James Taylor Long Ago And Far Away

Working With James Taylor's "Long Ago And Far Away" — A Practical Guide

James Taylor's "Long Ago And Far Away" is a 1955 composition by Jerome Kern and Ira Gershwin that Taylor covered on his 1976 album. The song isn't originally his — it predates him by two decades, written for the musical "Leave It To Me!" — but Taylor's version brought it to a wider audience and became the recording most people associate with the title. When you're trying to learn this piece, the first thing you need to understand is the chord structure. It's in Ab major, and the progression runs through some deceptive cadences that make it sound more moving than it actually is. The verse goes from the tonic down to the submediant in a way that tricks your ear. If you're reading sheet music and just playing the notes without understanding the harmonic function, you'll miss the subtle tension on the bridge that resolves back into the main theme.

James Taylor Long Ago And Far Away — How To Approach The Arrangement

I've spent years coaching guitar students through this tune, and the most common problem I see is people rushing the tempo. The original recording sits around 72 BPM, but Taylor sings with such relaxed phrasing that beginners interpret that as permission to drag. It's not. The rhythm section holds a steady pulse underneath his vocal, and if you let the tempo float too much, the chord changes start to feel lost. I had a student once who couldn't get the bridge to land cleanly because she was treating every measure as its own separate idea. We slowed it down to 50 BPM, mapped out which beat each change fell on, and then gradually built back up. Took about three weeks of practice, but once the internal clock settled, it clicked. The right-hand pattern matters more than most players give it credit for. Taylor uses a fingerpicking approach rather than a flat pick, and the bass note on beat one of each measure anchors the harmony. If you strum across this song, it loses half its character. A basic pattern of alternating bass notes between the thumb and middle finger gets you most of the way there. Start with the root on the low E string (or D string if you're capo'd), then pluck the third or fifth on beats two and four. Here's something people don't usually mention about this arrangement: the key of Ab major sounds warm on paper but is uncomfortable for many guitarists because of the barre chord cluster in the first eight bars. Fminor, Db major, and Gb major are all requiring full barres in close succession. My workaround for students who don't have the hand strength yet is to use partial barres where possible and swap the Db for a Db add9 shape that uses fewer fingers. It changes the voicing slightly but preserves the harmonic function and lets you play through without your hand cramping halfway through the first verse.

Where To Find Sheet Music And Tabs

You can find the official sheet music through Hal Leonard or Musicnotes. The Guitar TAB version on Songsterr has a working transcription that syncs to playback, which helps with the fingerpicking pattern. For the vocal melody with chords, the Real Book (6th edition) includes it, though the chords are simplified compared to the recorded version. If you need the exact harmonies as Taylor played them, I'd recommend transcribing from the album directly rather than relying on published charts, since several of the bridge chords get altered in the recording. The song runs approximately 2 minutes and 45 seconds in the studio version. Live performances from the 1976 tour tend to stretch it to around 3:20, mostly because Taylor extends the intro and adds a guitar solo section that doesn't appear on the record.

Common Pitfalls When Learning This Song

The biggest issue I encounter is the voice leading in the chorus. The line "long ago and far away" lands on a series of descending chromatic inner voices that aren't obvious from a chord chart alone. If you're playing for singers, you need to understand exactly where those inner notes go so you don't clash with the melody. The Gin the Ab major context is acting as a chromatic passing tone between G natural and A, and if you play a plain Ab major chord without accounting for that movement, the melody will sound like it's fighting the accompaniment. Another problem area is the ending. The studio version fades out on an Ab major7, but many tab sites show a plain Ab major chord. The added major seventh gives the resolution a specific quality that a triad alone doesn't carry. If you're performing this live and want it to sound right, don't skip the 7th. The song works well in drop D tuning if you're struggling with the barre heavy opening section, but it changes the tonal color significantly and may not match backing tracks or other instruments tuned to standard. Use it as a practice tool, not a performance substitute, unless you're playing solo.