The Girls All Get Prettier chromatic run help

[Jerry Overstreet]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYu3e6XtjH8&t=89s

Anybody play this chromatic run at the end of the steel break...those 4 note licks?

This is in the key of C, [run is on the G chord] but that doesn't matter too much just looking for the run. Its for another tune I'll be doing in the key of E. Thanks for your help.

[Fred Treece]

Frets 15-11-6-3
Strings 3-1G-1-4
Play the phrase on those strings at each fret.

If you have a G lever, raising string 1 by a half.

I don’t know the solo, and I’m not sure this is exactly how it’s played, but that lick lays out pretty well this way with the bar movement. The starting notes for each 4-note phrase are diatonic to the G chord. The 3rd note in each phrase is an unpicked release of the G lever. The 4th note on string 4 sounds almost like a grace note, or muted.

If no G lever, this would work too
Frets 17-13-8-5
Strings 1-4F-4-2D

[Jerry Overstreet]

Thank you Fred. I think the 1st string raise is what I'm missing here.

I also agree on the 4th note. It's faint but needs to be there to fill out the lick.

I thought perhaps there was some tab here but I couldn't find anything.

I'll try these options in a bit. Thanks again.

[Fred Treece]

After playing the second option, I’m thinking it might be the better of the two. On the second and third 4-note phrases, you can release the D lever on string two so the 4th note ends up a diatonic.

[Tucker Jackson]

This goes by pretty fast, so I slowed it down to 25% speed (using the gear-cog icon on the lower right). This lick is a two-note at a time thing, but it's hard to hear the higher note on the 3rd string because it's weak.

It's based on hitting strings 3&4 in a common chord position, then 2&3, then while those are ringing, lowering the pitch of the 2nd string.
Then moving down the fretboard to the next inversion of the same chord and doing a similar-style lick again.




A few things:
This requires you to have a 2nd string raise to do that first lick.

The lick in the 10th fret shows a 1/2 pedal to land on a minor 3rd tone. I'm not sure if he played it 1/2 pedal, or if it was full-pedal, but he already had the bar in motion down to the do the next lick, so yielded that pitch. Or...
It may alternately be played out of the Gm position instead of G (i.e., 11th fret with E's lowered. Start with 2nd string already lowered 1/2).
This sounds most accurate to the original, but it's slightly harder to execute since it's coming off of 'full' 2nd string lower (on the prior lick) to 'half' to start this lick -- it's hard to reset from 'full' to 'half,' at tempo.

Good luck!

[Jerry Overstreet]

Thanks Tucker for going to the trouble to tab this out. It's a lot of work and I appreciate it.

Thanks to you and Fred for responding and helping me with this.

Yes, It's moving and I'm not sure my fingers are fast enough to execute it.

I was trying to figure it out on my Fender Artist. I do raise the 2nd string a half tone, but haven't got the F# to G raise on the first string sorted out yet.

I'm also only lowering string 2 a half tone v. whole tone on this guitar. It's a little more of a challenge on this guitar, but I have all those changes on the Carter....I just don't have it here....so might be better trying to execute the run on the Carter when I'm where it is.

Thanks a lot. Maybe this will help other players working on this tune. It's a crowd pleaser and I've actually played it with piano players in bands a few times, but never got the licks down.

[Tucker Jackson]

Yes, It's moving and I'm not sure my fingers are fast enough to execute it.

Yeah, it's a bear. Would take me an afternoon to get it to tempo and even then it would be a struggle.

But as you said, you wanted the lick so you could try it in a different song. For about a minute in the 60's, this was the new hot thing in a few songs and it still sounds cool, even on a slower tune.

My takeaway for moving it to another tune:

In the A+F postion, the 2nd string starts out raised a half step.

In the open position, it starts lowered a half.

In pedals-down, it starts out natural (unlowered)... and you lower from there.

[Fred Treece]

I didn’t hear it as double-stops.