The Beatles Complete Scores

Rating:
Summary: The Best There Is... For Now
Review: This book is undoubtably the best Beatles songbook ever written. The transcriptions are usually dead-on and the voicing is replicated exactly. However, for the Beatles purist (such as myself) there are a few instances of miscalculation. For example, in "She Came In Through the Bathroom Window" the second verse (the one in which the wood blocks are used), George Harrison (yes -- Harrison) laid down an exceptionally brillant bass line, different from that heard in the first verse, but the repeat does not show that, and the new bass line is not transcribed. It is because of nuiances like these scattered throughout the book that could fustrate the avid Beatles fan/musician, but this book still stands as the most faithful reproduction of their music on paper to date. The music is all HAND-WRITTEN, and was transcribed by only 4 people. Plus, the sheer volume of Beatles music (the entire catalouge) should be reason enough for any Beatles fan/musician to purcase this book first thing in the morning. It is the only Beatles music book you should need (guitar lines are even laid out in Tablature form), except if you are looking to perform more solo-acoustic renditions of certain songs, in which case I recomend the Bealtes Acoustic Songbook.

Rating:
Summary: The definitive reference for Beatles Tunes.
Review: This is the most accurate account of the Beatles music that I have seen. As a guitarist for over 20 years who regularly performs Beatles tunes, this is a blessing to have. I managed to obtain a used copy from an Amazon Shopper at 1/2 the cost.

-David

Rating:
Summary: disregard those bad reviews
Review: I'm really at a loss to explain how some people are complaining about this book.
If you could only own one book of sheet music, this HAS to be your choice. The most important music of the 20th century, note-for-note.
The dead-on vocal arrangements alone make it worth the money. Get a couple friends together and try singing the intro to Nowhere Man...you won't believe the results.
The guitar tab and sheet music are phenomenal as well.
And as for all the "flaws" that people keep complaing about in their reviews: i need specifics! Because i haven't found a single one. Maybe Revolution 9, but who's trying to play that anyway?
I searched through the reviews looking for a single specific example of an error, and all i came up with was someone mentioning "No Reply", and how the chords were all wrong. Sorry buddy, your "trained ear" is flat-out wrong! They've got it exactly right. The minor chords don't come in till the "i saw the light!" section, just as it is notated.
If you buy this book, you are getting the songs exactly as the Beatles played them. Period.
Is the book too small? No. It may not be optimal for putting on a piano or a music stand, but thats not how these songs should be played anyway. MEMORIZE them and then perform them. The Beatles never performed with sheet music (they couldn't even read sheet music!) and neither should you.
Besides, this book is 1136 pages! If it were enlarged any more most people probably couldn't even lift its weight.