Need help with Lick

General Music Discussion
#1

Hi all, I’m new here, posted in the newb forum.

I’ve been trying for a long time to learn “Beginning” from Castlevania Dracula Battle Perfect Selection arranged by Naoto Shibata. I am stuck at 1:45, the lick there I can make no sense of. Can anyone lend a hand?

also, attached is the first page of my tab up to this point which is a little rough but the notes are all there I believe, just missing bend/trill notation. I will post more once I’m past the new user phase if anyone wants them. Or just message me.

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thank you!

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I’m practicing my transcription skills - have any requests?
#2

Hi and welcome :slight_smile:

First of all, warning! I am not a transcriber. I also happen to have really terrible aural skills. I’m trying to improve but trust me, I suck beyond belief. So, be extremely careful with my “help” :wink:

I took your “challenge” because, as I already said, I’m trying to improve and doing something for others keep me much more accountable than doing something for my own good. I should ask people to ask me to transcribe licks :smiley: That might motivate me to transcribe consistently. I know, it’s stupid. I’m stupid.

I played along at 70% speed (yeah, I’m not a shredder. That’s about the fastest I can play comfortably) and it sounds more or less not overly awful. However, I don’t know if it’s possible to play it like this at original tempo. Especially that bend which I marked. (He may be doing something with tremolo bar or something else.)
Also, I’m not sure about the fingerings/positions. I wrote it the way I play. Try out some different positions. And perhaps different notes :smile: You may very well improve my work :cry:

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#3

Hi Medium_Attempt! Thank you so much for accepting the “challenge”! I played through what you have and I finally get what he was doing with the slides. You have a good ear. As for the rest of it, I think you’re pretty close but I have to work my speed up and yah, it gets pretty muddy at the end.

It’s a pretty good guitar album, and there’s a second one too. I believe the guitarist playing this is Masanori “Burny” Kusakabe but it also might be Akio Shimizu of Anthem. I’ll try to figure out the rest of the piece.

Thanks again! Awesome work!

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#4

No problem, I actually enjoyed transcribing this and later playing it along :slight_smile: It’s a fun lick and a composition overall.

Oh trust me, I have a terrible ear :zipper_mouth_face: But what I lack in aural skills, I make up for in patience.

By the way, I didn’t indicate any articulation except these slides in the beginning. That sliding lick is pretty much a standart.
The rest of articulation…I think articulation is a rather personal thing. I myself play a hammer-on on first two notes of the third bar (13-14 on second string) and then I slide next two notes (12-14 on first string). That slide gives some quirky feeling when followed by the marked bend and that’s something I kind of hear in the recording.

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