Thick As A Brick
Ian Anderson
Acoustic Guitar Parts
Installment #1 (4th revision)
This series of postings describe my understanding of how Thick As A
Brick (TAAB) is played on acoustic guitar. I probably never learned
to play it accurately, and I've certainly let it fester and mutate for
22 years. But, here it is anyway.
Paul Tarvydas. Spring 1994.
tarvydas@tsctrl.guild.org
1: Capo.
For TAAB, as with many Tull acoustic songs, the acoustic guitar is
capo'd at the 3rd fret. [see idioms, below]
2: Picking Style.
The worst part in TAAB, for me, was nailing the picking style. As far
as I can tell, Anderson uses a flatpick to play things which would
have been fingerpicked by most other guitarists (on other songs, like
"Rocks on the Road", he supplements the flatpick with fingers 3,4 & 5,
but he seems to always use the flatpick (held between the thumb and
1st finger)). This flatpicking gives a sharper attack to the notes
and a very crisp sound to his acoustic guitar work.
Sigurd Andre Lund has convinced me that Anderson picks the "right
way", i.e. by using strict alternating up/down pick strokes. The
things which sound like hammer-ons (e.g. the beginning of the G6
bar) are, in fact, picked notes (if you listen very closely, you can
hear that the note is too bright to have been hammered-on). I've
marked the picking on the tab below as I now play it.
The beginning of TAAB is in 6/8 time.
So, the intro is:
3rd fret
D G6
pick V ^ V ^ V ^ V ^ / \ / \
g-|--------------------|--------------------|
D-|--------------------|--------3--3--3--3--|
Bb|--------2--------2--|--------0--0--0--0--|
F-|-----0--------0-----|--------0--0--0--0--|
C-|--0--------4--------|--0--2--2--2--2--2--|
G-|--------------------|--------------------|
fingering (changes)
2 2 0 0 0 0
3 3 3 3 3 3
1 1 0 0 0 0
0 x 0 0 0 0
x 4 0 1 1 1
x x x x 2 2
^ ^
| |
+--+------- Add 1st finger (on 5th),
|
+------- and, now, add 2nd (on 6th)
3rd fret
D D G6 G6 rpt
pick V ^ V ^ V ^ V ^ V ^ V ^
g-|--------------------|--------------------|
D-|-/6-----------------|--------------------|
Bb|--------5--------5--|--------0--------0--|
F-|-----0--------0-----|--------------0-----|
C-|--0--------7--------|--0--5-----3--------|
G-|--------------------|--------------------|
fingering (changes)
2 2 0 0 0
3 3 3 3 3
1 1 0 0 0
0 x 0 0 0
x 4 0 1 1
x x x x x
On the second time through, the left channel guitar plays without the
"hammer-on" as shown below (the right channel guitar plays as above):
3rd fret
D D G6 G6
g-|--------------------|--------------------
D-|-/6-----------------|--------------------
Bb|--------5--------5--|--------0--------0--
F-|-----0--------0-----|-----0--------0-----
C-|--0--------7--------|--5--------3--------
G-|--------------------|--------------------
pick V ^ V ^ V ^ V ^ V ^ V ^
fingering (changes)
2 2 0 0
3 3 3 3
1 1 0 0
0 x 0 0
x 4 1 1
x x x x
NB fret postions are relative to capo at 3rd fret
(i.e. 0 = 3rd fret open)
V is downpick (low strings towards high)
^ is up pick (high strings back towards low)
h is no picking (let hammer-on sound)
D means a chord with the fingering as shown:
x-|--2----
x-|--3----
x-|--2----
x-|-------
x-|-------
x-|-------
2
3
1
0
x
x
and G6 means a chord with the the fingering as shown:
x-|-------
x-|--3----
x-|-------
x-|-------
x-|--2----
x-|--3----
x
3
0
0
1
2
3. Fingering.
I've derived this fingering by watching Anderson through binoculars at
a concert and watching his general technique on a few videos. I find
that this fingering definitely gives a more natural Tull-like sound to
the incidentals (the ones which sound like hammer-ons).
The first bar is fairly straight-forward, standard D fingering. Pinky
(4th) on 5th string 3rd fret. Let all notes ring until you change to
a new position.
The second bar starts with a "walk" into the G6 chord. Anderson
anchors his left hand with the third finger on the third fret of the
second string. He uses this finger as a pivot when switching between
the D and the G6 chords. To make the switch, he lifts up the first
and second fingers from the D chord, leaving the third finger in
place. The open fifth string is down-picked on the first beat. Then,
on the second beat, he places the first finger into position (2nd fret
5th string) and up-picks the 5th string again. On the third beat,
Anderson completes the G6 chord by silently placing the second finger
into position (6th string, 3rd fret). He doesn't actually play the
6th string, but when he strums, his hand is "resting" in the G6 chord
position. [Another interpretation might be that he's "keeping time"
by "drumming" his fingers onto the fret board]. The first strum of
the G6 chord is on this third beat with a down-stroke. Now the picking
reverses - up strum on the fourth beat, down on the fifth and back up
on the sixth. The up strums (beats 4 and 6) are emphasized - so much
so, that it often sounds like there are only two strums, both up].
The third bar enters with a slide up to a new position. On the
original TAAB, you hear only the fifth string (open) as the first
note. In the Beacon's Bottom Tapes (25th Anniv Set), you can also
hear the second string at the end of the slide (he slurs the strum
into the next bar as he slides). You can also hear the second string
in the original TAAB, much later on (on the second side, I think).
[If you want to try other fingerings, note that the basic positions
are just four-fingered D and G chords.]
4: Idioms.
To transcribe Ian Anderson's acoustic work, you have to find the
"right" left-hand position to play in (unless you're left-handed). If
you have to struggle with the fingering, then try to find another
position (I was playing TAAB in a strange position for two decades -
but, I couldn't play the accidental in Beacon's Bottom until I found a
new position :-). If you don't come out with fairly standard chord
fingerings and fairly relaxed chord sequences, then it's probably a
hint that you haven't found the correct position for the capo.
Most often, he capo's the guitar so that he can hang around the D
chord at the end of a phrase. He likes to tickle and lift the first
string and third string to go from Dsus4, D, Dsus2 and then back to D
(and maybe Dsus4), e.g.
e-|--2--3--2--0--2--|--
B-|--3--3--3--3--3--|--
G-|--2--2--2--0--2--|--
D-|--0--0--0--0--0--|--
A-|-----------------|--
E-|-----------------|--
He'll also do this with the A chord, e.g. on "feels" just before
singing "thick as a brick".
pt
https://primoaccordo.net/jethro-tull/thick-as-a-brick1.htm