Birds Flew Over The Spire

This page is a guide to learning Gary Ryan's song Birds Flew Over The Spire on a tapping instrument such as the Chapman Stick or the acoustic Dragonfly DFA.

There is a score/tablature, fretboard diagrams, and (to be done) youtube video instructions, that will help you along the way.

A bit of background about the piece

Birds Flew Over The Spire is the third of a three piece suite entitlted City Scenes
Take a listen to a few versions of this piece. This version by the wonderful Stephanie Jones, is the most noteable I think.

Musescore score with tabs

The Score (and tabs) to go along with the diagrams below is available Here. even if you can't read music well (or at all), Bringing up the score is very useful. I can't emphasize this enough... why?

you can play/loop a range of measures (phrase) in the score
view the diagram associated with those measures
play along with the loop until you've got the phrase down

Even if you don't use the same tuning as the one the score/diagrams. the shapes in the diagram will generally be the same. so you can go a long way with those resources even with a different tuning

The Song

The piece is in E Major throughout.
The Score calls for a "Floating and Serene" rubato. Stephanie's interpretation accomplishes this wonderfully and allows the beauty of this piece to shine though.

I've added some fermata and ritartando symbols to my arrangement to emphasize this. I've also slowed the tempo from 120 to 85, since I find it has a more contemplative feel at this reduced pace, which I like.

Bars 19-20

Bars 21-22

Bar 21 is a repeat of bar 19