What Kind of Mutant Human Can Play This? (Our Love Is Here To Stay - Johnny Smith)

[nobozo]

I'm an advanced beginner. I sat down today and tried to play Our Love is Here to Stay, as played by Johnny Smith and transcribed by Francois Leduc.

There are many 5 fret and a couple of 6 fret stretches that my poor hands will never be able to reach. Can normal people actually play this, and others?

Cordially,
Jon Forrest

[Danny W.]

Johnny was sui generis. Most non-mutant humans revoice some of those chords to be less tendinitis-inducing.

This classic has destroyed many left hands:

Danny W.

[Cunamara]

Sometimes the tab or chord diagrams are wrong, even when the notes are right- frequently they are auto-generated by the music engraving software. A couple of points: Johnny's standard tuning dropped the low E string to D, which makes a lot of his stuff easier to grab; he also often voiced chords using the B string for the soprano voice. If you do that with Moonlight in Vermont, for example, it becomes a lot easier to play with some 5 fret stretches, but you need a guitar with good access around and above the 12th fret. A baseball bat neck with no cutaway is going to be hard for this.

[pamosmusic]

With Johnny I wouldn't doubt it though

I remember trying to learn Moonlight in Vermont when I'd been playing for a year or something.

It's so slow, he said to himself.

It's so pretty, he said to himself.

.............. oof

[pamosmusic]

A couple of points: Johnny's standard tuning dropped the low E string to D, which makes a lot of his stuff easier to grab; he also often voiced chords using the B string for the soprano voice. If you do that with Moonlight in Vermont, for example, it becomes a lot easier to play with some 5 fret stretches, but you need a guitar with good access around and above the 12th fret. A baseball bat neck with no cutaway is going to be hard for this.

Didn't know this about the tuning. Kind of figured on the B string just with the fat sound of those melody notes. Interesting combination, I suppose.

Makes some of those voicings maybe just superhuman and not mutant?

[Mick-7]

Sometimes the tab or chord diagrams are wrong, even when the notes are right- frequently they are auto-generated by the music engraving software. A couple of points: Johnny's standard tuning dropped the low E string to D, which makes a lot of his stuff easier to grab; he also often voiced chords using the B string for the soprano voice. If you do that with Moonlight in Vermont, for example, it becomes a lot easier to play with some 5 fret stretches, but you need a guitar with good access around and above the 12th fret. A baseball bat neck with no cutaway is going to be hard for this.

The only tune of his I transcribed was Shenandoah in which, as you said, he used drop D tuning, and open string passages, no unusual stretches that I recall.

Haven't listened to a lot of his playing, but I know he liked this sort of voice-leading technique, where you have the top melody note and bottom bass line moving in contrary motion - only the first chord is a stretch.

x-x-9-5-5-x >> x-x-7-5-6-x >> x-x-6-5-8-x >> x-x-5-5-6-x >> x-x-4-5-(6-5)-x

Maybe he had large hands like Tal Farlow?

[ruger9]

I'm an advanced beginner. I sat down today and tried to play Our Love is Here to Stay, as played by Johnny Smith and transcribed by Francois Leduc.

There are many 5 fret and a couple of 6 fret stretches that my poor hands will never be able to reach. Can normal people actually play this, and others?

Cordially,
Jon Forrest

IDK if those tabs are the way Johnny actually played it, but there's no way I could make some of those stretches, no matter how much I practiced, no way no how. I'd have to have a 23" scale guitar LOL

When I come across stuff like that, I just accept the fact that I'm going to have to drop something, either the high note or the low one, whichever sounds closer to the original chord tone.

[Marty Grass]

The only tune of his I transcribed was Shenandoah in which, as you said, he used drop D tuning, and open string passages, no unusual stretches that I recall.

Haven't listened to a lot of his playing, but I know he liked this sort of voice-leading technique, where you have the top melody note and bottom bass line moving in contrary motion - only the first chord is a stretch.

x-x-9-5-5-x >> x-x-7-5-6-x >> x-x-6-5-8-x >> x-x-5-5-6-x >> x-x-4-5-(6-5)-x

Maybe he had large hands like Tal Farlow?

That tune by him is absolutely one of my favorites. The solo version is amazing.

[AllanAllen]

Maybe watching him play can give you some insight.