From: BluesGe~ol.com Date: Thu, 29 Oct 1998 18:53:11 EST Subject: (3rd try) Whammer Jammer tab with helps
Really am sorry. Should have just stayed in bed. Discovered two more bad wraps.
Please disregard posts titled:
Whammer Jammer tab with helps
and
(ascii correct)Whammer Jammer tab with helps
and
Katz n Jammer Kids
- -dave therault
================================ This is just the intro to Whammer Jammer, stopping before the verse before the guitar comes in, and it refers to differences found in the two versions (live, and studio). I think the studio version is best for studying because it's slow and clear.
I hope the ascii lines up for everyone. Please let me know if you have alignment problems. (If the lines are wrapping wrong, first try resizing your window a bit larger.) Also, I may have made some errors (doped up on flu medication), so I'd sure appreciate it if someone else who knows the tune could proof read this for accuracy. I'd not like to perpetuate any errors. Thanks.
WHAMMER JAMMER TAB (intro)
D=draw B=blow b=bend bb=double bend ()=lift tongue for chord with notes inside parentheses played L=played from left side - - or -hold- =a tie or held note between beats
The numbers on the top line in each series are the beats of the measure. Tab signs falling between beats are on the 1/2 beat or upbeat. Sometimes, I note a specifi 1/2 beat number when it seems critical to do so.
Magic Dick tongue blocked most everything on WJ except the blow bends and the tongue trill triplets in the last verse, but the tune can be approximated in pucker.
Also, Dick turns the time around in the intro (skips a beat once), so it's good to get your foot tapping, and your drummer (and audience!), on the 1st and 3rd beats, so when it turns around they are on the 2 and 4.
This is a complex tune, especially in this intro. The most important thing is to get the feel of the rhythms that Magic Dick is working over, so getting the direction of the breath is fundamental and essential.
Also, I think is helpful to think in terms of target notes, instead of articulating every note with equal weight. This is only way to get any speed on it. For example:
Here, the breathing is: 1 2 2 1/2 3 4 1 2 3 4 D D B B B D D B D
So, instead of accomplishing every note in the first measure cited, just think about hitting the first note of each beat. You might think about first just practicing using a 3-note chord (123) with no single note performance like this:
At this point you are playing the whole line, with the exception of two notes, the second half of the 1st beat, 2D, and the second half of the 2nd beat, 2B. (Please note that playing the 123B on the second half of the 2nd beat, as above, is an acceptable performance, and in all practicality, you may find yourself using some value of either, 123B or 2B. It's all good.) So, finally complete the line correctly by adding these two notes:
By taking this approach throughout the intro, you'll always have the right feel, even if you miss a note. I think that this will make it easier to learn and perform.
OK, now for the tab.
- -------- Opening chords:
5Db 5D 6D(tongue batted)
9Bb 9B 10B 10Bbb
Riff:
(The first beat of the first measure is a rest. It's important to get that feel so that the whole tune unfolds in time on the correct beat of the measure.) 1 g l i s s 2 3 4 rest 3D 2D 1D 2B 3B 2(1)B 3B
1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 (really 1, 3D 2D 1D 2B 3B 2(1)B 3B (123D) (123D) (123D) (123D) rest 3D because he skips a beat here. So I'm repeating that last 3D below as the ~1 beat~ of the next measure, for continuity. Don't play both. Strange genious, that Magic Dick.
