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Old 02-01-2020, 08:27 AM
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personatech personatech is offline
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Default Which songbook publishers get it right?

I'm curious - are there any songbook publishers who usually do a particularly great job transcribing songs? For example, there are plenty out there publishing the Beatles but, in my experience, the books run the gamut from being pretty accurate to being almost head-scratching.

Which publishers seem to do the best job of getting it right?
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Old 02-01-2020, 10:52 AM
baw3 baw3 is offline
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I bought a Beatles songbook from musicians friend called the Beatles complete chord song book put out by Hal Leonard publishing co. It seems very accurate to me. I believe most of the songs are in the original keys. It was only 20 bucks. Its not the one that costs around 80 bucks with the piano parts and all that. If your into James Taylor there is a 3 volume set of all his albums up to "Hourglass" and most of the songs are very accurate to the way he recorded them. Each volume is 25 bucks. It is published by Warner Bros. publication. They are worth every penny. I bought them a while back so I don't know if you can still get them. You'll just have to look on line and see. Hope this helps.
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Old 02-01-2020, 11:11 AM
foxo foxo is offline
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It's not a song book but the Dylanchords website has every Bob Dylan songs chords and tabs for free. It's an excellent resource for any fan.

https://dylanchords.info/
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Old 02-01-2020, 11:13 AM
VTexan VTexan is offline
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Default Baw3 is right

I've had probably a dozen Beatles books through the last several decades. Some of them were fairly good, while others weren't. The Beatles Songbook is by far the best I've ever seen. Incredibly nuanced chords make me sound as much like The Beatles as I'm going to.

https://www.amazon.com/Beatles-Compl...a-435421974170
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Old 02-01-2020, 11:48 AM
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Thanks for all the Beatles suggestions, but I was really just using that as an example (I already have the Beatles Complete Scores and Beatles 1 Easy Guitar). I'm probably more interested in Dylan (thanks for the Dylan site suggestion, BTW), Kinks, Donovan, and other 60s icons. Just curious whether, as I peruse songbooks on Amazon, whether there is a particular series to consider.
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Old 02-01-2020, 12:09 PM
jseth jseth is offline
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In my experience, if the actual writer's of the songs were involved with the book, it's usually very good and very accurate... perhaps more than you'll need or want!

I have a Stevie Wonder book (Stevie Wonder Complete, Vol I (complete through "Songs in the Key of Life") that is very well written...
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Old 02-01-2020, 01:23 PM
Veeing Fly Veeing Fly is offline
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Hal Leonard.
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Old 02-01-2020, 02:04 PM
whvick whvick is offline
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I want it EASY!
Cowboy chords only
I used to find easy play books but not much lately
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Old 02-01-2020, 04:21 PM
gmruegg gmruegg is offline
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In general, and I say that with some reservation, Hal Leonard has the most accurate and playable versions of most songs. My guitar teacher has written several banjo books for Hal Leonard (banjo is his primary instrument). They do a lot of editorial and quality review of all of his submissions.

That said, I would not always expect that Hal Leonard to always get the original keys correct or be a perfect note for note transcription. Those are are hard to find from any publisher.

Most of the Hal Leonard books are geared to advanced beginner to intermediate players (which is where I am ability wise). They may not satisfy an advanced player (although an advanced player could take these arrangements and add their own enhancements).
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Old 02-02-2020, 10:53 AM
JonPR JonPR is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by personatech View Post
Thanks for all the Beatles suggestions, but I was really just using that as an example (I already have the Beatles Complete Scores and Beatles 1 Easy Guitar). I'm probably more interested in Dylan (thanks for the Dylan site suggestion, BTW), Kinks, Donovan, and other 60s icons. Just curious whether, as I peruse songbooks on Amazon, whether there is a particular series to consider.
Not AFAIK.

Seeing as you mentioned Donovan, you might just be interested in another 60s icon (Donovan's main influence, after Dylan), Bert Jansch. I can vouch for the accuracy of this book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bert-Transc.../dp/178558555X - having played a large part in producing it myself (with plenty of professional help and advice of course).

As for websites, there is a brilliant Joni Mitchell site: https://jonimitchell.com/music/transcriptions.cfm

And a very good (if not comprehensive) Nick Drake site:
http://nickdraketabs.co.uk/

More Beatles info (should you need it) is available here: http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/...alphabet.shtml
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Old 02-03-2020, 12:32 AM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Veeing Fly View Post
Hal Leonard.
I agree. Hal Leanard generally does an excellent job on whatever they do.

- Glenn
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