OliEfr.github.io/sexual_healing.html at main · OliEfr/OliEfr.github.io · GitHub

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
---
permalink: /sexual_healing_guitar/
layout: default
---

<h2 class="title is-3 anchor" id="publications">Scores and Tabs for Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye (1982)</h2>

<p class="content has-text-justified">Jamming along <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_Healing">Sexual Healing</a> with the guitar is very natural - it's got that cool funky groove. Finding the <a href="https://chordify.net/chords/marvin-gaye-songs/sexual-healing-chords">chords</a> for the song is easy, however, I could not find any tabs or sheet music for the lead and rhythm guitars. So I tried to figure them out and show the results below. It is worth noting that the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LxPoJ4QoSk">YouTube</a> and <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/3VZmChrnVW8JK6ano4gSED?si=e150377dac5f4200">Spotify</a> version of the song are slightly different. For both it is quite difficult to identify the notes played by the guitars from the rest of the song as just a lot is going on. I uploaded all sheet music <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-MgnjGg7Q24ECPASsfc-0VBPdNfpRFBe?usp=sharing">here</a>.</p>

This is the theme played by the lead guitar in the YouTube version of the song, in both piano and tab notation:

<div class="has-text-centered my-5">
        <img src="../images/sexual_healing/SexualHealing-Guitar_Nr1_YouTube.svg" style="object-fit: cover;object-position: 50% 15%;height: 200px;width: 100%;" alt="SVG Image">
</div>

<div class="has-text-centered my-5">
  <audio controls>
    <source src="../images/sexual_healing/SexualHealing-Guitar_Nr1_YouTube.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
    Your browser does not support the audio element.
  </audio>
</div>

I also add the strumming pattern, as it might be easier to read for some guitarists. Crosses indicate strokes were I play muted strings:

<div class="has-text-centered my-5">
        <img src="../images/sexual_healing/Strumming_YouTube.svg" style="width: 450px;" alt="SVG Image">
</div>

And the lead guitar for the Spotify version:
<div class="has-text-centered my-5">
        <img src="../images/sexual_healing/SexualHealing-Guitar_Nr1_Spotify.svg" style="object-fit: cover;object-position: 50% 15%;height: 200px;width: 100%;" alt="SVG Image">
</div>

<div class="has-text-centered my-5">
  <audio controls>
    <source src="../images/sexual_healing/SexualHealing-Guitar_Nr1_Spotify.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
    Your browser does not support the audio element.
  </audio>
</div>

And I also add the strumming pattern:
<div class="has-text-centered my-5">
        <img src="../images/sexual_healing/Strumming_Spotify.svg" style="width: 450px;" alt="SVG Image">
</div>

The rhythm guitar is very similar for both version. I only show the piano notes, as the guitar just plays the same chords.
<div class="has-text-centered my-5">
        <img src="../images/sexual_healing/SexualHealing-Guitar_Nr2.svg" style="object-fit: cover;object-position: 50% 12%;height: 100px;width: 100%;" alt="SVG Image">
</div>


<div class="has-text-centered my-5">
  <audio controls>
    <source src="../images/sexual_healing/SexualHealing-Guitar_Nr2.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
    Your browser does not support the audio element.
  </audio>
</div>


As a bonus, I also add the bass notes:

<div class="has-text-centered my-5">
        <img src="../images/sexual_healing/SexualHealing-Bass.svg" style="object-fit: cover;object-position: 50% 15%;height: 200px;width: 100%;" alt="SVG Image">
</div>

<div class="has-text-centered my-5">
    <audio controls>
        <source src="../images/sexual_healing/SexualHealing-Bass.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
        Your browser does not support the audio element.
    </audio>
</div>

Finally, the lead guitar, rhythm guitar, and base guitar all playing together. I changed the sound of the guitars to a piano, as I do not like the electronic guitar sound in MuseScore. First, the YouTube version (as I like it a bit better):

<div class="has-text-centered my-5">
  <audio controls>
    <source src="../images/sexual_healing/SexualHealing-YouTube_Full.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
    Your browser does not support the audio element.
  </audio>
</div>

... and the Spotify version:

<div class="has-text-centered my-5">
  <audio controls>
    <source src="../images/sexual_healing/SexualHealing-Spotify_Full.mp3" type="audio/mpeg">
    Your browser does not support the audio element.
  </audio>
</div>


Retroperspectively, I found that using high-quality headphones (Bose 700) it is much easier to discriminate the instruments in the song. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dLRB_OHzIE">This guy</a> does great job playing along the YouTube version. Sheets created with <a href="https://musescore.org/en">MuseScore</a>.