The Beatles - Complete Scores
by The Beatles
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Book Summary Information
Author: The BeatlesBrand: Hal Leonard
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1993-06-01
ISBN: 0793518326
Number of pages: 1136
Model: 673228
Publisher: Hal Leonard Corporation
Product features:
- Full Scores and Lyrics to All 210 Beatles Titles
- Guitar/Bass In Standard Notation and TAB
- Includes Full Discography
- Packaged Inside its Own Protective Box
- 1136 Pages
Book Reviews of The Beatles - Complete Scores
Book Review: Meticulous, monumental, and endlessly rewarding
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is an overwhelming piece of work: every single Beatles song (not counting the Anthology material), carefully transcribed -- not arranged, but transcribed: every note played by every instrument, as nearly as notation can represent such a thing.
The transcriptions are generally quite accurate. There are some mistakes in the lyrics. Flaws in the notes, however, are very few and far between -- impressive, considering the sheer quantity of music in this book!
The notation is exceptionally thoughtful, and sensitive to the music. There are many situations where rock music is poorly served by notation, such as extended guitar technique, or rhythmically ambiguous improvisation. Most transcriptions fall flat in these places, but these scores manage to convey the music just about as well as notation could hope to. Like The Beatles, the transcribers who produced this book are masters of their craft.
The music is written out in full score (i.e. all the instruments together). This is a big plus for me, because it means that it's possible to see the interaction of all the instruments as a whole. However, if you are performing the music, you may need to extract individual parts.
This is definitely a study score, not a performance score. The print is clear and clean, but small. The book is too thick to sit on most music stands. The pages don't stay flat without help. The page turns are numerous. Performers looking to use the scores will want to make enlarged photocopies of the pages, or copy off parts. (And yes, that is legal as long as it is for personal use.)
The book does not list the precise instruments (was that a Fender or a Gibson?) or who played them. For that information, I highly recommend William J. Dowdling's Beatlesongs. It makes an excellent complement to these scores.
I have only three major complaints:
(1) The songs are arranged alphabetically, not in album order. If you want to follow through Abbey Road (and you do!), you're going to be doing a heck of a lot of page turning.
(2) On top of that, the name of the current song is not printed in the margin of the page, meaning that it can be quite difficult to locate a specific song in the book. I have 40 or 50 sticky notes coming out the side of my book, so that I can locate songs quickly.
(3) The four people who performed this monumental task get almost no credit. They are not listed as authors; their names are not on the cover, or the spine, or the back. No, they are listed in teeny tiny type tucked underneath the copyright notice on p.4. Their names are Tetsuya Fujita, Yuji Hagino, Hajime Kubo, and Goro Sato (a fab four of transcription!), and they deserve to have their names in giant letters and bright lights for what they have done. My 5-star rating goes to them, and not to Hal Leonard for pushing them into near-anonymity.
This is a fabulous book, both a staggering achievement and a wealth of information. I wish somebody would produce something half this good for the other non-notated musicians I love. (Hey there TF, YH, HK, and GS: want to tackle Yes, 1970-77? I'd buy it in a heartbeat!)
Summary of The Beatles - Complete Scores
A fitting tribute to possibly the greatest pop band ever - The Beatles. This outstanding hard-cover edition features over 1100 pages with full scores and lyrics to all 210 titles recorded by The Beatles. Guitar and bass parts are in both standard notation and tablature. Also includes a full discography. Songs include: All You Need Is Love * And I Love Her * Baby You're a Rich Man * Back in the U.S.S.R. * The Ballad of John and Yoko * Blackbird * Can't Buy Me Love * Come Together * Drive My Car * Eleanor Rigby * From Me to You * Glass Onion * A Hard Day's Night * Help! * Hey Jude * I Saw Her Standing There * I Want to Hold Your Hand * Michelle * Penny Lane * She Loves You * Twist and Shout * Yesterday * and many more! Book is packaged in its own protective box. A must-own for any serious Beatles fan or collector! 7-2/8 inch. x 10-7/8 inch..Reference Books
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