song: Omission
artist: Julian Lage
album: Speak to Me (2024)
writer: Julian Lage

steel-string acoustic guitar, lead: Julian Lage

(electric guitar, backing: Julian Lage)
(double bass + electric bass: Jorge Roeder)
(drums: Dave King)
(acoustic piano: Patrick Warren)

This is a complete transcription of the lead acoustic guitar on “Omission”. This is relatively simple composition of two simple themes in E Major, except for the lead guitar arrangement: The melody is pitched, unusually, in the baritone register and it also functions as a rhythmic instrument. For a rhythmically interested guitarist, this is such a joy to strum along to. Enjoy!

Check out Julian Lage’s note on this song, on his Instagram post announcing the song.
Also, check out the episode of the Broken Record Podcast (29 October 2024) where Julian Lage tells the story of the recording day of the tune.

“ There was a lot of songs that kind of emerged that I, frankly, though were unfinished or maybe not ready. A song like “Omission” from the recorded is one like that, where I thought: “oh, it’s just a theme; there’s not enough”. And I would show that to [producer Joe Henry] in the weeks leading up, and he’d say, “I beg to differ; there’s plenty there”. And what he was go good at keeping in mind was that the weight of responsibility didn’t solely lie on what my part was. So I could write a smaller piece of music, but leave room for keyboards, piano, woodwinds, and all of a sudden, it became something far greater than just my own contribution, which was the point, you know. ”
– Julian Lage, interview with Doug Jayne (5 March 2024)