Fossils

I have long been a massive fan of Dustin O’Halloran’s music. Both his solo material, film work, and (side project) A Winged Victory for the Sullen. His music has a tenderness that is unmistakable. I don’t know much about piano — but O’Halloran appears to favor small/vintage pianos were you can even hear the pressing of the keys.

German pianist, Volker Bertelmann, is often Dustin O’Halloran’s co-composer and writing partner. In addition to Ammonite, I love their scores for Lion, and A Christmas Carol (2020).

The soundtrack for Ammonite is beautiful — even as a standalone classical album. Fossils could be considered a suite, as it encompasses a few of the film’s motifs. I based my performance heavily on Dustin O’Halloran’s pared back live performance of Fossils.

You might also like to play…

Lion: theme | fingerstyle guitar + TAB

A Christmas Carol (2020): theme | fingerstyle guitar + TAB [I love this one. It almost has a Trent Reznor quality to it.]

How to play Fossils | fingerstyle guitar

As my first post of 2021, this is a great way to set the tone for the year. The guitar tab for Fossils is beautifully written across three pages. I recommend this piece for intermediate guitar players and up.

I’ve given you the name of the chord shape above guitar tab where applicable. You’ll need to jump into a Bm shape a little earlier than the melody would imbue. I’ve indicated that in the guitar tab.

My order of play looks like this, in accordance with the tab. You’ll play straight though from page 1 then: Refrain, Interlude 1, Refrain, Interlude 2, Refrain.

Enjoy, the guitar tab is available below:

Fossils is played in standard tuning.

Ammonite: Fossils | fingerstyle guitar

I use a capo on the second fret, but this piece sounds great sans-capo, or anywhere on the guitar.