Seldom Scene - Leaving Harlan

[Chris Newland]

I'm looking for the chords (or even better mandolin tabs) for this song. Its been stuck in my head for years. I would like to let it out through the mandolin.

Thanks

[Chris Newland]

Nobody?

[Phil Goodson]

Sounds like pretty much a 1-4-1-5, 4-1-1-5-1 type song. Might need a few little tweaks to be perfect.

[Phil Goodson]

Okay, I finally tracked down the Seldom Scene track. They use a couple chords that weren't in the first version I heard:

Sounds like:
D G D A
D G Em A D

A G D E A (they seem to do a slight syncopation of the chord changes in this line)
D G Em A D

I didn't put any any timing, you'll have to listen to the track to get that.

Hope this helps.(nice song; I don't think I'd heard it.)


I made a few changes and put the file below as a pdf. See 2 replies below.

[Mandolin Mick]

Figuring out the Seldom Scene and the Country Gentlemen can be a real challenge. John Duffey's mandolin work has always been difficult for me because he really bent the rules. I use the Best Practice program to slow down their tunes to half speed (but retains the proper pitch). My problem is that I'm not a jazz musician so I'm less inclined to consider certain notes as possibilities because I'm thinking, "That doesn't belong there ..." But, it does belong there, which makes the tunes unique in that they're Bluegrass with jazz overtones. A good example is Sunset. It's shown me new possibilities on the mandolin.

[Phil Goodson]

]I really got going on Leaving Harlan.

Here is a transcription I just did. I think it's close to correct.
See what you think and enjoy.

[Chris Newland]

Phil, thanks so much. I appreciate the time that you put into this. I'm glad that you liked the song. For me it bring back all kinds of good memories from a long time ago.

And thanks too, Mick. I'm downloading Best Practice now. Sounds interesting. I suspect that would not be the way to describe Duffy's mandolin style, but 1) his big fingers could fly and 2) he was a real entertainer.

Thanks to you both,

chris

[Willie Poole]

Chris...I believe that song was written by Tom T. Hall and/or his wife and if you Google him there may be some info on the song there....I have heard Tom T. do it and don`t think it should be that hard to figure out....

Willie

[Phil Goodson]

Willie,
Are you thinking of "Hero in Harlan" by Tom T. Hall?? Different song.