ARTIST: NIRVANA GUITARIST: KURT COBAIN ALBUM: NIRVANA (GT HITS) RECORDED AT: ROBERT LANG'S STUDIOS 1994 EQUIPMENT USED: IBANEZ SUPERMETAL, BOSS FLANGER. (The reason Cobain uses different eqipment on this recording, was because he forgot both his guitar and pedals) TUNING: TUNE DOWN HALF A STEP TABBED BY NIK OWEN THIS TAB IS NOT THE SAME AS THE LIVE VERSION (WHICH CONSISTS OF NAMES SUCH AS ''AUTOPILOT'' & ''ON A MOUNTAIN''. THIS TAB IS TABBED OUT HOW IT IS RECORDED ON THE GREATEST HITS ALBUM. START THE SONG BY PICKING THE STRINGS BETWEEN THE TAILPIECE AND THE BRIDGE WITH PICKING HAND, WHILE PLUCKING AND HAMMERING NOTES ON THE E STRING WITH THE FRETING HAND AS FOLLOWS: (improvisation is essential here) E----------------x------------------------x-------------------------x-------------- B-----------x-------------------------------------------------x-----------x-------- G---x------------------x------------x----------x-----x----------------x------------ D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E--0-2h---------------------0-2h---------------------0-2h-------------0--h2-------- Then the drums and bass enter: PALM MUTED: E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D---------4-----4------------------------------------------------------------------ A-4----4-----4--------4-----4------4----4------4------4---------4-----4-----4----4- E-O-2h-------------O-----2--2---0-----2---2----2--0-0---0--2-2--2--0-0----2---2--2- E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D------4--------------------------------------------------------------------------- A------------4-----4------4--------4-------4----4-----4-----4---------------------- E--0-0----0----2---2---0-0--0-2-2--2---0-0----0---2---2--0--0---------------------- THEN KURT STARTS SINGING THE VERSE. PLAY PALM ALONG THE LINES ABOVE UNTIL KURT SAYS ''NEVER SPEAK A WORD AGAIN, I WILL CRAWL AWAY FOR GOOD''. HIT DISTORTION AND PLAY THE BRIDGE: E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B---7---7---7---7--7---7/--9---9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--------------------------- G---7---7---7---7--7---7/--9---9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--------------------------- D---7---7---7---7--7---7/--9---9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--------------------------- A---5---5---5---5--5---5/--7---7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--------------------------- E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THEN HIT DISTORTION OFF AND PLAY THE PALM MUTED RIFF AGAIN UNTIL KURT SINGS ''THINGS HAVE NEVER BEEN SO SWELL AND I HAVE NEVER FAILED TO FAIL'' AND PLAY: E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B--------7-----------------7--------------9---------------------------------------- G-------------7---------------------------9------9--------------------------------- D-----7---------------7--------------------------9--------------------------------- A--5-------------5-------------5--5/7--7-------------7--7--7/12-------------------- E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CHORUS ''PAAAAAAIIIIIIINN'': (DISTORTION) E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D-4-----4--4--4---4-----4--4--4-------------------------------------------------- A-4-----4--4--4---4-----4--4--4-------------------------------------------------- E-0-2h--2--2--0---0-2h--2--2--0-------------------------------------------------- PLAY THIS RIFF UNTIL KURT SINGS THE WORD ''PAIN'' IN A HIGHER TONE AND PLAY THE BRIDGE: E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B---7---7---7---7--7---7/--9---9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--------------------------- G---7---7---7---7--7---7/--9---9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--------------------------- D---7---7---7---7--7---7/--9---9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--------------------------- A---5---5---5---5--5---5/--7---7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--------------------------- E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THEN KURT REPEATS ''YOU KNOW YOU'RE RIGHT''. FOR THIS BIT ADD LOTS OF FEEDBACK AND PLAY: (*= heavy feedback) E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E--0-2h----2h*----2~~~~~------15*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~----- THE FIRST HALF OF THE SECOND VERSE IS LEAD BY BASS WITH NO GUITAR UNTIL IT REACHES THE HALF-WAY POINT OF THE VERSE. THEN YOU PLAY: E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B--------7-----------------7---------7------------9----------------9-------------- G-------------7-----------------------------------------9------------------------- D-----7---------------7-----------7-----7-------9----9----------9----------------- A--5-------------5-------------5-----------5/7------------------------------------ E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THEN KURT KICKS BACK IN WITH: PALM MUTED: E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D---------4-----4------------------------------------------------------------------ A-4----4-----4--------4-----4------4----4------4------4---------4-----4-----4----4- E-O-2h-------------O-----2--2---0-----2---2----2--0-0---0--2-2--2--0-0----2---2--2- E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D------4--------------------------------------------------------------------------- A------------4-----4------4--------4-------4----4-----4-----4---------------------- E--0-0----0----2---2---0-0--0-2-2--2---0-0----0---2---2--0--0---------------------- UNTIL THE BRIDGE COMES BACK AGAIN AND DISTORTION IS HIT: E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B---7---7---7---7--7---7/--9---9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--------------------------- G---7---7---7---7--7---7/--9---9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--------------------------- D---7---7---7---7--7---7/--9---9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--9--------------------------- A---5---5---5---5--5---5/--7---7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--------------------------- E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THEN BACK TO THE CHORUS: (OVER AND OVER) E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D-4-----4--4--4---4-----4--4--4--------------------------------------------------- A-4-----4--4--4---4-----4--4--4--------------------------------------------------- E-0-2h--2--2--0---0-2h--2--2--0--------------------------------------------------- GUITAR 1 REPEATS THE CHORUS OVER AND OVER AND GUITAR 2 PLAYS SOME SOLO'S IN THE BACKGROUND WHILE KURT IS SINGING ''YOU KNOW YOU'RE RIGHT'' SUCH AS THESE, AGAIN IMPROVISATION IS ESSENTIAL HERE: (with alot of feedback) (*=heavy feedback) E---------------------------5~---------------------------------------------------- B----5~~---0----------------5~--5~-----------5~---------------5~------------------ G------------3---4-3-4---3----------3--4--3-------4-3-4--3--------4-3-4----------- D--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B-------5~~~--5----------5~~--------------5~~~----------5~~~~--5h*-0-(0)----------- G---3/----------3--4--3/------4-3-4---3/-------4-3-4--3---------------------------- D-----------------------------------------------------------------------*(0)--(*0)- E--------------------------------------------------------------------------------2* THEN TURN THE DISTORTION OFF AND PLAY AGAIN: E----------------x------------------------x-------------------------x-------------- B-----------x-------------------------------------------------x-----------x-------- G---x------------------x------------x----------x-----x----------------x------------ D---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E--0-2h---------------------0-2h---------------------0-2h-------------0--h2-------- THE DRUMS FINISH THE SONG. THATS IT. QUESTIONS E-MAIL ME. Note From The TABBER: A comment says the tab is exactly the same as in the 'songbook'. Whether that is a complement or an insult i dont know, but if there is a way of checking the original tab's date you'll find i tabbed this before that book was released in my home country the UK. I tabbed this solely by ear before there was a decent tab for the song around, as the majority of tabs for this song at the time quite frankly sucked. Otherwise, thanks for the comments :)
