Tela
Written by Trey Anastasio
As performed by Phish
Transcribed by Paul Murin

This song is part of Trey's Gamehendge saga, and displays a lot of the ideas that Trey was experimenting with at the time, including jazzy chord progressions, modulations, etc. I decided to include this one on my site because I really like the chord progressions and some of the other compositional ideas.

Performance Notes:

I tabbed this out with the assumption that you are at least somewhat familiar with the song, so rhythms are generally not notated. You'll have to listen to a recording to get the exact rhythms Trey plays during the chord progressions...if I tried to notate it all out, it would look like a mess. If you aren't familiar with the song, you probably won't find this tab very helpful. Then again, isn't that pretty much the case with most tablature you find on the web?

I included suggested chord voicings for the verses and solos at the bottom of the page. Notice that the chord progression for the solo section at letter D is the same as the verse, but played a whole step higher. Guitar takes the first solo, then piano, each one time through the progression. It's not an easy progression to solo over--I just stick close to the chord tones.

In the coda (the section where the lyrics are "Tela, Tela, jewel of Wilson's foul domain..."), there is also a key change where the guitar solo kicks in--the progression is played in D during the vocals, and then it modulates to G for the guitar solo. It's a simple compositional technique that gets you a little more mileage out of an idea.

The guitar solo is the fastest passage I can think of in any Phish song. It is a stark contrast to the rest of the song, and provides a huge, epic ending to a song that's otherwise pretty mellow. It's a huge series of pull-offs played at a blistering pace. My best advice on this section is to stay as relaxed as you possibly can...if you tense up in the middle of it, you'll never make it to the end. In all honesty I don't even like playing this tune because I think I play this part so poorly.

Also notice the patterns in the guitar solo--one pattern for the 6/4 measures, and another pattern for the 4/4 measures. I had trouble finding two recordings where Trey played this exactly the same, so I just kind of extrapolated something that works for me. It's so freakin' fast that it hardly matters anyway, as long as you stay within the rhythm, and follow the chords correctly.

Some suggested chord voicings for verses & solos: