GUTHRIE GOVAN

LES IS MORE

JAM TRACK CENTRAL

ARTIST MERCH
At last you can get merchandise from your
favourite Jam Track Central artists, including loads
of tasty t-shirts and Guthrie Govans Erotic Cakes CD

MERCH AVAILABLE BY:

GUTHRIE GOVAN
JACK THAMMARAT
DANIELE GOTTARDO
ALEX HUTCHINGS
HEDRAS RAMOS

Les is More - Harmony Parts

(in standard notation)
jamtrackcentral.com
Guthrie Govan's Vintage Modern
h

DDDD 4
: 4

Harm 1

Harm 2

Harm 3

Harm 4

Introduction

= 254

DDDD 4
: 4
DD 4
: DD4
DDDD 4
: 4

Harm 1

Harm 2

Harm 3

Harm 4

Harm 1

11

Harm 2

11

Harm 3

11

Harm 4

Verse 1
E

11

F#13

A#dim7

B9

C#7

C#7b9/E#

F#m9

B9#5

Page 1/7

Harm 1

Verse 2
E6add9
19

B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B DB B B B B B B B B

Harm 4

Harm 3

Harm 2

19

19

19

Harm 1
Harm 2
Harm 3

B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B DB B B B B B B B B
3

B B B DB B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B
u

B B FB B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B

Harm 4

B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B F B DB B B B B B B B B B B

DB

F B DB

22

3
22

B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B DB B B F B B B B B B B B B

22

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A#dim7

BBBBBBBBBB BBBBBBBBBBBB BBBBBBBBBBBB

B B B DB B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B B
3

Page 2/7

Harm 1

C#7
25

FB

Harm 2

25

Harm 3
Harm 4

25

Harm 4

Harm 1
Harm 2
Harm 3

28

28

FB

Harm 3

31

Harm 4

Harm 1
Harm 2

31

31

B B

B F B DB

B B

B B B

B FB

B F B DB

DB F B

B F B B F B DB B DB
3

B DB Q B A

B F B DB.

B9

B DB
Q BL A

B B
Q B A

B Q B A

B FB

B B Q BH A

B F B DB

B FB

B F B DB

B B Q BH A

B DB

B F B DB

B B

B FB Q B A
L
B B Q B A

B B B B B A

B F B B DB B B DB

B B B B B B B B B B
3

DB

31

FB

B B B FB B B B B B B B B

28

B F B DB.

B B B B B B B B B B B B

28

25

B F B B F B DB B DA

B B B B B B B B B B
3

F#13

C#7b9/E#

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F B.

B.

F B DB

B DB
P B

B B A

B B A

P WA

=W

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P W

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B. B.

B B DB
B B FB

P W

P W

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Page 3/7

Harm 2

Harm 1

Middle section
C#7
35

35

u
.

Bu

Harm 3

FB

D7

C#7

B B F B.

DB.

B.

FA

B B DB

FB

DA

B C FB

DB

FA

FB

35

Harm 4

35

B P

Harm 1

39

Harm 3

39

Harm 2

F#9

39

F9

B P
B P
B P

F#9

P
P
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B B B DB.
3

Harm 4

39

B.

B
B DB B

BBB B

BB
DB B

B B B DB

DB

BBB
3

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3

B DB

BBB B
3

B
B DB B
3

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B
DB.

u
B
B
B
B

DB

B Bu

B DB
3

Page 4/7

Harm 1
Harm 3

43

43

Harm 4

43

Harm 2

B13

43

Bb13

B13

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
A

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
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E6add9
Harm 1
Harm 2

47

Harm 3

F=

47

=
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Harm 4

=
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C#7b9/E#

47

47

F=

Verse 3
E6add9

F#m7

B13

=
=

=
=
=

F=

Harm 1
Harm 2

51

=
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Harm 3

51

=
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Harm 4

A#dim7

51

=
=

F=

=
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51

Page 5/7

Harm 1

55

Harm 2

55

Harm 3

55

Harm 4

55

Harm 1

59

Harm 2

59

Harm 3

59

Harm 4

59

Q BH

=
=

B B.

GB P

GB P

Q F BH DB B B

GF B P

GB P

GB

L P

GB

L P

GB

F DB

GB

F B DB

B B

L P

L
L

L P

Q DBH B

B9

Q B B
L

Q F B DB
L

B
B
Q L

Harm 1

63

Harm 2

63

Harm 3

Q B B B B

F#13

B. P Q H B
DB

GB
GB

63

Harm 4

C#7

GB

63

P
P
P

QBB
L

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L

QBB
L

C#7b9/E#

GB P
L

ZZZZZZ

BA
L

GB

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L P L

ZZZZZZ

F#m9

B9#5

B B B DB B
B B B F B DB

GB

BA

B B B F B DB

GB P
L

ZZZZZZ
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B B B DB B

L P

L
L

Page 6/7

Harm 1

67

Harm 2

67

Harm 3

67

Harm 4

Ending
E6add9

67

C#7b9/E#

B.

Q B F B DB

F#m9

Q B B FB

Harm 1

71

Harm 2

71

Harm 3

71

Harm 4

71

H
Q
B FB B

Q B B DB

B B Q B

B FB Q B

C#7b9/E#

B B

Q H

B F B DB

Q L

E6add9

B.

.
Q B

B
L

Q B

Q B

FB

Q B

L
H

DB

L
L

B9#5

A
A
A
A

B.

B B Q GB
L

B9#5

B B B

B B Q GBL

B B B

B B Q GBL

B B B

B B B

F#m9

B.

B B Q GBL

u
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
=
=
=

Harm 1

75

Harm 2

75

Harm 3

75

Harm 4

E6add9

75

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
=
=
=
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
=
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=
=
=
Page 7/7

GUTHRIE GOVAN
Welcome to this new collection of jamtrack goodies!
If youre familiar with any of my previous Jamtrack Central
packages, this one may well strike you as somewhat unusual. Stylistically, it features some stuff which is pretty far
removed from the fast-chromatic-madness-over-a-bluesbacking theme which characterised many of my previous
collaborations with the JTC guys... Fear not: this was entirely intentional. Heres hoping youll have some fun with
the diversity of these three new tracks!
My guitar part on A Brush With Basil drew on two basic inspirations. For the more overdriven parts, I was
trying to channel the sound of a blues harmonica player, by mixing up a touch of slide playing and copious
whammy bar manipulation: this kind of playing seems to sound the most convincing when you pile on plenty
of overdrive and roll the tone knob down on the guitar, aiming for the thickest tone you can muster. Youll
also hear some lightly overdriven country-esque noodlings thrown into the mix: I think these sections have a
tiny hint of a Steve Morse vibe about them, which is surely a good thing!
Les Is More, as you may well have deduced from the cheeky title bestowed upon it by Jan, was originally
intended to be a tip of the hat to that veritable Da Vinci of the electric guitar world, Lester Polfus - a.k.a. Les
Paul. For some reason, the finished product ended up evoking Brian May and Les Paul in equal measure particularly towards the end: seems like its practically impossible to come up with any kind of harmony guitar
piece without reminding the listener of those two guys!
Given the profusion of guitar overdubs on Les Is More, the track offers a great opportunity for you to unleash
your creative side. I think it can be interesting to deconstruct a multi-tracked piece like this to see how it
works - hence the inclusion of all the stems - and in play-along terms you could learn Solo 1 and/or solo 2.
Alternatively - and Im always in favour of this tactic! - you could ignore what I played entirely and come up
with a new approach of your own, using the transcriptions merely as a source of ideas regarding suitable note
choice.
Tipsy Gypsy is, of course, my humble attempt to evoke a little of the gypsy jazz tradition. I dont pretend to
be a qualified practitioner of this style - check out some of the real exponents of manouche jazz, with their
moustaches and Maccaferris, and youll see what I mean! - but Im quite pleased with the way the track
turned out, anyhow: it seems to have a pleasingly cheeky, upbeat vibe about it!
If youre trying to coax a pseudo-Django tone from a conventional steel-string acoustic (as I did) your best
bet is to pick hard, staying relatively close to the bridge. An ultra-heavy pick certainly helps, too! I think the
most important thing with this kind of playing is to try to capture a sense of fun and energy - as is so often
the case, trying to convey the appropriate attitude in your playing is just as important as getting the notes
right.
Enjoy!
GG

Bonus Theory and Technique

Les is More
Although the lead and harmony parts interact to create the overall sound, its easier if we deal with them
separately...
Lead Guitar
Introduction (measures 1-2)
Guthrie uses a mixture of B Mixolydian (B C# D# E F# G# A) and some chromatic notes to outline a B7
chord. Notice how the line allows him to land perfectly on the G#, fitting the E chord that follows...
Verse 1 (measures 3-18)
In keeping with the Swing sound, Guthrie bases a lot of his licks around the chords, instead of playing
long scale lines. This means you really have to learn which notes are found in which chord!
Middle (measures 35-50)
In measures 35-37 theres a great example of how you can blend chord tones with chromatic passing notes.
Notice how all the long notes are taken from the C#7 chord. Another example of the same approach is
found over the B13 chord in measures 43-45 (the high G# note is the 13th which gives the chord its
name).
Harmony
Instead of analysing every scale and chord tone, we thought wed look at a few selected features...
Measures 19-25
Some of these parts use big stretches, so be careful. With four guitars playing together, you can easily
build up a dense harmonic effect, Guthrie combines the four parts so that all chord notes are covered...
E6add9 (E G# B C# F#), A#dim7 (A# C# E G) and C#7 (C# E# G# B). For the rest of this section, the four
guitars create block chords, often moving chromatically up and down in parallel. For instance, over the
F#13 in measure 27, the four notes are G# C# E G#.
Measures 41-42
Each part plays a sequenced F#7 arpeggio, but each one starting on adifferent note... C# F# A# C#. The
resulting sound is huge!
Measures 45-50
Although these block chords follow the underlying chord changes, Guthrie doesnt just move all four
parts in parallel. Notice how the parts often cross over each other, moving in both parallel and contrary
motion.
Measures 68-70
Throughout this tune, the most common way Guthrie uses to arrange the four parts is to have the lowest
and highest playing the same note (an octave apart) with the other two in the middle. Over the B9 chord,
we have high and low D# notes (the major 3rd) with F# (5th) and B (root) in between.