guitar tabs

[John]

it's capo'd on the first fret, firstly. G chord shape, then the first finger moves from its perch on the 2nd fret of the a string and does hammers-on/off on the g and d strings. Switch to d chord, then the middle finger leaves the second fret high-e string to hammer-on/off on the third fret of the d and a strings, respectively. Then c chord, and again the middle finger leaves the 2nd fret d string and hammers on/off the 2nd fret g string. While all this hammering on and off is taking place the rest of the fingers maintain the remaining chord shape.

[Damien_82]

I think my hands are too small.

[ChadyzGroove]

john you are one great man for doing this thanks

[anthropomorphizing_kitty]

It's nice to know that even my favorite bands still write 3 chord gems. When I first started learning guitar I thought every song had to have like 12 chords in it to be good because the tab page for Paranoid Android had like 30. Sometimes I write a song that I really like with just three open chords and I'm afraid that it will sound stale, but you guys prove that it's not in what or how many chords, it's in the craftsmanship.

[John]

Yeah, New Girl only has three chords also, and Nora has two chords. The simpler the better. Unless you have thirty chords.

[Karousme]

When I think of songs with three chords, I assume they will be boring.

But with the Winters, I don't even notice. As a songwriter, I admire that, and envy it.

[Like_a_zero]

I was trying to work out cinnamon on guitar the other day and decided that capo on 6th fret - D/A/G/G for the verse, sounds pretty accurate, Are there two rhythm guitars going on, the second with a capo on 1st or what eh?
PS I'll be at the Spitz and am spreading your name around, so far people love the new record

[wonderbex]

Cinnamon is really easy, although I play it with a Capo on the first fret. So to play along with the record everything is a sharp. G D C through the whole song with an Em in the second and last chorus.

yo, so i had a show tonight and i was playing guitar and i like to warm up by playing 'half a world away' by REM and i realized that it's possible to segue between 'half a world away' and 'cinnamon' if you play '1/2 a world' as the regular chord progression (Am G D Dsus4 D Dsus2 Em) through the first verse and then the chorus (F D Dsus4 D Dsus2) and then when the second verse comes in, (this lonely deepset hollow) the Am is dropped and the verse would start with a G. BUT. if you play cinnamon with the same chords as 1/2 a world, starting with the G (G D Dsus4 D Dsus2 Em) and switch the Am for a C, then it blends nicely. and you can kinda jump in and out of both songs.

and by this i only mean that my bastardized version of, ahem, 'guitar-playing' is crude and thus to my ear and ability, this version sounds acceptable. musicians will probably scoff. but, heck, we can sing the talking head's "this must be the place" over the chords to REM's "country feedback" so, gee whillikers WOO!

hey, someone else try it and tell me if i'm crizzazy!

woo! too much caffeine late at night! woo! conference call with brazil in two hours! woo!

-bex

[meatwad]

well, now that we've covered the three-chorders, let's kick it up a notch... i wandered myself here looking for Medicine Cabinet Pirate, but since I don't see it here I'll just have to take a swing myself...

Intro & verse sound like a riff between E and A, but the A has a D for flavor... I might call the progression E-A-A7sus4-A, but a true tab could express it more elegantly. Sounds better at the 5th fret than open chords, but I'd love to know how John plays it...

the chorus is F & D over the "you were waiting..." sections, and A & D over the "I wanna be with you" bits. Those get a little unpredictable to tab the whole way through... :)

I couln't have dreamed this alone : B & A
ba ba ba: A & G
new math: G & E

kind of a "descent" theme in those last few chord choices. hadn't noticed that before, but props for the unity of theme and form, J.R....

anyone wanna clean that up with their tab program, rock forth...

[Moni]

but, heck, we can sing the talking head's "this must be the place" over the chords to REM's "country feedback" so, gee whillikers WOO!

Can we? the chords cannot be the same really... but who knows. and talking about 2-chord songs, isn’t This Must be the Place a 2-chorder, too?

Apart from that, Half a world with 2/4 drumbeat could be interesting...

[Intrpdtrvlr]

The "melody" for the verse to Medicine Cabinet Pirate is something like this. I say "melody" because the riff seems a bit more involved and nuanced. There's probably some thicker chords and I doubt John actually plays it like this.


D ------------------------------------12--12-12-11-11------------
A--------11--11--9--9---7--7--0-0-0--0---0---0--0------------
E ---0-0--0-------0--0---0-------------------------------------

Just an approximation. Josh.

[Intrpdtrvlr]

Hey trashcan, that odd chord in Scent of Lime's pre-chorus, I've been working on it, and I think John might do one of these numbers. It's not perfect because it doesn't reconcile how the different tonality is created between the 2nd and 3rd chord (bass riff and keys?), but if you're just strumming along, it works okay.

Chords in order

e---4-------4----------------2------------------
B---5-------5---------4-----2-------------------
G---6-------4---------4-----3------------------
D---6-------6---------4-----4-------------------
A---4-------X---------2-----4---------------------
E------------7---------------2------------------

If you're unclear on your to make that chord, just play the C#m the way you normally would. To change, lift your pinkie off the 3rd string up to the 6th string, 7th fret. You'll probably mute the 5th string naturally.

John, how close am I here? Josh

[John]

well, let's start with Med Cab:

It's an E major and then I add a pinkie finger to the fourth fret of the d string, then the chord changes, (first finger on the 4th fret D string, middle finger 5th fret E string, then add the pinkie 7th fret G), and the first finger walks it down. Repeat.

e--0--0---x--x--x--x
b--0--0---x--x--x--x
g--1--1---x--7--7--7
d--2--4---4--4--0--0
a--2--2---0--0--0--4
E--0--0---5--5--5--5

Scent of lime is disturbingly similar.

the verse: the prechorus:

e--0--0--0---0---------4--4--4--4
b--0--4--4---2---------5--5--5--5
g--1--1--1---1---------4--4--4--4
d--2--2--2---2---------6--6--4--4
a--2--2--0---0---------4--4--6--4
E--0--0--2---x---------0--7--7--6--7

on the last chord of the second time through the prechorus the a# becomes a B on the low E string.

[sour29]

ok, i suck. i'm trying and trying to figure out the tab for Unsalted Butter, and i can barely get started.

this is what i have for the main riff. the first two bars i'm certain off--the last two are a really bad stab in the dark. i cannot play anything by ear for the life of me.

e|---------------------------------------
B|---------------------------------------
G|---------------------------------------
D|-8---8---7---7------5---5---5---5---
A|---5---5---5---5---8---8---6---6----
E|----------------------------------------

[sour29]

psst...

oh yeah, what are those oh, so difficult two chords in Nora?

I told you--I suck learning by ear. It's a miracle I figured out Unsalted Butter.

[WeeMan]

thanks john and everybody, this helps a lot. Carparts is the best.

[John]

anybody want to take a stab at Stupid?

and I'm sure the chords for Nora are on here somewhere.

[WeeMan]

i would like to learn stupid, its a great song, one of my favorites.

[sour29]

Code: Select all

e|-5-|
B|-5-|
G|-6-|
D|-7-|
A|-7-|
E|-5-| play that chord 8 times, letting ring the last time.

e|-------5-|
B|-----5---|
G|---6-----|
D|-7-------|
A|---------|
E|---------| repeat for intro

verse: A C#m E D

A        C#m      E        D
e|-5-|   e|-4-|   e|-4-|   e|-x-|
B|-5-|   B|-5-|   B|-5-|   B|-7-|
G|-6-|   G|-6-|   G|-4-|   G|-7-|
D|-7-|   D|-6-|   D|-6-|   D|-7-|
A|-7-|   A|-4-|   A|-7-|   A|-5-|
E|-5-|   E|-x-|   E|-x-|   E|-x-|

Bridge: A C#m A C#m

Chorus: My fingers hurt too much to figure out.

Post chorus: play intro again.

like i said, i can't figure this stuff out by ear. i tried. maybe what i've got will be a decent starting point for someone else?

if you can't play barre chords, another way of playing the intro is

e|-----|------------|
B|-----|---------10-|
G|-----|-------9----|
D|-11--|----11------|
A|-0---|--12--------|
E|-----|------------|

[unsalted butter]

ok, i suck. i'm trying and trying to figure out the tab for Unsalted Butter, and i can barely get started.

this is what i have for the main riff. the first two bars i'm certain off--the last two are a really bad stab in the dark. i cannot play anything by ear for the life of me.

e|---------------------------------------
B|---------------------------------------
G|---------------------------------------
D|-8---8---7---7------5---5---5---5---
A|---5---5---5---5---8---8---6---6----
E|----------------------------------------

This is right, except that you have to tune a bit sharp to match the recording. That's probably why it sounds off.

Now we need to figure out this chorus...

e|---------------------------------------
B|---------------------------------------
G|-7---7---6---6---------------------------
D|---5---5---5----5--8--8--8--8--7--7--7--7-----
A|----------------------------
E|---------------------------------------

????????????