Composer John Martyn 6th Oct 2014 Light gauge strings would not be advisable for this low tuning. left -hand technique to avoid pushing the slackest strings off of the fretboard, you will also need to re-check the tuning more often than usual too if you play this tune repeatedly while practising it, the slack strings will go out of tune much quicker than standard tuning. John Martyn live duet with Danny Thompson: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg_Utj4Aljc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ohmSPv-rtSQ Live solo performance in Germany video(1978) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8Blccc0PM0 Here John tunes even lower to: with, generally, the same first part of the clip, so the song begins at [3:24] John constantly improvised on his songs, never playing or singing them exactly as his records. There is plenty of room for experimenting and adding your own subtleties, which is what his songs are all about. Use plenty of slides, hammer-ons and percussive slaps to add more life. The key to playing this song is the beautiful open tuning. Once you hear that chord on open strings you're half- way there. The chords are pretty much all one finger shapes, straight barres across all the strings. Getting to the open tuning is the trickiest part, a chromatic tuner is very useful, unless you've the keen ear that John had: Top E string - Down to D B string - Down to A# G string - Down to F D string - Up to D# A string - Down to G Bottom E string - Down to C OPEN TUNING: --#--#- Try this little run at the beginning of the 1st & 2nd lines of the verses. [Cm11 riff] You've been (tak -ing your...) |------------| #|------------| |------------| G |-------0----0-----h3---h5---0--| C |--0------------| N.B. Please IGNORE ANY POP-UP CHORD BOXES the website might automatically suggest and use the typed shapes shown below: Cm11 = 000000 or 050000 Fm11 = 555555 (Occasionally adding a high note - 555558) F11sus2 = 557555 = 777777 Cm11 * = 0 0 0 0 12 12 (*Harmonics) h = Hammer-on note p = pull-off note \ = Slide note down Please select a star rating for this tab, many thanks ========================================================================== [Intro] F11sus2 |------------|----5-----5--5--|------------|-----5----5--5---5--| #|------------|----5-----5--5--|------------|-----5----5--5---5--| D#|------------|----5-----5--5--|------------|-----5----5--h7--5--| G |------------|-------5--------|-----0-h3-h5--0--|--------5-----------| C |--0--0--12\-0--|--5------------|--0------------|--5------------| [Verse 1] You've been taking your time, and you've been living on ...solid air, You've been walking the line, you've been living on ...solid air, Don't know what's going wrong inside, And I can tell you that's it's hard to hide, When you're living on------ ...solid air----------------------! [Verse 2] You've been painting it blue, And you've been looking through ...solid air, You've been seeing it through, But you've been looking through ...solid air, Don't know what's going wrong in your mind, And I can tell you don't like what you find, When you're moving through ...solid air-----------, solid air! [Verse 3] I know you, I love you, and I can be your friend, I could follow you ...anywhere------, Even----- through----- ...so - lid air-------------! [Verse 4] You've been stoning 'em cold, you've been living on ...solid air, You've been finding them cold, you've been liv - ing on ...solid air, I don't know what's going wrong inside, I can tell you that's it's hard to hide, When you're living on ...solid air, ...solid air! [Verse 5] You've been getting too deep, you've been living on ...solid air, You've been missing your sleep, F11sus2 Cm11 Cm11 * And you've been moving through ...solid air, I don't know what's going wrong in your mind, But I know you don't like what you find, When you're moving through ...solid air, ...solid air! [Verse 6] I know you, I love you, I will be your friend, I could follow you ...anywhere, Even------- through ...solid ...air-------------! [Verse 7] You've been walking your line, you've been walking on ...solid air, You've been taking your time, But you've been walking on ...solid air, Don't know what's going wrong inside, But I can tell you that's it's hard to hide, When you're living on ...solid ...air----------------! [Verse 8] Been painting it blue, you've been living on ...solid air, And you've been seeing it through, And you've been moving through ...solid air, I don't know what's going on in your mind, But I can tell you don't like what you find, When you're living on ...solid air----------, solid air! [Verse 9] I know you, I love you, and I will be your friend, I could follow you ...anywhere------------, Even---- through------- ...solid air--------------! [Coda] Ice cool------ ...solid air----! Nice--------- cool----- ...so---------lid air! | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / / / / | / ||