song: Opal
artist: Julian Lage
album: Scenes from Above (2026)
composer: Julian Lage

electric guitar: Julian Lage
double bass: Jorge Roeder
acoustic piano: John Medeski

(drums: Kenny Wolleson)
(organ: John Medeski)
(steel-string acoustic guitar: Julian Lage)

This is a transcription of the lead guitar and the bass part on “Opal”, and I added the acoustic piano part as well – if can be of use to anyone (for me, it was a fun treasure hunt for notes at least). (The acoustic guitar blends terribly well with the electric guitar and organ, so I’m afraid I cannot do this part justice transcribing it.)
Watch this interview clip with Julian Lage, in which he tells the story of the song. In the promotion text, Julian Lage presents the songs of Scenes from Above as “musical poems”, and I believe that this composition opens the album with a beautiful example of this: The tune does not progress in standard 4-bar patterns but rather by following its stanza-like phrases. With the rondo form and the organ playing simple but busy chord progressions, the arrangement attains a Baroque-era and church-like atmosphere. This is reinforced by the choice of not featuring a guitar solo, but merely giving the lead a song-like melody! This also makes it relatively easy to play along to. Enjoy!