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Jim Croce Time in a Bottle

Jim Croce, "Time in a Bottle"

Transcription and Fingering: Renato Bellucci

Jim Croce had a very short life but one that was enough to leave a mark in music history. He wrote some of the best songs my generation has ever heard. Amazing poems like "Lover's Cross", "I Got a Name", "Photographs and Memories"...  He was only 30 years old when the plane that was taking him on tour in Texas crashed into a tree at the end of the runway. Time in a bottle is my Transcription tribute to this great American guitar player and songwriter.  With regards to transcriptions in general, it is there where I think that we unleash the greatest and most powerful facet of our instrument. Transcriptions in general are at the very root of the birth of the classical guitar and I am very aware that the best musicians  of the past were not even remotely familiar with the guitar and, to this very day, the guitar is not an instrument that "invites" to compose especially because it is not a practical instrument when it comes to composing. It is hard to figure harmony and melody on the guitar and the only people who can really use the guitar efficiently are professional guitar players. These are often also composers although I must admit that most are mediocre composers if not worse. Therefore, transcribing will always be at the core of the great guitar repertoire and the big challenge for the transcriber will consist in grasping and preserving the essence of the music being transcribed thus preserving its overall beauty and possibly enhance the original intentions of the composer. This is what I did with Time in a Bottle and with most popular transcriptions I deal with on a daily basis. I love these pieces and they have had the same impact in my life -if not more- than many of the Bach pieces I have transcribed and will continue transcribing.

Staff and Video 1

The first element that Jim Croce Presents is a steady A chord with one voice moving on the third and 4th strings respectively. The element he uses is simple yet very interesting because it adds a spark of genius to am otherwise "standard" arpeggio. Croce had a defect to the right hand ( I am not sure if it was the result of an accident or if it was a malformation from birth) and he developed a unique Right Hand technique in order to overcome this shortcoming. The end result is a beautiful and literally unique way of arpeggiating that is virtually impossible for anybody else to replicate.

Video 1
Asunción, September 24, 2014

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