Cavatina - how to?

DiscoStu

I tried to learn it when I was younger and a better player but it beat me. Some of the stretches/positions were beyond me.

I heard a busker playing it in town the other day and loved it, so have an urge to try it again.

Does anyone know a relatively easy version? Tab?

dafuzz

http://www.classtab.org/myers_cavatina.txt

There was a transcription of it in Guitarist many years ago which I still have somewhere. iirc the above version is the same as that. Tbh I don't thihnk an easier version exists

Haven't played it in years, might have a crack myself.

DiscoStu

You know what, I think it was a Guitarist tab I tried way back when. I seem to recall it saying that it was suited for two guitars but here was an arrangement for one, bit of a party piece sort of thing.

It still beat me!

Time for another stab methinks, and I must get my nylon classical back off my mate.

Cheers @dafuzz

EricTheWeary

IIRC the version on the fillum soundtrack was Tommy Tedesco, not John Williams and played with a pick.

dafuzz

No worries. Just had a go and I'm still awful at it

Going a bit OT, back in the day Total Guitar used to do some nice acoustic arrangements - Bare Necessities and Suicide Is Painless both kicked my arse and need to be revisited. Cheers for the reminder!

DiscoStu

You're welcome! Haha!

@EricTheWeary the film version was by John Williams. Composed by Stanley Myers. I always thought it was the other way around! I still can't believe that this is standard tuning given how effortless he makes it look

John Williams - Cavatina (Live 1979):

DiscoStu

Tommy Tedesco was a prolific session player and did indeed play on the Deer Hunter soundtrack but John Williams is the one credited for Cavatina. Williams had asked Stanley Myers to rearrange it for guitar as it was originally a piano piece. Tedesco recorded a version but it is far more elaborate, possibly a take on the original piano version?

Coincidentally, Tedesco was the one who played Suicide is Painless...

EricTheWeary

Just watching that, there is a stretch in there I probably thought wasn't humanly possible. Good luck @discostu.

nickp

it is quite difficult to play well and get the tune separated out from the arp "backing".  The stretch isn't as bad as it looks, but it takes practice assuming that you are talking about the ones on the bottom strings (haven't watched the vid as at work).

and because the arp backing is quite intricate it is also took me a shedload of practice to get sounding properly musical - you know volume swells and all that stuff

grade 8 piece IIRC.

If i'm playing it from memory and I haven't rehearsed enough I can get stuck in the "repeat" section

musteatbrain

I have some tab for that in the loft from my grades. If I can find it I'll scan it and PM it

DiscoStu

Cheers.

I've tried the one dafuzz linked to and all I can say is OUCH

Roland

dafuzz said:

http://www.classtab.org/myers_cavatina.txt

There was a transcription of it in Guitarist many years ago which I still have somewhere. iirc the above version is the same as that. Tbh I don't thihnk an easier version exists

Haven't played it in years, might have a crack myself.

Totally by coincidence I pulled out the July 1996 issue of GT this evening, and found that it has David Mead's transcription of Cavatina. David's article begins "Cavatina is without doubt the most challenging piece of nylon string guitar music that we have looked at ..."