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IT'S RAINING - Irma Thomas
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Please RATE this TAB - Thank you!!!
Tabbed by: Travis_Morgan E-mail: Guitarguru@rockandrollmusicschool.com
Tuning: Standard
I've played this with and without a piano player in my cover band (see No Alibi) so
depending on how many musicians are involved you may want to play this more 'strummy'
than the arrangement I have constructed here - which is pretty tight to allow
room for other musicians to have space in the music.
Since there are several versions of this song out there, from her early Album version,
to the many live versions this arrangement stays pretty faithful to the Original Album
version recording in regards to the arrangement, song structure, etc. but also draws on
some of the variations of some live versions allowing for stylistic flexibility.
The Lyrics and Chords version of this song are are written below the TAB for easy viewing,
so you can choose whichever you prefer!
General tone tips: very CLEAN sounding electric guitar with no distortion, and
minimal effects (if any at all!). LESS IS MORE when it comes to this song. If you
use any effects at all I'd recommend a compressor primarily, maybe a very light chorus,
and if you use reverb probably only use a minimal amount so when you go to mute the
strings you will truly have a nice muted silence instead of a reverb trail. . . . . .
Intro A: This is the most practical, EASY, and straight ahead way to play the intro for this song!
G Major ~Sustain~
e|---------3-----|---------3-----|---------3-----|---------3-------------------||
B|-----------3---|-----------3---|-----------3---|---------3-------------------||
G|-------------0-|-------------0-|-------------0-|---------0-------------------||
D|------0--------|------0--------|------0--------|------0----------------------||
A|----2----------|----2----------|----2----------|----2------------------------||
E|--3------------|--3------------|--3------------|--3--------------------------||
Intro B: *This G Major triad pattern is the Guitar Adaptation of a Piano Intro on the early Album version*
G Major G Major
e|--10--------12--------10--------12--------15-|--10-----------12-------10------12------15-||
B|----12--------12--------12--------12---------|-----12----------12-------12------12-------||
G|------12--------12--------12--------12-------|--------12---------12-------12------12-----||
D|---------------------------------------------|-----------12------------------------------||
A|---------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------||
E|---------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------|| REPEAT
Intro C: Cascading "raining notes" picking pattern on a G barre chord, and a G open chord
G Major barre chord G Major barre chord (same idea) G Major open chord version
e|--3------------------|--3----------------3---|| ||--3--------------------------------||
B|---3---3-------------|---3---3---------------|| ||----3-----3------------------------||
G|----4---4---4--------|----4---4---4----------|| ||------0-----0-----0----------------||
D|---------5---5---5---|---------5---5-----5---|| ||--------------0-----0------0-------||
A|--------------5---5--|--------------5--------|| ||----------------------2------2-----||
E|-------------------3-|-----------------------|| REPEAT ||-------------------------------3---|| REPEAT
If your band has a keyboard player, see if they have a "rain sound" or a thunder sound in their keyboard
to play during whichever Intro version you play.
________________________________________________________________________________________
Verse:
G Major D Major G Major D Major
e|--------3---x----------10---x---------3---x-----------3---x---||
B|--------3---x----------10---x---------3---x-----------3---x---||
G|--4-----4---x---11-----11---x---4-----4---x---11------4---x---||
D|--5-----5---x---12-----12---x---5-----5---x---12------5---x---||
A|--5---------x---12----------x---5---------x---12----------x---||
E|--3---------x---10----------x---3---------x---10----------x---||
Pre Chorus:
C Major C Major C Minor C Minor
e|--------6--------------6-------------6--------------6-------||
B|------6---6----------6---6---------6---6----------6---------||
G|----7-------7------7-------7-----6-------6------6-----------||
D|--8--------------8-------------8--------------8-------------||
A|------------------------------------------------------------||
E|--8--------------8-------------8--------------8-----6-------||
Chorus:
G Major D Major G Major C Major
e|--------3---x----------10---x---------3---x-----------8----x---||
B|--------3---x----------10---x---------3---x-----------8----x---||
G|--4-----4---x---11-----11---x---4-----4---x---19------9----x---||
D|--5-----5---x---12-----12---x---5-----5---x---10------10---x---||
A|--5---------x---12----------x---5---------x---10-----------x---||
E|--3---------x---10----------x---3---------x---8------------x---||
Ending version 1: Basically two bars of A Major, two bars of D.
A Major A Major D Major D Major or
e|-----------5-|-----------5-|-----------5--|-----------5----------------x----|
B|-----------5-|-----------5-|-----------7--|-----------7----------------x----|
G|-----------5-|-----------5-|--7---7-7--7--|--7-7---7--7--------7\------x----|
D|--7---7-7----|--7-7---7----|--7---7-7-----|--7-7---7-----------7\------x----|
A|--7---7-7----|--7-7---7----|--5---5-5-----|--5-5---5-----------5\------x----|
E|--5---5-5----|--5-5---5----|--------------|----------------------------x----|
_________________________________________________________________________________
Next time around is exactly the same except the very last bit which is called
Ending version 2...
Verse:
G Major D Major G Major D Major
e|--------3---x----------10---x---------3---x-----------3---x---||
B|--------3---x----------10---x---------3---x-----------3---x---||
G|--4-----4---x---11-----11---x---4-----4---x---11------4---x---||
D|--5-----5---x---12-----12---x---5-----5---x---12------5---x---||
A|--5---------x---12----------x---5---------x---12----------x---||
E|--3---------x---10----------x---3---------x---10----------x---||
Pre Chorus:
C Major C Major C Minor C Minor
e|--------6--------------6-------------6--------------6-------||
B|------6---6----------6---6---------6---6----------6---------||
G|----7-------7------7-------7-----6-------6------6-----------||
D|--8--------------8-------------8--------------8-------------||
A|------------------------------------------------------------||
E|--8--------------8-------------8--------------8-----6-------||
Chorus:
G Major D Major G Major C Major
e|--------3---x----------10---x---------3---x-----------8----x---||
B|--------3---x----------10---x---------3---x-----------8----x---||
G|--4-----4---x---11-----11---x---4-----4---x---19------9----x---||
D|--5-----5---x---12-----12---x---5-----5---x---10------10---x---||
A|--5---------x---12----------x---5---------x---10-----------x---||
E|--3---------x---10----------x---3---------x---8------------x---||
Ending version 2: A little faster cycle through the chords for some variety!
A Major D Major G Major
e|-----------5--|-----------5---|----------------------||
B|-----------5--|-----------7---|----------------------||
G|-----------5--|--7---7-7--7---|----------------------||
D|--7---7-7-----|--7---7-7------|---5------------------||
A|--7---7-7-----|--5---5-5------|---5----3~~--2~~--0---||
E|--5---5-5-----|---------------|---3------------------||
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The very end of the song repeats Ending version 2, so that plays twice, then you
could use this Optional
Outro 1a
OR + + + + + + + +
e|--3-----3------3-----3------|----------------------------------------------||
B|----3-----3------3-----3----|---12---------12--------12---------12------12-||
G|----------------------------|-------12---------12--------12---------12-----||
D|----------------------------|----------------------------------------------||
A|----------------------------|----------------------------------------------||
E|----------------------------|----------------------------------------------||
Harmonics give this OUTRO a catchy melodic hook
Outro version 2a Outro version 2b
e|--3------------------------------|-----------------3------------||
B|----3-----3----------------------|---3---------------3----------||
G|------4-----4-----4--------------|------4--------------4--------||
D|--------------5-----5------5-----|---------5-------------5------||
A|----------------------5------5---|------------------------------||
E|-------------------------------3-|------------------------------||
_________________________________________________________________________________
Here are the lyrics to the song with the chords written above to indicate when to switch.
G D G D
It's raining so hard, looks like it's going to rain all night
C C Cm Cm
And this is the time, I'd love to be holding you tight
G D G C
I guess I'll have to accept the fact that you are not here
A D
I wish tonight would hurry up and end, my dear
G D G D
It's raining so hard, it's really coming down
C C Cm Cm
Sittin' by my window, watchin' the rain fall to the ground
G D G C
This is the time, I'd love to be holding you tight
A D G C G D
I guess I'll just go crazy tonight
G D G D
It's raining so hard, brings back memories
C C Cm Cm
Of the times when you were here with me
G D G C
Counting every drop, about to blow my top
A D
I wish this rain would hurry up and stop
G D G D
I've got the blues, so bad, I could hardly catch my breath
C C Cm Cm
The harder it rains, the worst it gets
G D G C
This is the time, I'd love to be holding you tight
A D G
I guess I'll just go crazy tonight
G D G D
It's raining so hard, brings back memories
C C Cm Cm
Of the times when you were here with me
G D G C
This is the time, I'd love to be holding you tight
A D G
I guess I'll just go crazy tonight
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| / slide up
| \ slide down
| h hammer-on
| p pull-off
| ~ vibrato
| + harmonic
| x Mute note
| b Bend
| pb Pre-bend
| br Bend release
| pbr Pre-bend release
| brb Bend release bend
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