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So Much To Say By: Dave Matthews Band Transcribed by: Justin Marks rjm46@columbia.edu
Tab Notes: A lot of nuances in this part, so listen carefully. The tab should be enough to get you started, but listen, especially at the end, for when he slides up to a chord at the top of the neck after every groove of the last verse. Analysis: Let's look now at a more simply structured song, namely "So Much to Say," in which Stefan Lessard really shows how little he pays attention to conventional standards of bass playing. This song is a traditional Stefan piece, in which he never bothers with holding down the bottom, but still establishes a clever groove. Verse: Notice how Stefan never uses the E-string in this section. Again, a clear proof that he has done away with the stereotypical bass role. Since Matthews plays a lot of his guitar parts on the low strings, Lessard can fill more texture instead of just playing roots, as a normal bass player would. This is a reason why he can be have more melodic instrument than other bassists. Most evident to proving this would be how he skirts around beat 1 and the root by reversing arpeggios and descending from the fifth to the major third above the D and G as he accents the "and" of 2 and the downbeat of 3 instead of the one. This follows the guitar very loyally, but serves to fill out a texture behind the chords that Matthews lays down under the vocals. In the last verse, he slides up to the 17th fret on both the D and G strings at the end of every groove, just as an accent, and again, here we have a Stefan Lessard trademark: odd chords placed almost lyrically into the song at occassional moments. More of this will be explored in songs such as "Warehouse" and "The Stone." Chorus: Here Lessard turns to Carter Beauford for support, establishing the 1 and every sixteenth note between it by cleverly applying space, alligned with Beauford's bass drum, as a bassist would normally do. Note also the very clever use of the fifth, the simplest form of a bass line (root-fifth-octave), but see how such a mature simplicity stands out against frequent over-complexity in modern fusion. So all in all, in o Much To Say we have a small, stylish part, based on a simple groove, in all funk music tradition. This song is a classic show of simplicity, with single notes matching single notes on both the guitar and bass.
4-string tablature:
VERSE:
G----9-6-----9-12---10-7-0-5h6---9-6-------9-6--- D--7-----7--------0------------7-----7---7-----7- A----------7---------------------------7--------- E------------------------------------------------
CHORUS:
G----------------------7------------------------------- D----------7---------7---7-5-5-5---5---4-4---4---5-6-7- A--------7---7-5-5-5-------------5---5-----5---5------- E--5-5-5-----------------------------------------------
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