To Be Alone With You - Sufjan Stevens
Tabbed by: D.H.
Email: dreq10@gmail.com
Every tab I've ever seen of this song has used the same chords, and I always
felt like they never sounded the same as when Sufjan plays it live or on
his album. So, I sat down and made this tab by watching videos of him
playing it live. I'm 95% sure that the chords are the same he uses. Other
tabs have you playing chords on the higher strings, but I think playing it
on lower strings really adds to the feeling of the song.
I've seen him play it with a capo on both the fourth and fifth frets, but on
the album the capo is on the third. So just put it wherever you like the
sound I guess. I'm not sure why he changes it up so much, maybe he just gets bored.
Sufjan plays the song by alternating down and up-strokes with his thumb, and
the pad and fingernail of his index finger. Check out a live video to get an
idea. It really helps reproduce his sound.
He also adds lots of little intricacies to the chords as he plays them. I
think he improvises them, 'cause they're different almost every time.
Because of that, I didn't try to tab them. As you play the song more you can
develop your own version.
Lastly, there's a second guitar that comes in for the rest of the song after
the first chorus that I didn't tab. It does some solo picking on about the
same chords that Sufjan is strumming.
Tuning: Standard
Capo: Album Version - 3rd, Live Version - 4th or 5th. Tab relative to capo.
Intro/ First Verse (6x):
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|--------5--5----5--5--5--|-------5--5----5--5--5--|
|--------3--3----3--3--0--|-------2--2----2--2--0--|
|--------x--x----x--x--0--|-------x--x----x--x--0--|
|---5----5--5----5--5--5--|--5----5--5----5--5--5--|
******** First 5 Times**|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|--------4--4----4--4--4--|-------2--2----0--0--0--|
|--------0--0----0--0--0--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|--------2--2----2--2--0--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|---3----3--3----3--3--0--|--1----1--1----0--0--0--|
************************************** 6th Time **|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|--------2--2----2--2--2--|-------2--2----2--2--2--|
|--------3--3----3--3--3--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|--------3--3----3--3--3--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|---1----1--1----1--1--1--|--1----1--1----1--1--1--|
Chorus (1x):
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|--------1--1----1--1--1--|-------1--1----1--1--1--|
|--------0--0----0--0--0--|-------0--0----0--0--0--|
|--------2--2----2--2--2--|-------2--2----2--2--2--|
|--------3--3----3--3--3--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|---3----3--3----3--3--3--|--3----3--3----3--3--3--|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|--------2--2----2--2--2--|-------2--2----2--2--2--|
|--------3--3----3--3--3--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|--------3--3----3--3--3--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|---1----1--1----1--1--1--|--1----1--1----1--1--1--|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|--------1--1----1--1--1--|-------1--1----1--1--1--|
|--------2--2----2--2--2--|-------2--2----2--2--2--|
|--------2--2----2--2--2--|-------2--2----2--2--2--|
|---0----0--0----0--0--0--|--0----0--0----0--0--0--|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|--------3--3----3--3--3--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|--------2--2----2--2--2--|-------2--2----2--2--2--|
|--------0--0----0--0--0--|-------0--0----0--0--0--|
|--------x--x----x--x--x--|-------x--x----x--x--x--|
|---2----2--2----2--2--2--|--2----2--2----2--2--2--|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|--------2--2----2--2--2--|-------2--2----2--2--2--|
|--------3--3----3--3--3--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|--------3--3----3--3--3--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|---1----1--1----1--1--1--|--1----1--1----1--1--1--|
**************** End of First Chorus *************|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|--------1--1----1--1-----|------pause for---------|
|--------0--0----0--0-----|-------entire ----------|
|--------2--2----2--2-----|----------bar-----------|
|--------3--3----3--3-----|------------------------|
|---3----3--3----3--3-----|------------------------|
(At the end of the second chorus, skip these two
measures and go straight to the outro)
Bridge/Second Verse: Same as Intro/First Verse
Second Chorus: Same as First Chorus, minus the last two bars
Outro (3x):
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|--------1--1----1--1--1--|-------1--1----1--1--1--|
|--------2--2----2--2--2--|-------2--2----2--2--2--|
|--------2--2----2--2--2--|-------2--2----2--2--2--|
|---0----0--0----0--0--0--|--0----0--0----0--0--0--|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|--------3--3----3--3--3--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|--------3--3----3--3--3--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|--------0--0----0--0--0--|-------0--0----0--0--0--|
|--------0--0----0--0--0--|-------0--0----0--0--0--|
|---2----2--2----2--2--2--|--2----2--2----2--2--2--|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|--------2--2----2--2--2--|-------2--2----2--2--2--|
|--------3--3----3--3--3--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|--------3--3----3--3--3--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|---1----1--1----1--1--1--|--1----1--1----1--1--1--|
***** First 2 Times *** |
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|-------------------------|------------------------|
|--------2--2----2--2--2--|-------2--2----2--2--2--|
|--------3--3----3--3--3--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|--------3--3----3--3--3--|-------3--3----3--3--3--|
|---1----1--1----1--1--1--|--1----1--1----1--1--1--|
********* 3rd Time ******|
|-------------------------|
|-------------------------|
|-------------------------|
|-------------------------|
|-------------------------|
|---1---------------------|
