Is There Anybody Out There?

Cover of Pink Floyd’s Is There Anybody Out There. Recorded in December of 2021.

Is There Anybody Out There (SoundCloud)
Is There Anybody Out There (Dropbox/WAV)

Just acoustic guitar (for now).

I arranged this piece for guitar and viola. The sheet of music of my arrangement can be found here.

EDIT: Adding a link for a version of the sheet music with guitar tab instead of standard notation.

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Thanks for the sheet music, JWC, maybe one day I will give this a go. First step would be to intrepret the sheet music and create a score that also has the tab.

Hmm. I might be able to help you out, there. I created that score with Lilypond, and I’m 99.9% certain that it supports guitar tab as well as standard notation. The big question is whether I can tell it “take the ‘source code’ for this score and output tab, too,” or whether it would require a more significant effort. I’ll look into it.

(With that said, I’m compelled to suggest that learning to read the standard notation can be worthwhile if you want to devote the time. Certainly not necessary, but it can open up some doors, musically.)

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Thanks JWC. I’d appreciate it if it is a simple matter.

I can read the score to figure out the notes and timing, but not to the level of proficiency to be able to sight read and play while trying to learn a piece. To be able to focus on learning to play the piece I need both, score for timing and tab for finger placement.

Turns out it was pretty simple. Some minor tweaks needed to specify exact string/fret position in a few places, but not bad. (And now I know how to create tab in Lilypond, so that’s pretty cool.) The tab includes both “voices” on the guitar and the timing, too. Note that half notes are indicated with double stems to distinguish them from quarter notes.

Here you go:

Is There Anybody Out There? (PDF/Tab)

Thanks JWC. I have filed this away for one day when I want to learn this piece.

And glad it gave you the opportunity to learn something new in Lilypond

Very nicely played, it had a smooth and natural feeling flow to it. Sounded really good played in free form!
All chords very accurately picked and rang out cleanly… and nice tone on the recorded acoustic as well…

Kasper

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Thanks, @Kasper, I’m glad you liked it.

I’m gratified that you mentioned the guitar’s tone. The recording captured some of the beautiful overtones this particular guitar generates.

Nicely done, I really like this👍

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Wow - really a superb job. So clean.
Can I ask if you did this finger style or with a pick?

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Thank you, Craig, I’m glad you enjoyed it. And welcome to the forums!

Thanks! This was finger style. I play classical guitars, too, so I have some nails on my right hand (which you can kind of hear “squeaking” on the steel strings of this guitar).

That was superb Jason. Beautifully played!

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Looks like this was an older post that recently resurfaced… but wow. @J.W.C you’re super skilled. Sounded incredible.

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Thank you. My two favorite things about this particular recording are the audible overtones from the solo guitar with no other instrumentation, and the deep breath before I start playing (which I didn’t intend to capture – happy accident). :slight_smile: My least favorite things are the string noise from my fingernails (I should’ve smoothed and polished the edges before recording) and a couple of slightly buzzing notes (same damn note both times, but totally my fault and not the guitar’s).

This is, indeed, an older recording; it’s from a year ago. At the time, I decided to give it a shot because of the Guitar Challenges thread for this song.

(I’ve been thinking about giving the guitar challenge for Peter Green’s intro solo on Need Your Love So Bad a try. That’s a great blues solo.)

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