The Poet Acts

Philip Glass (1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass is the godfather of the post-classical movement – as his music is minimalist, and built upon repetitive phrases.

It is easy to see Philip Glass as the precursor to modern composers like Max Richter, Dustin O’Halloran, and Johann Johannsson. His second Academy Award nomination was from The Hours (2002). The recurring, circular nature of Glass’ music has been praised for providing stability through the film’s frequent jumps in narrative. The Poet Acts is the signature piece from that score.

You might also like to play…
(these tremendous post-classical pieces)

On the Nature of Daylight (Max Richter) fingerstyle guitar + TAB

Odi et Amo (Johann Johannsson) fingerstyle guitar + TAB

All Quiet on the Western Front (Volker Bertelmann) fingerstyle guitar + TAB

How to play The Poets Acts | fingerstyle guitar

The guitar tab for The Poet Acts is beautifully written across 2 pages. It’s fairly simple to play, so I recommend this piece for beginner and intermediate guitar players. Enjoy, the guitar tab is available below:

The song structurre goes like this, in accordance with the guitar tab:

Verse (1) 2x, Chorus

Verse (2) 2x, back to Chorus

verse (3) 2x, back to Chorus

End

Philip Glass: The Poet Acts | fingerstyle guitar

I’m using a bit of a trick tuning for this arrangement. From low to high: E A D G B D#. I drop the 1st string one 1/2 step to D# (Eb). I then put a capo on the 3rd fret.