Magnolia (Martin Tallstrom)
This tune by Martin Tallstrom features heavy use of left-hand slur techniques and harmonics.
Objectives
- Learn how to tune your guitar to open D tuning (F—B♭—D—F—B♭—F)
- Practice the tune slowly.
- Listen to the music. This type of music is rhythmically complex and has much subtlety. It’s easier to learn by listening than by reading notes on a page. Put it on repeat and listen many, many times and it will be far easier to learn.
- Be mindful of the many harmonic notes; they are all natural harmonics (frets V, VII and XII). They are marked with a diamond shape underneath the note.
- Don’t worry as much about strict interpretation of the rhythm. Instead, worry more about the coherence of each phrase. While practice with the metronome is helpful, it’s also useful to develop a flexible interpretation of time.
The Form
In Martin Tallstrom’s performance, the Theme at m21 is played as an intro.
- (Optional) Play the Theme (mm21-24) as an intro.
- Play from the beginning (1st verse) all the way to D.S. al Coda at m55.
- The D.S. al Coda instructs us to return to del Segno (m17) and play onwards, this time in search of instructions to skip to the coda. So play from mm17-24 (To Coda). Skip the last two notes of m24.
- At the end of m24, skip to coda (m56).
Tuning
Open F (F—B♭—D—F—B♭—F). Capo fret I.
Melody/Lead Sheet
Note: this “cheat sheet” tab is not complete and lacks the depth and detail in Martin Tallstrom's official sheet music, so if you are serious about commiting the time to learn this tune, you should buy the official music, too.
Click here to download the pdf.
About the Artist
Martin Tallstrom is an artist from Sweden. His incredible YouTube videos are worth checking out. He can also be found on Spotify.
Copyright
Copyright for this composition and its notation belongs to Martin Tallstrom. Used with permission; please do not duplicate. We respect copyright, so if you have any concerns at all, please contact us.
As the creator of Hub Guitar, Grey has compiled hundreds of guitar lessons, written several books, and filmed hundreds of video lessons. He teaches private lessons in his Boston studio, as well as via video chat through TakeLessons.