Hi there, I just ordered the songbook (TAB Version) for a Rush of Blood to the Head and it should arrive soon. I have only read positive feedback on that particular book so I decided to go ahead (at 3€ for the used version it was kind of a no brainer).

The PVG books are not that great if you are looking for accuracy when it comes to play the songs ala Chris/Jonny.

I also came across the Tab version of Parachutes, X&Y, and Ghost Stories on Scribd (GO GRAB THEM). The first two are spot on (including the tunning and capos) but Ghost Stories is incredibly flawed, I have no idea what they tabbed on that book. There's also the "Recorded Guitar Version" songbook. I purchased the Mylo Xyloto RGV over at iBooks and it is also spot-on.

Does anybody here has any Coldplay Songbook (specially RGV for Ghost Stories and Viva la Vida) and can comment on how accurate these are? I'm still deciding on which version for Viva la vida i should purchase and if the TAB and RGV books of Ghost Stories are different in any way.

Thanks :)

Yeah. When I'm trying to play a coldplay song, those big Hal Leonard books are terrible. I have the ghost Stories one. Who transcribes these things. They're terrible. Avoid that one. IMHO it's almost always best to see if you can catch a video of a live performance to see frets and approximate fingerings. Then just keep in mind that Chris Martin tends to detune the first second third or all three high strings to fit the key of the song so they can ring open. Some of the music majors working for the book publishers don't seem to be aware of this.

Really? I have three Hal Leonard books (Mylo, Parachutes and X&Y) and they are incredibly accurate. Which Ghost Stories book do you have? I found the TAB version and I also think it's terrible (ISBN: 9781783057023) it's from Wise Publications.

 

 

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Also, the Piano Guitar Vocal version is useless. (for accurate guitar tuning)

 

 

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I'm honestly kind of glad youre giving me some pushback on this. And perhaps I was wrong to single out Hal Leonard...I have the HL song books for Viva, Mylo, and GS. There are so many transcriptions with traditional chord voicings that are correct in identifying the name of the chord, but not even close to the voicing Chris Martin creates with his tunings and fingerings. Example...OK. Just looked, I have "universal's" viva songbook. Tough to find anything good in there. Strawberry Swing for example. Or even worse, violet hill. It's coldplay guitar for dummies. I haven't seen Hal Leonard's X&Y. What did they use for the tuning of Square One and Swallowed in the Sea? As long as they got those right I'm willing to give them some slack. And yeah, there is some useful/accurate stuff in Mylo's song book. Up with the birds is wrong for sure.

i assume none of these are for bass?

I'm honestly kind of glad youre giving me some pushback on this. And perhaps I was wrong to single out Hal Leonard...I have the HL song books for Viva, Mylo, and GS. There are so many transcriptions with traditional chord voicings that are correct in identifying the name of the chord, but not even close to the voicing Chris Martin creates with his tunings and fingerings. Example...OK. Just looked, I have "universal's" viva songbook. Tough to find anything good in there. Strawberry Swing for example. Or even worse, violet hill. It's coldplay guitar for dummies. I haven't seen Hal Leonard's X&Y. What did they use for the tuning of Square One and Swallowed in the Sea? As long as they got those right I'm willing to give them some slack. And yeah, there is some useful/accurate stuff in Mylo's song book. Up with the birds is wrong for sure.

 

 

I just found the Mylo Xyloto PVG songbook and boy, every guitar tuning is wrong. I have the recorded guitar version and the tuning for "up with the birds" is the following: E A D G B D with Capo on the 7th fret. (It works)

X&Y (from Hal Leonard) is amazing, the tuning for Square One is: E A D G C D# for the acoustic guitar (it is spot on, the chords sound incredible with this tuning) and standard for the electric.

Swallowed in the sea is: E A D G B D#.

I was also looking at the preview of the Recorded Guitar Version for Viva la Vida at iBooks and found the tuning for Life in Technicolor to be standard and playing the B and e stings open, and also using the thumb instead of the index finger for the E string, which is exactly Chris' style, I might give it a shot and buy it soon.

Can you tell me what is the tuning for "Ink" on you Ghost Stories songbook, please? (On mine is down a semitone without capo, which is wrong).

 

 

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Yeah, those are definitely right for those two songs on X&Y, and those two songs are so classic as far as coldplay guitar that I imagine the others are spot on. Parachutes seems to have some of the most interesting tunings. I have the same "ink" chords as you. That's an example of a song book using traditional chord voicings when the song itself clearly doesn't use them. Twisted Logic does, with the guitar tuned down a semi-tone, (does your book agree with me on that one?) They're wrong (Ink's chords) and I don't even know how to play the song, I just heard him describe how he wrote it, and there's no way that's what he would have arrived at. He was trying to recall how to play "see you soon," and couldn't remember exactly and ended up writing Ink. Looks like See You Soon is tuned F#-G-D-D-B-D with a capo on the 2nd. ink has a capo on the 4th. who knows haha. All I know, is Hal Leonard's Ink is lost, on every note...so wrong that it hurts. Wow that was cheesy of me. hah. Sounds like a good one for Viva though on ibooks. Take care

I've only seen people talking about guitar in here. So what do you guys think would be the most accurate source for piano?

Twisted Logic has the same tuning you describe in my book.

The situation with this particular edition of Ghost Stories is frustrating. How come Oceans has the right tuning (including capo) but Ink or ASFOS (standard, capo 6th fret) are just wrong.

The only alternative I see is the Recorded Guitar Version book from Hal Leonard, they always seem to be very accurate.

I think you have the TAB Edition of MX and GS, both only use the chord voicing instead of what Chris actually plays, sometimes they are from Hal Leonard, but with the Recorded Guitar Version you shouldn't have a problem (they have a guitar symbol in the upper right corner). If you need any tuning feel free to ask me (from X&Y And AROBTTH).

Cheers :)

 

 

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You know what I honestly think? At the time of publishing, there was a version of Oceans that Coldplay played at the BBC that very clearly shows his fretboard and finger positions. With that info, it's much much easier to deduct what the tuning is. I think I'm all set on tunings for AROBTTH and X&Y but i sincerely appreciate it. Considering it's a piano based song, I'd be impressed if the book you bought for AROBTTH has the tuning that Chris uses when he plays the scientist on acoustic guitar. It's definitely E-A-D-G-B-C, just like the song A Rush of blood to the head. Thank you my friend! As for piano, I listened to my friend who helps with me with my piano playing (and happens to read music better than I read English) play a few songs directly out of the Viva la Vida Hal Leonard book and it was spot on as far as the notes were concerned. She'd never even heard the song "Death and All His Friends," so rhythmically it wasn't exactly spot on. If it's a song where the piano is isolated, try a demo of Melodyne. You can just toss a song in there and it will separate the recording note for note, ESPECIALLY if it's a song like "O" where the piano isn't combined with guitars and synths and bass and drums for the entire song. I usually can work out chris's tunings if i'm at a loss by throwing the song in to Melodyne and seeing, with the song yellow for example, that the high E must be tuned to Eb because it's played open for every chord the entire song, as well as two B notes.

Like I said, I have only read positive feedback on the AROBTTH Book (the TAB Version, PVG is useless for me). I will take a look at the other two books (Viva & GS) after I've mastered AROBTTH and X&Y.

 

 

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Violet Hill and Life in Technicolor have the same tuning, which I think is EADGC#C#