From This Moment On
Performed by Shania Twain
Composed by Shania Twain and John 'Mutt' Lange.
Performance notes.
The first thing to say is that this arrangement tries hard to address the very lyrical
style in which Shania sings the song so the transcription contains lots of slurs. Rather
than notate them on the score with the familiar signs I've used the more contemporary
style of h, s and p for hammer on, slide and pull off respectively.
It goes without saying that although I use them where indicated you may prefer your
own approach to make your version more personal. I have not used any pima
markings but left hand fingerings are included where I think they might help. Try and
honour these if you can - although they may seem at times prescriptive they usually
mean that chord shapes can be held down while the melody moves making the whole
thing more legato.
The arrangement works well with a relaxed tempo; no need to be too rigid with the
count. It is the most romantic of ballads so as always try and consider the flow (and
the content) of the lyrics as you deliver it. For neatness I've scored for one voice only
so do listen to the Shania Twain recording if you need reminding where the melody
notes need their full value above the accompaniment.
The structure is: pre-verse, verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse in new key, coda. I left
out the electric guitar solo that the original contains – at about 3-45 this arrangement
is long enough without it and – as lovely a solo as it is – I didn't think its inclusion
would add anything to this arrangement.
Notes:
Bar 1 – The opening lyric is sung almost unaccompanied so I've reflected that with
just a single-line melody at the opening.
Bar 3 – hammer that F# firmly, that's the melody note and it needs to sustain for the
rest of the bar. Don't overplay the subsequent D arpeggio, that hammered-on note
needs to be heard.
Bar 4 – the 4th pair of quavers (B & G#) I usually gliss into from the A & F# (2nd
frets)
Bar 5 – Beware of the quick change of position required halfway through the bar. The
6th pair of quavers in (E,G#) I usually trill the G# to an A to emulate the vocal line.
Bar 9 – beat 3; again, try approaching the C# & E quavers from two frets beneath.
Bar 11 – Once you've played the harmonics keep your l/h finger clear of the first
string so the harmonics sustain over the E note that follows.
Bar 12 – Gliss into the pair of 4th fret quavers from fret 2.
Bar 13 – Change of position required again, as in bar 5.
Bar 20 – The highest note on the first beat – D – I usually trill up to the E on fret 5.
Bar 22 – Make the minor 7th chord shape after the pause mark. The high C#s (bars
23/24) are the melody notes and should be emphasised so they project above the
arpeggios. You could even play them tremelo.
Bar 26 – I've indicated the first pair of semiquavers with fingers 3 and 4, making the
next two notes slides but you could finger them 2 and 3, making the following slur a
hammer and pull, rather than slides. It might make the following E7 chord more
difficult though, at least with the way it's shown you get to keep your 4th finger on the
E string. I play that E7 chord (beat 3) with p,i,m,a & c but – as the tempo is very free
at this stage, with a big pause – you could separate the chord by playing the 6th with
p, followed by the rest with p,i,m,a.
Bar 27 – I usually pull off the A note to the open string but you may prefer not to. The
last quaver beat is a suspension; the A note resolves to the G# (bar 10 on the repeat)
Bar 28 – Very poignant stage of the song, make a meal of the E7 chord on beat 3
(arpeggiate it) and an even bigger meal of the two F#7sus4 chords that follow.
Although they're written as quavers make them last about a minim beat each.
Bar 29 – Some fingerboard athletics required here, I'm afraid – you need to be barring
on the 2nd fret on the last quaver beat. But you've got plenty of time to build the
remainder of the chord after the bass F#.
Bar 31 – Slide into the two 4th fret notes from the 2nd fret if you like. Rather than fill
the gap with an arpeggio here I've left a bit of space, just adding the harmonic (right-
hand only) on beat 4.
Bar 32 – You'll have to surrender the chord shape after the 4th string F# in order to
play the last three notes of the bar.
Bar 33 – Another positional change halfway through the bar. Trill the high A# to B if
you like.
Bar 36 – There wasn't much room to write on the score here but those triplet
semiquavers are slurred (h,p)
Bar 40 – If you prefer just p,i,m,a rather than using the 4th finger, just omit the 4th
string note here.
