Tips on 'Winner takes it all' on acoustic?

Smellyfingers · January 2023

I am not a big Abba fan, but I think this is one of the great commercial tunes of all time. Personally I think learning to play tunes likes this might help give me an insight into how they are constructed.

Obviously it's a piano piece, but I have a feeling it might transpose well to an acoustic.

My question is what is peoples advice best way to get go about it? I was going to start by plucking all the individual notes in the melody, rather than strumming the chords. Once I have got this down I would then work on the rythm/timing aspect.

I have got a song sheet in standard notation but it is also accompanied by some fretboard diagrams. Although the tune seems decepetively simple , it's note sheet seems quite complicated.(it's copyright material so I can't post it)

Any responses appreciated.

digitalkettle · January 2023

I'd scribble the chords down first.
Then figure out if you're going to stay in the original key and/or use a capo and/or use a different tuning.
You want to be thinking about chord voicings that let you reach the melody/harmony notes that you need...and, ultimately, you need that top line to sit nicely while the bass and chords do their thing underneath without too much disruption (if that makes sense).

I spent two minutes on the intro...

starts on F#...I hear a sus4...I start thinking about a D-shape...so I put a capo on fret 4 and see where that goes
F#sus4 > F# > A#/D > D#sus4 > D#m ...nope...I don't like the D#m...so I move the capo to the 6th fret and try starting on a C-shape
Feels a lot more 'under the fingers now'...using these shapes: C > E (first inversion) > Am > D# (first inversion...x4765x [relative to capo]) > Dm > G

Now it's pretty recognisable I'd listen deeply to the recording and start picking up details, e.g. I had imagined that the intro melody was one note longer, what's the middle voice doing on the piano, etc.

I'm no expert at this but you've got to think about where you can take the tune on a single guitar so you might want to hold bits back until a second verse. Often, in classical pieces, you get a second pass where the melody is in a different register or, God forbid, played with harmonics (looking at you Miguel Llobet!).

viz · January 2023

It’s chokka block full of secondary dominants.

Cryptid · January 2023

I never considered myself an Abba fan until I had to transcribe and arrange some songs for the pop/soul choir I accompany; a thoroughly enjoyable process and it brought a whole new level of respect for the songwriting. Same with songs songs penned by the Bee Gees.

My arrangements are in a strumming style with the hooks worked in, trying to keep the feel and groove from the original recording (Dancing Queen, Mammia Mia, Name Of The Game, SOS). The capo generally gets used to make it easier to pick out a melodic hook on top whilst strumming the rhythm with open chords. I'll often try a few positions to see what feels and sounds the best.

I should really try a few fingerstyle.

Smellyfingers · January 2023

Thank you for the replies, those are some useful pointers.

digitalkettle · January 2023

I couldn't leave this alone

Here's the rough bass & melody framework:

digitalkettle · January 2023

Then I started to fill out the middle voices and put a bit more detail in the bass. I decided to move to a Drop D tuning so I had the open low string available in bar 5 and 6...a few trade offs and it's coming together...

guitarjack66 · January 2023

Cryptid said:

I never considered myself an Abba fan until I had to transcribe and arrange some songs for the pop/soul choir I accompany; a thoroughly enjoyable process and it brought a whole new level of respect for the songwriting. Same with songs songs penned by the Bee Gees.

My arrangements are in a strumming style with the hooks worked in, trying to keep the feel and groove from the original recording (Dancing Queen, Mammia Mia, Name Of The Game, SOS). The capo generally gets used to make it easier to pick out a melodic hook on top whilst strumming the rhythm with open chords. I'll often try a few positions to see what feels and sounds the best.

I should really try a few fingerstyle.

I really like 'A Woman in Love' sung by Barbra Streisand but written by the Bee Gees. Great song and not too difficult on an acoustic(with lots of practice of course.) I may try other tunes of theirs too.

musteatbrain · January 2023

I really like this song, but whenever I see a cover on acoustic, it’s always some shoe gaze dumbed down melancholic version. The original has a bit of spite behind the lyrics and a is driven a bit more by the rest of the band. I’ve yet to see a solo acoustic version with some grit which is a shame as it’s probably quite a good vehicle for a singer with the right voice.

Abba had some great arrangements

ESBlonde · January 2023

guitarjack66 said:

I really like 'A Woman in Love' sung by Barbra Streisand but written by the Bee Gees. Great song and not too difficult on an acoustic(with lots of practice of course.) I may try other tunes of theirs too.

I’ve been trying the BEEGEES “spirits having flown” which rather suits the acoustic guitar and has some great chord voicing/movement.

viz · January 2023

ESBlonde said:

guitarjack66 said:

I really like 'A Woman in Love' sung by Barbra Streisand but written by the Bee Gees. Great song and not too difficult on an acoustic(with lots of practice of course.) I may try other tunes of theirs too.

I’ve been trying the BEEGEES “spirits having flown” which rather suits the acoustic guitar and has some great chord voicing/movement.

I enjoy playing How Deep is your Love.

Cryptid · January 2023

How Deep Is Your Love is such an enjoyable chord progression to play, I agree.

Both ABBA and the Bee Gees have a strong classical influence to their song writing, I think that's what makes them interesting and fun to play on guitar, whether it's strumming to a voice or working out a solo fingerstyle arrangement.

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Tips on 'Winner takes it all' on acoustic?

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