_____________
/ Tool / Beneath Keenan's weird complex lyrical style, I think this
/ Lateralus / song is about trying to let yourself go and follow your
/ Lateralus / impulses and see where they take you. It's about letting go
/____________/ of whatever is holding you back from being free.
*At the bottom of the page I've added a tablature explanation to make these
complicated things a lot less complicated, check it out if you're new to this!
*******************************************************************************
* Check out my Guitar Pro-version of the song, just follow the link: *
* http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/t/tool/lateralus_ver3_guitar_pro.htm *
* *
* ...and check out my bass tab for it as well: *
* http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/t/tool/lateralus_ver3_btab.htm *
* *
*******************************************************************************
Tuning: Drop D (D A D G B E)
Gtr I - Clean w/delay
Gtr II - Distorted (dubbed in left and right side)
Gtr III - Distorted w/wah-wah & whammy pedal
Intro:
Q=112
4/4
Gtr I
Q Q E Q E +E Q. E E E E 4x Q H. Q H.
||------------------|--------------------||---------------|---------------|
||o---------------1-|-(1)---------------o||---------------|---------------|
||------2---0h2-----|-----2-----0h2-0----||-----2---------|-----2---------|
||------------------|-----------------0--||---------------|---------------|
||o-----------------|-------------------o||---------------|---------------|
||--0---------------|--------------------||-5-------------|-3-------------|
Q Q E Q E +E Q. E E E E Q H. Q H. 6x
||------------------|-------------------|---------------|----------------||
||o---------------1-|-(1)---------------|---------------|---------------o||
||------2---0h2-----|-----2-----0h2-0---|-----2---------|-----2----------||
||------------------|-----------------0-|---------------|----------------||
||o-----------------|-------------------|---------------|---------------o||
||--0---------------|-------------------|-5-------------|-3--------------||
1st Chorus:
Q=88
9/8 8/8
Gtr II
E. e S E. e S S S S S S S E. e S E. e S S S S S
||--------------------------------|---------------------------|
||o-------------------------------|---------------------------|
||--------------------------------|---------------------------|
||--0---0--x-0---0--x-5-5-5-0-3-0-|-3---3--x-3---3--x-5-5-3-0-|
||o-0---0--x-0---0--x-5-5-5-0-3-0-|-3---3--x-3---3--x-5-5-3-0-|
||--0---0--x-0---0--x-5-5-5-0-3-0-|-3---3--x-3---3--x-5-5-3-0-|
1.,2. 3.
7/8 7/8
S E e S E E E E S E e S E E S S E
|---------------------------||------------------------|
|--------------------------o||------------------------|
|---------------------------||------------------------|
|-3-5--5--x-5--3--/10--12---||-3-5--5--5-5--3--3h5-3--|
|-3-5--5--x-5--3--/10--12--o||-3-5--5--5-5--3--3h5-3--|
|-3-5--5--x-5--3--/10--12---||-3-5--5--5-5--3--3h5-3--|
1st Verse:
5/8
E H % 7x
|-------------||-------------||
|-------------||o-----------o||
|-------------||-------------||
|-0-----------||-------------||
|-0-----------||o-----------o||
|-0-----------||-------------||
" Black then white are all i see in my infancy
Red and yellow then came to be
Reaching out to me
Let's me see "
Interlude:
Q. E E Q. E E 4x
||---------------|---------------||
||o--------------|--------------o||
||---------------|---------------||
||---------------|---------------||
||o-----------3--|-----------5--o||
||--0-----/3-----|-0-----/5------||
(if you're tapping your foot to the music, just waiting for the next part to
come, then you can play this in the waiting, which is close the the bass part)
2nd Verse:
PM--------------------------------------|
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S 4x
||----------------------|----------------------||
||o---------------------|---------------------o||
||----------------------|----------------------||
||----------------------|----------------------||
||o---------------------|---------------------o||
||--0-0-0-0---0-3-3-3-3-|-0-0-0-0---0-5-5-5-5--||
5/8 3/8
PM--------------------------------------| PM----|
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S 4x E S S S S E S S S S
||----------------------|----------------------||------------|------------|
||o---------------------|---------------------o||------------|------------|
||----------------------|----------------------||------------|------------|
||----------------------|----------------------||------------|----5-5-5-5-|
||o---------------------|---------------------o||------------|----5-5-5-5-|
||--7-5-3-0---0-3-3-3-3-|-0-0-0-0---0-5-5-5-5--||----5-5-5-5-|----5-5-5-5-|
" As below, so above and beyond, I imagine
Drawn beyond the lines of reason
Push the envelope
Watch it bend "
2nd Chorus:
The two first rounds are similar to 1st Chorus, but replace the third with this:
9/8 8/8
E. E. E. E. S S S S S S E. E. E. E. S S S S
|-----------------------------|-------------------------|
|---------3---3---------------|---------6---6-----------|
|-----2---2---2---------------|-5---5---5---5-----------|
|-0---0---0---0---5-5-5-0-3-0-|-3---3---3---3---5-5-3-0-|
|-0---0---0---0---5-5-5-0-3-0-|-3---3---3---3---5-5-3-0-|
|-0---0---0---0---5-5-5-0-3-0-|-3---3---3---3---5-5-3-0-|
7/8
S E E S E E S S E
|------------------------|
|------------------------|
|------------------------|
|-3-5--5--5-5--3--3h5-3--|
|-3-5--5--5-5--3--3h5-3--|
|-3-5--5--5-5--3--3h5-3--|
" Over thinking, over analyzing separates the body from the mind
Withering my intuition
Missing opportunities
And I must feed my will to feel my moment
Drawing way outside the lines "
3rd Verse:
Similar to 1st Verse.
" Black then white are all i see in my infancy
Red and yellow then came to be
Reaching out to me
Let's me see "
4th Verse:
Similar to the Interlude between 1st and 2nd Verse.
" There is so much more and beckons me
To look through to these infinite possibilities"
5th Verse:
Similar 2nd Verse except the first 3/8-bar (the palm muted one) is cut out to
give the following chorus a more surprising and therefore powerful approach.
" As below, so above and beyond, I imagine
Drawn outside the lines of reason
Push the envelope
Watch it bend "
********************************************************************************
* The syllables of Keenan's lyrics in the verses form parts of the Fibonacci *
* sequence. The number of syllables progress from the 1st to the 6th step of *
* the sequence, descends down to the 1st step, up to the 7th step, and *
* finally back down to the 4th step. By the way did you notice how the time *
* signatures of the chorus relates to the 16th step of the sequence, which *
* is the number of "987"? *
* *
* The Fibonacci sequence: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, *
* 377, 610, 987... *
* *
* [1] black *
* [1] then *
* [2] white are *
* [3] all I see *
* [5] in my infancy *
* [8] red and yellow then came to be *
* [5] reaching out to me *
* [3] lets me see *
* [2] there is *
* [1] so *
* [1] much *
* [2] more and *
* [3] beckons me *
* [5] to look through to these *
* [8] infinite possibilities *
* [13] as below so above and beyond I imagine *
* [8] drawn outside the lines of reason *
* [5] push the envelope *
* [3] watch it bend *
* *
* The Fibonacci sequence shares some mathematical relations with Phi (it's a *
* bit complex...!), which is a mystic number that many structures in nature *
* are designed from. It is somehow used to describe the introvert progression *
* of a spiral. Maynard mentions spirals a couple of times later, doesn't he? *
* Another theory is the order of colours seen on an LSD trip. Alex Grey *
* (the Rather spiritualistic artist who did the album artwork) stated when *
* he closed his eyes on an LSD trip, he saw a black and white spiral, *
* and when he tried it a few more times it became a red and yellow spiral. *
********************************************************************************
3rd Chorus:
Similar to 2nd Chorus (with the replacement), just quit the first round.
" Over thinking, over analyzing
Separates the body from the mind
Withering my intuition leaving opportunities behind "
1st Guitar Solo:
Let the wah-wah pedal stay in open position in the solo to gain lots of treble.
The first solo-lick here is played with this poly-rhythmic feeling of 3/8:
Gtr III
9/8 8/8
E E S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E E S S E E
|---------------------------------|----------------------------|
|---------------------------------|----------------------------|
|---------------------------------|----------------------------|
|-0-10-12p0--0-10-12p0--0-10-12p0-|-0-10-12p0--0-10-12p0--0-10-|
|---------------------------------|----------------------------|
|---------------------------------|----------------------------|
(Adam Jones produces lots of random artificial harmonics on the
10th and 12th fret notes, when playing it live)
7/8
S S E E S S E S S S S
|------------------------------|
|------------------------------|
|---------------------9h10p9p0-|
|-12p0--0-10-12p0--0-----------|
|------------------------------|
|------------------------------|
9/8 8/8 7/8
H. S S S S S S H. S S S S E. E. S S Q.
|--------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
|--------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
|-------------9h10p9p0-----|-------------9h10p9p0-|----------------------|
|-7--------------------7p5|3--------------------|-10---9---10p0-7/-----|
|--------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
|--------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
9/8 8/8 7/8
H. S S S S S S H. S S S S E. E. S S Q.
|--------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
|--------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
|-------------9h10p9p0-----|-------------9h10p9p0-|----------------------|
|/12-------------------7p5|3--------------------|-10---9---10p0-7------|
|--------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
|--------------------------|----------------------|----------------------|
Post-Chorus:
Play with that poly-rhythmic 3/8 feeling again here:
9/8 8/8
+Q. S S S E. S S S E. S S S E. S S S E. S S S S
|----------------------------|-----------------------------|
|----------------------------|-----------------------------|
|----------------------------|-----------------------------|
|-(7)----7-7-7-7---7-7-7-7---|-7-7-7-7---7-7-7-7---7-7-7-7-|
|----------------------------|-----------------------------|
|----------------------------|-----------------------------|
7/8
+E S S S E S S S S
|-------------------------|
|-------------------------|
|-------------------------|
|-(7)-7-7-7-7--10h12p10p0-|
|-------------------------|
|-------------------------|
Gtr II
E E E S S E E E E E S S E E
|------------------------|------------------------|
|------------------------|------------------------|
|------------------------|------------------------|
|-0--10--12--0-0-10--12--|-0--10--12--0-0-10--12--|
|-0--10--12--0-0-10--12--|-0--10--12--0-0-10--12--|
|-0--10--12--0-0-10--12--|-0--10--12--0-0-10--12--|
E. S E S S S S E E. S E S S S S E
|---------------------|---------------------|
|-3---3----3-3-3-3----|-3---3----3-3-3-3----|
|-2---2----2-2-2-2----|-2---2----2-2-2-2----|
|-0---0----0-0-0-0----|-0---0----0-0-0-0----|
|-0---0----0-0-0-0----|-0---0----0-0-0-0----|
|-0---0----0-0-0-0----|-0---0----0-0-0-0----|
" Feed my will to feel this moment
Urging me to cross the line
Reaching out to embrace the random
Reaching out to embrace whatever may come "
Bridge:
Q=88 bpm
12/16
S S S S E S S S S E 8x
||-------------------------||
||o-----------------------o||
||-------------------------|| (don't be stunned by the look of "12/16", it's
||-------------------------|| just another way of indicating shuffled 4/4)
||o-----------------------o||
||--0-0-0-0----0-0-0-0-----||
(the bass riff)
Gtr I
E. E. +Q. E. E. +Q. E. E. +Q. +H.
|----------------|----------------|----------------|------------|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|------------|
|-----2--(2)-----|-----2--(2)-----|-----2*-(2)-----|-(2)--------| *bend it
|----------------|----------------|----------------|------------| a little
|----------------|----------------|----------------|------------|
|-5--------------|-5--------------|-0--------------|------------|
E. E. +Q. E. E. +Q. E. E. E S +E. +H.
|----------------|----------------|------------------|------------|
|----------------|----------------|------------------|------------|
|-----2--(2)-----|-----2--(2)-----|-----2---0h2-(2)--|-(2)--------|
|----------------|----------------|------------------|------------|
|----------------|----------------|------------------|------------|
|-5--------------|-5--------------|-0----------------|------------|
E. E. +Q. E. E. +Q. E. E. E S +E S +E S +E. +Q.
|----------------|----------------|--------------------|------------------|
|----------------|----------------|------------------1-|-(1)--------------|
|-----2--(2)-----|-----2--(2)-----|-----2---0h2-(2)----|-----2-(2)--(2)---|
|----------------|----------------|--------------------|------------------|
|----------------|----------------|--------------------|------------------|
|-5--------------|-5--------------|-0------------------|------------------|
E. E. +Q. E. E. +Q. E. E. E S +E S +E S +E. E S E S
|----------------|----------------|--------------------|--------------------|
|----------------|----------------|------------------1-|-(1)----------------|
|-----2--(2)-----|-----2--(2)-----|-----2---0h2-(2)----|-----2-(2)--0h2-0---|
|----------------|----------------|--------------------|------------------0-|
|----------------|----------------|--------------------|--------------------|
|-5--------------|-5--------------|-0------------------|--------------------|
|-the 4th line the 4th line-|
*******************************************************************************
* A little hint to help the memory with the riffs above: *
* Notice that at every repeat, the riff is extended a little. This might *
* make sense to you, but if not, then just don't let it confuse you! *
* __ __ __ __ *
* 1.| 2.| 3.| 4.| *
* E. E. +Q. E. E. +Q. E. E. E S +E S +E S +E. E S E S *
* |------------|------------|-------- ---------- ---|----------- ---------| *
* |------------|------------|-------- ---------- -1-|-(1)------- ---------| *
* |----2--(2)--|----2--(2)--|----2--- -0h2-(2)-- ---|-----2-(2)- -0h2-0---| *
* |------------|------------|-------- ---------- ---|----------- -------0-| *
* |------------|------------|-------- ---------- ---|----------- ---------| *
* |-5----------|-3----------|-0------ ---------- ---|----------- ---------| *
* *
*******************************************************************************
E. E. +Q. E. E. +Q. E. E. E S +E S +E S +E. E S E S 4x
||----------------|---------------|--------------------|---------------------||
||o---------------|---------------|------------------1-|-(1)----------------o||
||------2--(2)----|-----2--(2)----|-----2---0h2-(2)----|-----2-(2)--0h2-0----||
||----------------|---------------|--------------------|------------------0--||
||o---------------|---------------|--------------------|--------------------o||
||--5-------------|-5-------------|-0------------------|---------------------||
(similar to the 4th round from above)
E. E. E S +E S +E S +E. E S E S
|--------------------|--------------------|
|------------------1-|-(1)----------------|
|-----2---0h2-(2)----|-----2-(2)--0h2-0---|
|--------------------|------------------0-|
|--------------------|--------------------|
|-0------------------|--------------------|
E. E. E S +E S +E S +E. E S E S
|--------------------|--------------------|
|------------------3-|-(3)----------------|
|-----2---0h2-(2)----|-----2-(2)--0h2-0---|
|--------------------|------------------0-|
|--------------------|--------------------|
|-0------------------|--------------------|
6/8
Gtr III
E. E. +Q. E. E. +Q. E. E. E S E. E. E. E S E S
|----------------|----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|----------------|----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----2--(2)-----|-----2--(2)-----|-----2---0h2p0---|-----2---0h2p0---|
|----------------|----------------|-----------------|---------------0-|
|-5--------------|-3--------------|-0---------------|-0---------------|
|-5--------------|-3--------------|-0---------------|-0---------------|
E. E. +Q. E. E. +Q. E. E. E S E. E. E. E. E.
|----------------|----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|----------------|----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----2--(2)-----|-----2--(2)-----|-----2---0h2p0---|-----------------|
|----------------|----------------|-----------------|-3---3/--10--10--|
|-5--------------|-3--------------|-0---------------|-3---3/--10--10--|
|-5--------------|-3--------------|-0---------------|-3---3/--10--10--|
H. H.
|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|
|-5-----------|-3-----------|
|-5-----------|-3-----------|
|-5-----------|-3-----------|
" I embrace my desire to...
I embrace my desire
To feel the rhythm
To feel connected enough to step aside and weep like a widow
To feel inspired
To fathom the power
To witness the beauty
To bathe in the fountain
To swing on the spiral, to swing on the spiral
To swing on the spiral of our divinity
And still be a human "
2nd Guitar Solo:
The tremolo picking (TP) here is equal to 32nd-part notes.
Gtr III
TP/// TP TP TP
H. +H. +H. +H.
|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|-7---------|-(7)-------|-(7)b8-----|-(7)pb8----|
|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
TP TP TP TP
+H. +H. +H. +H.
|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|-(7)-------|-(7)-------|-(7)-------|-(7)-------|
|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
TP TP TP TP
H. +Q H +Q. +Q. +H.
|-----------|------------|----------------|--------------|
|-----------|------------|----------------|--------------|
|-----------|------------|----------------|--------------|
|-12--------|-(12)-12----|-(12)--(12)b13--|-(12)pb13-----|
|-----------|------------|----------------|--------------|
|-----------|------------|----------------|--------------|
TP TP TP TP
E. E. E. E. E. Q. S S S E. Q. S S S
|--------------|----------------------|----------------------|
|--------------|----------------------|----------------------|
|--------------|----------------------|----------------------|
|-12-12-12-12--|-12--10----5pb6r(5)p3-|-5b6--3----5pb6r(5)p3-|
|--------------|----------------------|----------------------|
|--------------|----------------------|----------------------|
Gtrs II, III
E. E S T.T.T.T.+E S H. H.
|-------------------------|-------------|-------------|
|-------------------------|-------------|-------------|
|-------------------------|-------------|-------------|
|-5b6--3----0h3h5s6-(6)-0-|-5-----------|-3-----------|
|---------3-------------0-|-5-----------|-3-----------|
|-----------------------0-|-5-----------|-3-----------|
Breakdown:
Q=86
6/8
Gtr II
E. e S E. e S 6x
||---------------------||
||o-------------------o||
||---------------------|| (the bass goes on
||--0---0--x-0---0--x--|| at third round)
||o-0---0--x-0---0--x-o||
||--0---0--x-0---0--x--||
6th Verse:
E. e S E. e S 16x
||---------------------||
||o-------------------o||
||---------------------||
||--0---0--x-0---0--x--||
||o-0---0--x-0---0--x-o||
||--0---0--x-0---0--x--||
E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E. E.
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-15--15--13--13--|-15--15--18--18--|-15--15--13--13--|-18--18--15--15--|
|--x---x---x---x--|--x---x---x---x--|--x---x---x---x--|--x---x---x---x--|
|-12--12--10--10--|-12--12--15--15--|-12--12--10--10--|-15--15--12--12--|
|--0---0---0---0--|--0---0---0---0--|--0---0---0---0--|--0---0---0---0--|
|--0---0---0---0--|--0---0---0---0--|--0---0---0---0--|--0---0---0---0--|
E. E S E. E S E. E S E. E S
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-------------------|-------------------|
|-5---5----5---5----|-5---5----5---5----|
|-5---5----5---5----|-5---5----5---5----|
|-5---5--0-5---5--0-|-5---5--0-5---5--0-|
E E S S S S S S S S S S S S S S E E E
|-----------------------|-------------------------|
|-----------0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0-0-0-0-0-0-------------|
|-----------0-0-0-0-0-0-|-0-0-0-0-0-0-------------|
|-5--5--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-|-5-5-5-5-5-5-5--5--------|
|-5--5--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-|-5-5-5-5-5-5-5--5--------|
|-5--5--5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-|-5-5-5-5-5-5-5--5--3b4.5-|
" With my feet upon the ground
I move myself between the sounds
And open wide to suck it in
I feel it move across my skin
I'm reaching up and reaching out
I'm reaching for the random or what ever will bewilder me
What ever will bewilder me
And following our will and wind
We may just go where no one's been
We'll ride the spiral to the end
And may just go where no one's been "
Outro Verse:
E. E. E S S S S E. e S E. E. 4x
||---------------------|-------------------||
||o--------------------|------------------o||
||---------------------|-------------------||
||--0---3---0--x-x-x-x-|-0---0--x-3---0----||
||o-0---3---0--x-x-x-x-|-0---0--x-3---0---o||
||--0---3---0--x-x-x-x-|-0---0--x-3---0----||
" Spiral out, keep going
Spiral out, keep going
Spiral out, keep going
Spiral out, keep going "
Outro:
In the brackets I've indicated the actual note if it was to be picked regularly.
Below the tab charts I've indicated the pitch of actual notes, sorry if it gets
a bit confusing, but really Adam Jones is just picking the harmonics randomly.
*****************************************************
* Just to simplify the mess below, then this is *
* roughly the riff without the tons of harmonics: *
* *
* E. E S E E E *
* |------------------------| *
* |------------------------| *
* |------------------------| *
* |------------------------| *
* |-17~-------------15-----| *
* |------15--15-17------0--| *
* *
*****************************************************
Gtr II
E. E S E E E E. E S E E E
|-(22)-------------------|-----------------(20)---|
|------------------------|-(22)-------------------|
|-----------------(17)---|------------(19)--------|
|------(15)--------------|------------------------|
|-[17]------------[15]---|-[17]------------[15]---|
|------[15]-15-17------0-|------15-15-[17]------0-|
D F C A D C
E. E S E E E E. E S E E E
|------(23)---------(20)---|---------------------(20)---|
|-(22)---------------------|-(22)-----------------------|
|--------------(19)--------|-----------(17)-(19)--------|
|--------------------------|------(15)------------------|
|-[17]--------------[15]---|-[17]----------------[15]---|
|------[15]-15-[17]------0-|------[15]-[15]-[17]------0-|
A D# D C A F C D C
E. E S E E E E. E S E E E
|-------------------(20)---|-------------------(20)---|
|-(22)---------------------|-(22)---------------------|
|--------------(19)--------|--------------(19)--------|
|------(15)----------------|------(15)----------------|
|-[17]--------------[15]---|-[17]--------------[15]---|
|------[15]-15-[17]------0-|------[15]-15-[17]------0-|
A F D C A F D C
(the band breaks here)
E. E S E E E E. E S E E E
|-(22)-------------(20)---|-----------------------------|
|-------------------------|-(22)-------------------(17)-|
|-------------------------|-------------------(17)------|
|------(15)-(15)-0--------|------(15)-(15)--------------|
|-[17]-------------[15]---|-[17]--------------[15]-[15]-|
|------[15]-[15]--------0-|------[15]-[15]-17-----------|
D F F C D F F C E
E. E S E E E E. E S E E E
|-(22)---------------------|-(22)------------------------|
|--------------------------|------------------------(17)-|
|-------------------(17)---|-------------------(17)------|
|------(15)-(15)-----------|------(15)-(15)--------------|
|-[17]--------------[15]---|-[17]--------------[15]-[15]-|
|------[15]-[15]-17------0-|------[15]-[15]-17-----------|
D F F C D F F C E
E. E S E E E
|------------------(22)------|
|---(17)-(17)-(19)------(19)-|
|----------------------------|
|-0--------------------------|
|---[15]-[15]-[17]-[17]-[17]-|
|----------------------------|
E E F# D F#
+Q. E. E. +Q Q Q H. +H.
|--------------------|-----------------|-------------|-------------|
|--------------------|-----------------|-------------|-------------|
|--------------------|-----------------|-------------|-------------|
|------------5---3---|-(3)---10---12---|-0-----------|-(0)---------|
|-([17])-----5---3---|-(3)---10---12---|-0-----------|-(0)---------|
|------------5---3---|-(3)---10---12---|-0-----------|-(0)---------|
- 15th /July /07
Just mail me at [email protected] with questions, comments and corrections!
*******************************************************************************
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------- Tablature Guide --------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
(created by Maitinin, copy this as much as you'd like
to, but please don't forget to credit me, thank you!)
Tablatures (tabs) are an alternative way of writing the good old music sheets
in a standard text program! There are six horizontal lines and there are six
strings on your guitar... see some connection there? The low E-string is the
lowest line in the tab chart. The number indicated on the particular string is
the fret you are to play. "1" means to play at the fret closest to the neck, "0"
means to play the string open, x means to pick the string, while it is muted.
The bar lines look like this (as they also did in 1764):
Q=115 bpm
4/4
Gtr I
3x
|------------| ||------------------|| :------------:
|------------| ||o----------------o|| :------------:
|------------| ||------------------|| :------------:
|------------| ||------------------|| :------------:
|------------| ||o----------------o|| :------------:
|------------| ||------------------|| :------------:
...the first bar is the standard bar and indicates a single measure or bar. The
second one means to repeat something. "3x" means to PLAY the bar 3 times, not to
repeat it 3 times, which it is confused with often. The third one means free time,
but in popular it is rarely used for anything else than endings in songs, where the
timing of the ending isn't fully decided. Above the first bar it says "Q=115 bpm",
which is an indication for tempo. It means that during a minute there are 115
quarter beats ("bpm" stands for beats-per-minute). Below is the time signature
indicated.
"Gtr 1" indicated, which guitar is playing the particular part. In the beginning of
a tab is a short presentation of which guitars are playing in the song, in which
tuning the guitars are, and what effects are used, for instance:
Gtr IV (E A D G B E) - David Gilmour - clean electric w/flanger
Above every note in the tab charts, there is a letter. That is a rhythm indication.
These are the lengths of the notes the letters represent:
W = Whole note (4/4)
H = Half note (2/4)
Q = Quarter note (1/4)
E = 8th-part note (1/8)
S = 16th-part note (1/16)
T = 32nd-part note (1/32)
X = 64th-part note (1/64)
a = Grace note (acciaccatura)
When there is no note beneath the 'rhythm-letter', it means to rest for the
indicated time. When the letter is un-capitalized, it means that it is only half
of its length (staccato).
When the note is in brackets and there is a "+" in front of the letter above,
The note is "tied" to the previous note. It simply means that the note in brackets
is an extension of the previous note, so E +E = Q
When there is a dot behind the letter, it means that the letter is extended with
half of its own length, so E. = E +S
When there are two dots behind the letter, it means to extend the note with half of
its own length and half of the extension. It could be said simpler that the note is
extended with 3/4 its length, so Q.. = Q +E +S
|-3-| above the letters means that the letters beneath the line are triplets.
|-10-| equally means that the letters are dituplets... in case you can play that :P
Inside the tab chart there are lots of symbols/letters that indicate techniques
for the note they're connected to, I won't go into depth with each technique as
this is yet only a guide of understanding the tab, not the guitar. Here it is:
h = hammer-on
p = pull-off
b = bend
r = release bend
pb = pre-bend
s = slide
/ = slide (unspecified target note)
= natural harmonic
[n] = artificial harmonic
~ = vibrato
tr = trill
T = tap
TP = tremolo picking
PM = palm mute
n/ = tremolo bar
= = connection devise for hammer-ons, pull-offs and slides
...That's about it, I think. I hope you will have good use of this!
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|- 15th /July /07 ----------------------------------------------------------------|
|- Just mail me at [email protected] with questions, comments and corrections! --|
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