time. Well, to me, the only thing compatible with singing (apart from taking a shower) is playing rhythm guitar, so I've always wondered how Paul manages to do both things so well at the same time. "Nowhere Man" is a clear example.

Okay, resurrecting another old thread, but:

Yup, great song, great bass line. And I recently annoyed my bandmates with a trivia question about that performance from Anthology. Really quick, if anyone's game, I won't string you out too long (like I did my friends), BUT: something happens, with regard to Paul, during the solo of the song on this vid. What is it? Anyone got too much time on their hands??!

Remember the quote where Paul says he plays bass like "a frustrated guitar player."

Originally Posted by Rellevart

One of the coolest things about that song is the bass part. Which I never noticed for YEARS until I started trying to learn to play it and I was like "What the HECK is he doing?!!?" It's so hard to play that and sing at the same time ~ it's like patting your head and rubbing your stomach. And yeah, E.

Rell, when I first really listened to it with the right speaker turned off, I was like, "WHAT THE.....???!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?"

So bouncy and slightly off-time at times.... he never lets up—and that's the trick to playing that line correctly. You think he's taking a break at the end of each bar(?), but he hits a note each time.

It is definitely in my top-5 bass lines of all time. I can play it pretty close to spot-on.

Originally Posted by Rellevart

One of the coolest things about that song is the bass part. Which I never noticed for YEARS until I started trying to learn to play it and I was like "What the HECK is he doing?!!?" It's so hard to play that and sing at the same time ~ it's like patting your head and rubbing your stomach. And yeah, E.

I love seeing Paul get his due as a bass player. I have a playlist of epic Paul bass lines on my iPod, and of course this one is on it.

Originally Posted by AZJim

BUT: something happens, with regard to Paul, during the solo of the song on this vid. What is it? Anyone got too much time on their hands??!

I really cannot tell, but I think it's this video in which he switches at some moment from playing with his fingers to playing with the pick. But I'm almost sure that, if this is the case here, he does so not in the solo, but in the middle eight.

Hey all, sorry to be "gone" so long after posing a question, but yeah, that's it El Gos Coix, he switches from fingers to pick in the middle of the song!