Dear Prudence, the Beatles, help!!!

I've not learned this one yet. It is in drop D tuning though. Didn't know if you knew that. If I get a chance, I'll look around for a tab that's close to the scores.

cheers Meusen, nice one. I knew it was drop D, and think it is travis picked, but my word there's some cr*p tabs out there. I also know that the main part of the song uses a descending bass line on the A string whilst holding a D shape so its D, D/c, D/b, D/a progression, but would really like to learn this properly.

there is also a variety of stuff posted about the bridge section, the "look around, round, round" part. Some suggest its

D, G/d, A/d, G/d look around, round round (G/d xx0433, A/d xx0655)
repeat, then
D, F, G, D for final line.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Matt

This is the tab I use for 'Dear Prudence'. It uses DADGBE tuning. And, I use just the standard PIMA for fingerpicking. Hope it helps!
THE BEATLES
DEAR PRUDCENCE

Elektrablue thanks for your post, it is similar to a couple of the better tabs i found. My problem with it though, is with the low D string being picked as in your pattern, it tends to drone away and drowns out the melody being played on the A string - the descending bass line.

Where you have put the chords for the intro, are they also travis picked one by one, or are you trying to indicate that they are strummed once each?

And is the "look around" bit strummed or picked??

I can't help feeling i am missing something here, i can't see why you would continually pluck the low D string all the way through, when the bass line goes D - C - B - A.?????? confused.

Wonder if David is following this thread and would like to comment?

All the best

Matt

The scores show considerably more complex tabs and include Travis style picking all the way through -- never strummed chords. I've not had a chance to see if there's anything better out there on the net though.

Musen,

Do the scores show the low D string being played in the way Elektrablue suggests, all the way through the melody progression?

Cheers

Matt

No -- it's basically always a picking pattern like the one shown in the example at the beginning of ElektraBlue's tab -- which so far is the only tab I can find on the net.

Muse

Yeah but that's my point. If you play the open D string (the detuned Low E) as it suggests in the picking, surely this overides the sound of the descending bass on the A string??

Doing my head in this is, I just can't see that the pattern is right, even though it is true that most tabs seem to show this picking.

Matt

I'll try to check the scores for you tomorrow. I work until very late tonight and won't have a chance. But by tomorrow evening I will. Then I'll let you know what the scoop is. But I believe you're right -- the sixth string is only an occasional pluck.

There are quite a few tabs and chords here.......

http://www.guitarnotes.com/tabs/tabsearch.cgi?query=Dear+Prudence&engine=tabs

don't know how good they are though, haven't got time for the moment to try them out.......

Vic.

My problem with it though, is with the low D string being picked as in your pattern, it tends to drone away and drowns out the melody being played on the A string - the descending bass line.
Where you have put the chords for the intro, are they also travis picked one by one, or are you trying to indicate that they are strummed once each?
And is the "look around" bit strummed or picked??
I can't help feeling i am missing something here, i can't see why you would continually pluck the low D string all the way through, when the bass line goes D - C - B - A.?????? confused.
Matt

OK... everything is fingerpicked. Nothing is strummed. The way this tab is written, the pattern is the first bit at the very top and that is the pattern that you will use throughout. The intro (and all of the following verses) don't show the pattern, just the strings for that particular chord that you will be fingerpicking, but you will always use that same pattern. (I believe that this is written is 6/8 time, so each note is played as an eighth note). So, basically, you pluck the A string first, the higher D string second, the G string third, the low D string fourth, the B string fifth, and the high D string again sixth, no matter what chord you happen to be fingering, and that is the pattern throughout. Give it a shot and let me know if you're getting it! Once you've got that pattern figured out, it's really fairly simple. (And, once you've got the pattern and the chords down you'll hear the bass line coming out.)

I went out looking and found this tab that someone actually took the time to completely tab. This may be the best thing for you to use to learn from!
The Beatles - Dear Prudence Guitar tab

Let me know if this works for you!

When dealing with any song, you have to decide for yourself what is going to make the best arrangement for you. The Beatles scores (and two other books I have and a TAB from a magazine and a Beatles instructional video) show this having four guitar parts. What's a single person to do?

The "main" guitar, the acoustic, is finger picked throughout (bridge, too) and is in Travis style picking throughout. But the crazy thing about this particular Travis picking is that the low D (sixth string) is the "alternate" bass note. So you're always hitting that on the second and fourth beats which makes it sound a little surreal if you're playing it on your own. I mean, for your bass notes you're going D (fourth string), D (sixth string), C (fifth string), D (sixth string), etc. Hitting that low D every other bass can throw you off if you're not used to it.

When I played this song on my own in coffee shops and wherever, I never used the exact transcription. People know the song and their ears are simply listening for the descending chord line. You could put it on the B and G strings and still sound okay. Likewise, I opted for straight strumming during the bridge in order to beef things up a bit.

So you have to decide how you want to present the song. If you're learning it for the sake of knowing it (and that's very admirable), then you've got many guitar parts to learn. If you're learning it in order to perform it solo, then you've also got to come up with an arrangement that you feel comfortable with and that your audience will appreciate.

Hope this helps. By the bye, the best transcription I've seen is in the Hal Leonard book, Acoustic Guitar Bible, a steal at $19.95!

Peace

David

Many thanks, as usual you have hit the nail smack on the head. It was the alternating bass with that repeating low D droning away that threw me, utterly.

Thanks very mcuh for your, and everyone else's input. Note that i was not intending to give the impression that i was critisising Elektrablue's tab, it just sounded "off" when played as indicated.

All the best

Matt