# Song and Tune Projects > Song and Tune Projects >  Can anyone  TAB the intro to Soon or Never by Punch Brothers?

## bfriedman

Hi all, I cant find it anywhere. Please help :Mandosmiley: 

Bart

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## imandolinin

> Hi all, I cant find it anywhere. Please help
> 
> Bart


That's a great tune. I've listened to their new CD a half dozen times and already started learning the words to this one. The bass line seems straight forward. Try following it for the chords first. Keep us posted...

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## Linds

It uses lots of drone strings.  I wish I could write out tabs, or I'd give it a shot!  I learned it (sort of) by ear, and aside from some odd up-strokes on the open D string interspersed with the main tune, it's deceptively easy.  Have you ever used something like the Amazing Slow-Downer?  I got it as a smartphone app, and it's awesome for slowing down tunes so you can hear the details and work them out.  Also, I'm not very good, so someone really good could make this tune shine!

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## Mark Robertson-Tessi

Ignore this one!  Forgot to fix the tab in one section.  See next.

Cheers
MRT

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## Mark Robertson-Tessi

OK, this should work.  Dots and tabs.



Cheers
MRT

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## bfriedman

Thanks everyone! What a great morning. Mark you rock.

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## Rosemary Philips

I videotaped a close-up of Thile's left hand playing this song on Saturday night just so I could try to figure it out. Maybe now I don't need to!

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## dwne

Great transcription, thanks.

I'm interested in how to spot 12/8 time. I'd probably have assumed 4/4 - have never got my head round this.

On the same subject, I've transcribed Flippen to help me learn the tune and have all the notes, but am struggling with the time signature. I'm hearing 3/4 in the A part and 4/4 in the B part. Anyone care to help me out?

David

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## Mark Robertson-Tessi

12/8 and 4/4 both have 4 beats per bar.  The difference is in subdivisions per beat: 12/8 has three eighth notes per beat; 4/4 has two.  Soon or Never has that bouncy/swingy feel to it rather than the straight eighth notes of a bluegrass fiddle tune for example.  This comes from the long-short pattern used frequently (a quarter note and an eighth note).  If you did write this out in 4/4, you'd have to specify "swing" and you'd have to use frequent triplets for the sets of 3 eighth notes.  For this song, it seemed cleaner to use 12/8.

Flippen:
I'd probably write this out in 3/4 with sixteenth notes for the melody.  A part is 4 bars of 3/4, repeated.  B part is mixed.  Based on accents, I'd go with 4/4, 4/4, 4/4, 3/4 repeated.  The first two bars of 4/4 are straight ahead.  For the 3rd and 4th bars, I hear it as | X X . x | X X . | where the X's are the accents.  Some other variation might be possible too, depending how you hear the accents.  There's also some syncopation which can throw you off the feel of 3/4 in the A part if you are not careful!

Cheers
MRT

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## dwne

Thanks Mark, that's really helpful. 

I'll have a go at finishing the Flippen transcription tonight and post it here.

Cheers,
David

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## dwne

OK, here's my attempt at transcribing Flippen. I'd started out writing it as eighth notes which I find easier to read, so left it like that.

It's served its purpose in helping me to learn the tune, so worth the effort.

I'd be interested in any comments on the transcription - still learning.



I used abc notation, which I've pasted below if anyone wants to fiddle with it. I use free software called EasyABC, but this website does the job too:

http://music.gordfisch.net/montrealsession/editor.php

I'm assuming it's OK from a copyright point of view to post a full transcription, but if I'm wrong please let me know.

Cheers,
David


X:1
T:Flippen
C:Väsen, arr. Punch Brothers
M:3/4
L:1/8
Q:260
K:A dorian
e2-| ed cB AE | AB (Bc) ec | A^c ec Ad | fd e2 e2 | (de2)d c2 | .c2 L[c3g3] [Ae] | [B2f2] fg a2 | afg2 {a}gf | 
ed cB AE | AB (Bc) ec | A^c ec Ad | fd .e2 L{d}e2- | ec AE CE | B,E A,E Ac | ((3BcB) A^G {G}A2- | Ae AA :||
M:4/4
[Ae][Bf] ||: [c2g2] [c2g2] [d2f2] [d2f2] | [c2e2] [c2e2] {[^Gc]}[A2^c2] [A2c2] | [G2B2] [G2B2] [F2A2] [F2A2] | \
E^CA,C E^CA,C | D2D2 G,2 eg |
{g}ag fg {a}b2 | Ae (a/2b/2a) fd | (de) e e2 d ef | [c2g2] [c2g2] [d2f2] [d2f2] | [c2e2] [c2e2] {[^Gc]}[A2^c2] [A2c2] | 
[G2B2] [G2B2] [F2A2] [F2A2] | E^CA,C E^CA,C | D2D2 G,2 eg | \
[M:6/4]((3gag) fe ((3ded) ^cB ((3^cdc) A2 |1[M:4/4] [a3A3] AaA ef:|2[M:4/4][a6A6] z2 ||

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dang, 

dmac

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## Mark Robertson-Tessi

Looks pretty good.  Nice job.  A few issues with the rhythmic notation I'd suggest correcting:
- If you use 8th notes for the bulk of the melody, then you might want to rebar the music into 3/2 time.  The way you have it now in 3/4, the notation doesn't suggest the same groove as is in the cut.  3/2 will give you the right indication of rhythm.  All you have to do is combine each pair of bars in the A part into one bar with 3/2 time.
- The first 2 bars of line 4 have only three beats each.  Again, I would combine these 2 bars into one bar with 3/2 time.
- the 6/4 bar near the end I'd also change to 3/2.  

Even though 6/4 and 3/2 are mathematically equal, they imply different rhythms.  3/2 is three beats per bar, with emphasis on the 1st, 3rd, and 5th quarter notes:
*1* 2 *3* 4 *5* 6
  6/4 is two beats per bar, emphasis on the 1st and 4th quarter notes:
*1* 2 3 *4* 5 6

It's the same thing with 3/4 and 6/8 time, 4/4 and 2/2, etc.  Mathematically the same but rhythmically different.

Thanks for the transcription!

Cheers
MRT

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## bfriedman

I have a new challenge for you. Can anyone PLEASE tab out Moonshiner from the new Ahoy! EP?

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## Shanachie

Thought I'd revive this a little. It sounds to me like in the live versions he's playing in the key of A. It sounds to me like just A D and E, although he doesn't look like in the clip that he's playing the full chords. Maybe double stop? Hopefully others can chime in. Anyone?

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## zebenz

> OK, here's my attempt at transcribing Flippen. I'd started out writing it as eighth notes which I find easier to read, so left it like that.
> 
> It's served its purpose in helping me to learn the tune, so worth the effort.
> 
> I'd be interested in any comments on the transcription - still learning.
> 
> 
> 
> I used abc notation, which I've pasted below if anyone wants to fiddle with it. I use free software called EasyABC, but this website does the job too:
> ...


Hi, here's my little contribution to your nice transcription David. I edited some issues with the rhythmic notation, as suggested by Mark, and I added tablature as well.

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