G U I T A R T A B U L A T U R E B O O K
v. 4.0 plus
Last Updated: 4/8/2001
Compiled by John Vettese (spex49d@prodigy.com) [The v. 4.0 plus was
compiled by Rodrigo Melo Mesquita, but credits to original author]
A big "thank you" to anybody who posted Nirvana tab on the net or on
Prodigy's BB, and to all the good folks who hooked me up with tabs before
and after this book's initial release...
Especially these people:
Patrick Christman (Patrick_M._Christman@thegroup.com)
Ilyssa Fisher (sfsd85b@prodigy.com)
Robbie Landis (adxe96b@prodigy.com)
Steve Meronk (Steve22067@aol.com)
Cris Pasquini (duyn49b@prodigy.com)
Dan Saalfeld (Kurdtdt@aol.com)
If anybody has any more tab to rare songs please send it my way...
This book may be freely distributed as long as credit is given to me, and
you let me know beforehand...
It can be downloaded or viewed at the following sites:
Dimension 7 Homepage: http://www.westol.com/~sportif/tabcon.html
O.L.G.A.: ftp://ftp.nevada.edu/pub/guitar/n/nirvana/nirvana_songbook.tab
Mr. Guy Smiley's Homepage: http://www.seds.org/~smiley/nirvana/tabs
If anybody knows of any other web sites that have this book, let me know.
Please try and download it from one of these sites as opposed to mailing
me asking for a copy.
HISTORY OF DA BOOK (For anyone who cares...)
v. 1.0..........original release on 6/4/95. Posted to alt.music.nirvana,
rec.music.makers.guitar.tabulature, and alt.guitar tab. It found
it's way to ftp.nevada.edu, missing the rarities section however.
v. 2.0..........second release on 8/11/95. Corrections made in the tab,
power chord chart added, section on feedback and noisemaking added,
and about 12 more rare songs added. Posted to same newsgroups.
v. 3.0..........third release on 10/9/95. More corrections made in the
tab, updated the section on feedback, added charts for major and
minor chords. Posted to same newsgroups. Decision made by me that
this will be posted bimonthly, regardless of changes.
v. 3.5..........followup release on 11/5/95. Fixed some stupid mistakes
on my part that probably confused the hell out of people who use
the chord charts. Posted only to alt.guitar.tab and alt.music.nirvana
this time around.
v. 4.0..........fourth release to the web on 1/1/96, and to the newsgroups
on 1/18/96. More corrections in tab, decided to kill off the "original
release date" at the top as I had put that there before I had intended
to keep updating this book. Added the section on websites where this
book can be downloaded from as well as the section on tunings. I lost
the rec.music.makers.guitar.tabulature for one reason or another,
so it was only posted to alt.guitar.tab and alt.music.nirvana.
v. 4.0 plus.....fifth release on 4/8/2001, added some rare songs as has
been posted before whith little alterations on lay-out. Songs added:
Blossom; Clean Up Before She Comes; Come On; In His Hands; It's Closing
Soon; My Sharona; No Alternative; Run, Rabbit, Run; The Pill; You Got
No Right.
ALL SONGS BY KURT COBAIN EXCEPT:
Plateau, Oh Me, Lake Of Fire
written by Kirkwood (The Meat Puppets)
Molly's Lips, Son Of A Gun, Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam
written by Kelly/McKee (The Vaselines)
D7, Return Of The Rat
written by Greg Sage (The Wipers)
Turnaround
written by Mothersbaugh/Casale (Devo)
Here She Comes Now
written by Lou Reed (The Velvet Underground)
Marigold
written by Dave Grohl
The Man Who Sold The World
written by David Bowie
Where Did You Sleep Last Night
written by Leadbelly
Baba O' Riley
written by Pete Townshend (The Who)
The Money Will Roll Right In
written by Fang
Do You Love Me
written by Frehly/Stanley/Simmons (Kiss)
My Sharona
written by Fieger/Berton Averre (The Knack)
Come On
(The Jesus and Mary Chain)
Run, Rabbit, Run
(Smack)
Table Of Contents
CHORD CHARTS
1) Power Chords
2) Major Chords
3) Minor Chords
TABULATURE DEFINITION
TUNINGS
SOME NOTES ON FEEDBACK AND NOISEMAKING
1)BLEACH
Blew
Floyd The Barber
About A Girl
School
Love Buzz
Paper Cuts
Negetive Creep
Scoff
Swap Meet
Mr. Moustache
Siftings
Big Cheese
Downer
2)NEVERMIND
Smells Like Teen Spirit
In Bloom
Come As You Are
Breed
Lithium
Polly
Territorial Pissings
Drain You
Lounge Act
Stay Away
On A Plain
Something In The Way
3)INCESTICIDE
Dive
Sliver
Stain
Turnaround
Been A Son
Molly's Lips
Son Of A Gun
(New Wave) Polly
Beeswax
Downer
Mexican Seafood
Hairspray Queen
Aero Zeppelin
Big Long Now
Aneurysm
4) IN UTERO
Serve The Servents
Scentless Apprentice
Heart Shaped Box
Rape Me
Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle
Dumb
Very Ape
Milk It
Pennyroyal Tea
Radio Friendly Unit Shifter
Tourette's
All Apologies
5) MTV UNPLUGGED IN NEW YORK
Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam
The Man Who Sold The World
Plateau
Oh, Me
Lake Of Fire
Where Did You Sleep Last Nighgt
6) B-SIDES AND RARITIES
Baba O' Riley
Beans
Blandest
Blossom [Tab by OJINLAPD@aol.com]
Clean Up Before She Comes [Tab by Billie Clark (Daniel43u2)]
Come On [Tab by Carlos Bustos (cab144@cs.usask.ca)]
Curmudgeon
D7
Do You Love Me
Endless, Nameless
Even In His Youth
Formaldehyde
Gallons Of Rubbing Alcohol Flow Through The Strip
Help Me, I'm Hungry
Here She Comes Now
If You Must
In His Hands [Tab by Steve22067 (Steve22067@aol.com)]
I Hate Myself And Want To Die
It's Closing Soon [Tab by Charles (guitar@uiuc.edu)]
Junkyard
Marigold
Misery Loves Company
Moist Vagina
My Sharona [Tab by Kevin Scott (bse@nmaa.org)]
No Alternative [Tab by Van Vekris (3EV1@Qucdn.QueensU.CA)]
Oh, The Guilt
Opinion
Pen Cap Chew
Return Of The Rat
Run, Rabbit, Run [Tab by Mike Farmer (mfarmer@mail.coin.missouri.edu)]
Spank Thru
Talk To Me
The Money Will Roll Right In
The Pill [Tab by Steve Miller (millg@bc1.com)]
Token Eastern Song
Verse Chorus Verse
You Got No Right [Tab by Rick Castronova (lbfprez@hotmail.com)]
CHORD CHARTS
This is basically all the chords used in this book (and more) put in
tabulature form. I did this for the sake of people who don't know how
to read chords, or don't have a chord book.
1) Power Chords
E5 F5 F#5 G5 G#5 A5 A#5 B5 C5 C#5 D5 D#5
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------3-------|
|------9--------10--------------------2---3---4---5---6---7----2---8---|
|-2----9---3----10---4---5---6---7----2---3---4---5---6---7-or-0---8---|
|-2-or-7---3-or--8---4---5---6---7-or-0---1---2---3---4---5--------6---|
|-0--------1---------2---3---4---5-------------------------------------|
2) Major Chords (bar chords except for F not included)
E F G A B C D
|-0---1---3---0---2---0---2-|
|-0---1---0---2---4---1---3-|
|-1---2---0---2---4---0---2-|
|-2---3---0---2---4---2---0-|
|-2---3---2---0---2---3-----|
|-0---1---3-----------0-----|
3) Minor Chords
Em Fm Gm Am Bm Cm Dm
|-0---1---3---0---2---3---1-|
|-0---1---3---1---3---4---3-|
|-0---1---3---2---4---5---2-|
|-2---3---0---2---4---5---0-|
|-2---3-------0-------------|
|-0---1---------------------|
TUNINGS
Standard Tuning: E A D G B E
How To Get It: Tune the low E string to a tuner or another guitar
Tune the A string to the 5th fret of the low E string
Tune the D string to the 5th fret of the A string
Tune the G string to the 5th fret of the D string
Tune the B string to the 4th fret of the G string
Tune the high E string to the 5th fret of the B string
Down 1/2 Step: Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb
How To Get It: Tune the 6th fret of the E string to the A string
Retune the rest of the guitar as in standard tuning
Down A Whole Step: D G C F A D
How To Get It: Tune the 7th fret of the E string to the A string
Retune the rest of the guitar as in standard tuning
Drop D: D A D G B E
How To Get It: Tune the 7th fret of the low E string to the A string
Alt. Tuning 1: D A D G B F
How To Get It: Tune the 7th fret of the low E string to the A string
Tune the high E string to the 6th fret of the B string
Alt. Tuning 2: Eb Ab Db Gb B E
How To Get It: Tune the first 4 strings down 1/2 step
Leave the last 2 strings in standard tuning
SOME NOTES ON FEEDBACK AND NOISEMAKING
When It came to making noise using nothing but his guitar, Kurt Cobain was
a geinus. In fact, IMHO, the only person who I have seen make BETTER noise
would have to be Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. It would impossible to
accuratly re-create alot of the sounds that Kurt achives with his guitar
(ie. Endless Nameless, Radio Friendly Unit Shifter, Gallons...), since
alot of it was improvised. This is why this book may actually be better than
published tabs...they actually try to tab noise jams like the RFUS outro and
the Scentless Apperentice solo, and it is very frustrating when you are
doing
exactly what the book tells you and it still sounds wrong. My solution to
this problem: create your own feedback.
As you may or may not know, feedback is that ringing noise that occurs when
you play at a high volume, or play too close to the amp, or leave your
guitar
sitting next to the amp when it is still turned on. There is some scientific
explination for this, like it makes the coils in the pickups vibrate, or
something like that. Basically, it occurs in strange situations when you
don't want it, but when you DO want it it is a pain in the a*s to get!
There are several techniques that I use that produce decent feedback/noise.
One is bending. I find that if you do a double bend on your high E and B
strings anywhere above the 10th fret (as you see in Endless Nameless), it
will be loud and ring, and (if you're lucky) echo.
Another is harmonics. Feedback will usually occur instantly when you strike
a high pitched harmonic. This is quite effective when you have to come up
with a certain pitched feedback, if you can remember which harmonics make
which pitches. It doesn't work as well with 12th and 7th fret harmonics,
though. If you want GOOD feedback, go for 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 9th fret
harmonics. Sometimes, depeniding on the kind of guitar you have, you will
be able to take harmonics above the pickups. If you are able to do this, go
for it, cause you can't really get any more high pitched than that!
One method I have seen Kurt do in concert (you can witness this before Breed
on the MTV Live And Loud vid) that is quite effective is tapping the back of
the neck. You should try hitting the upper neck with either your pick or
fingers, behind the first or second fret. If the destortion is high enough,
it will produce a cool sounding rumbling noise at first, then become
screeching feedback.
Another technique used in Oh The Guilt is picking the strings above the nut
or below the bridge. It produces various high-pitched rings, which produce
excellent feedback. However, the strings must be struck somewhat hard, or
the sound may not be picked up.
If you would like to use the natural approach, simply turn up the volume
on your amp. It will eventually start ringing, and as you move your guitar
around in different positions the pitch will change. If you're lucky,
you may actually be able to pick up radio stations with this method!
Two things you should be aware of when doing this are:
1) Feedback occurs much more readily when the pickups are facing away
from the amp. An easy thing to do is take off your guitar and place it
up against the cabinet with the strings facing outward. This would save
lots of waiting.
2) Different pickups create different pitch feedback. You may want to try
using your pickup switch, especially if you have a strat or a strat
imitation. This can produce anything from a low growl to a high scream.
Again, you should expariment on your own.
There are various other noisemaking methods...so many that I will not be
able
to list them all. Two that must not be ignored, however, are the whammy bar
and the pick scrape.
The whammy bar is probably the most useful tool in producing noise. What it
is is a bar attached to the bridge of the guitar which, when depressed,
lowers the pitch of the strings by raising the bridge. You can hear this in
action at the end of Stay Away, where Kurt drops the strings as far as they
go, raises them, and drops them again and again. However, dropping the pitch
of the strings is only one use for the whammy bar, as it can be used to make
exaggerated vibratos and other such noises. Depending on what model guitar
you have, the whammy bar will be built differently. On strat models, the
bridge is pretty well attached to the guitar, and the bar will only be able
to lower the pitch. However, on Ibanezes, the bridge is just sorta floating
there, so the whammy bar can be used both ways...raising AND lowering the
pitch. There is really not a hell of lot I can say about HOW to use this as
it isn't a very complicated tool. (It has two positions...up and down.
How much more simple can it be??) You hould just fool around with your own
and get familiar with it and the noises it can make and soon you will be
able
to produce decent noise with it.
Pick scrapes are very underrated, as they seem to produce one kind of noise.
Actually, there are many things you can do with pick scrapes aside from just
scraping the low E or A strings and making the same old usual sound. One is
scraping actually above the pickups (which Kurt does at the end of Heart
Shaped Box) which produces a more high pitched sound. Another is using the
same top to bottom method on your higher strings (B and high E). Or you
could just scrape all the strings over the pickups. This is another method
that must be exparimented with so that you can come up sounds that you like.
Of course there are various other methods that Kurt used that I'm not going
to get into, basically because my knowledge of feedback and noisemaking is
very limited compared to his. However, this should provide you with somewhat
of a guide so that you too can make noise with your guitar!
TABULATURE DEFINITION
What all the little symbols in the tab mean...
)=Bend
/=slide
~~=vibrato
^=hammeron/pulloff
PM=Palm mute
*=uncontrolled feedback
xx=pick scrape
NH=Natural Harmonic
+=Tremelo Pick
)=Unison Bend
)
|=ghost bend
|=ghost bend and release
@@@@@=Smash Guitar :)
BLEACH
1)Blew
Alt. Tuning 1
Intro:
4: 0 0 3 5 6 6 5 3 3 0 5/6 6
5: 0 0 3 5 6 6 5 3 3 0 5/6 6
6: 0 0 3 5 6 6 5 3 3 0 5/6 6
Verse:
1: 0 0
2: 0 0
3: )( 0 0
4: 3 5 5 5 5 (5) 5 3/5 5 3~~~ 53/5 5 53/5 5
5: 5
6:0 0 0 0
Chorus:
4: 3 5 5 5 3 3 3 5 5 5 3 6
5: 3 5 5 5 3 3 3 5 5 5 3 6
6: 3 5 5 5 3 3 3 5 5 5 3 6
play 3x then:
4: 3 5 5 5 3 3 3 5 5 5 3 3 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
5: 3 5 5 5 3 3 3 5 5 5 3 3 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
6: 3 5 5 5 3 3 3 5 5 5 3 3 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Solo:
(In standard tuning; I haven't figured it out in the alt. tuning yet)
) )( )(
2:10 10 (10) 10 10 10 10 8 0 8 10 10 (10)
) (
2:10~~~10 10 10 10 8 0 8 10
3: 8 10 8 10
2:10/13 12~~ (12) 12/15 15 15/17 17 15
2: 18 (18) 18 18 18 (18)18 (18)18
3:15 15 (18) (18) (18)
2:(18) 18 18 (18)18~~~~18~~~~~18 16
3:(18) (18) (18)
2:1615 1513 15 13^15^13^0 11/12 13 13~
2:11
3: 1211 11 9 10 10 10 8 10 10 10 8
2:
3: 8 8 10 10 8 8 10
4:108 0 8 10 10 8 10 10
2: 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11
3:10 10
"you can do anything"
6:0 0 3 5 5 6 5
play that 1x then
6:0 3 5 5 5 5
play that twice then
6:0 3 5 5 5 5/
