The Scores

After many years of requests, I am finally assembling a score book of my music. With the help of Gabriel Riccio, transcriber extraodinaire, a thorough documentation of my playing will now be available.

What's in this book

The material will come from my 11 solo recordings plus material from some of the bands and collaborations I've been involved in -- including TU and KTU. Also included will be a bonus transcription of King Crimson's "The ConstruKction of Light". The scores will focus mainly on my parts, but other guitar and bass parts essential to the compositions will be represented.

• Full notation of my parts for the freaky tapped guitar/bass instrument that I play. For musicians who don't play an instrument like mine, many of these parts can be played on standard bass and guitar, or adapted to your instrument of choice. You will have notated access to some of the rhythmic ideas I work with, decoded for your Polyrhythmic Beach Party Pleasure. For those who do tap on their instrument, the hope is that my specific techniques can work their way into your regular vocabulary.
• Tablature for my tuning (5ths/5ths) and standard Stick tuning (4ths/5ths). We have come up with a good method of showing both tabs alongside of the standard notation.
• The scores will be augmented with performance guidelines and amusing stories about performing this material.
• For the pieces with large chunks of improvisation ("Arrakis", for example), the heads will be transcribed and instructions for the improvs will be included.
• We will also be producing a digital (.pdf) version that will include extra material, including two full versions of "The ConstruKction of Light". These two versions come from representing the two different, simultaneous, rhythmic structures in the piece: the guitar player's perspective and the rhythm section's perspective.
  

What We Need & What You Get

I know that I have many dedicated fans out there who would like to help keep my work moving forward. Here's where you come in:

• The first thing we need is requests! Please tell us which tunes you would love to see in this book.
  
• This campaign is about getting us funds to manufacture the books and prepare the digital versions. The amount of funds that come in help determine how much material gets added to this book. If we don't meet our goal, we will still produce it. It will just be reduced in size. PLEASE help us put as much material as possible in this book, and we will do our best to repay you with some cool perks and a great book!

The Challenges

One of the reasons I have taken so long to make this book is the sheer amount of work involved. Not only in the transcription process, but also in terms of going through every piece and working out the best tablature and fingerings. I am doing this in both my tuning and in the standard Stick tuning. With Gabriel, I have found a partner who can manage the transcription and engraving process while I focus on how best to represent the material.

• The first challenge of these scores was to figure out how to best represent the pieces. A literal transcription of the original recorded tune is not as representative as you would think. Once I took much of this material out on the road with The Trey Gunn Band we made enormous changes to some of the material -- tempos changed, parts got replaced or altered, arrangements were loosened up. Gabriel and I have gone through various versions of the performances to figure out the best way to capture the essence of them.
• The next challenge of this book is the design and manufacturing costs. The more material we put into the book the more it will cost to make. I would love to have the funds to include everything we have, and then some.
• We are still in the process of finding the best means of manufacturing and the best form for the book. I hate music books that won't lay out flat because of the normal paperback binding. So we are leaning towards a spiral bound version for hands-free reading.

Other Ways You Can Help

Not everyone has funds to contribute, but that doesn't mean you can't help:

• Get the word out and make some noise about this book and the campaign.
• Remember to use the Indiegogo share tools!