• Song:

    A Commotion

  • Artist:

    Mastodon

A Commotion
by
Mastodon (Feistodon)

Tuning: D Tuning with low D dropped to A (AGCFAD)

Hey everyone. Just thought I'd get a tab up for this really very awesome new
track from Mastodon covering Feists 'A Commotion'. I know its not 100% right
and theres stacks of room for improvement but as nothing is out there for this yet I
thought it best to get the ball rolling!

The recording is quite muddy and the guitars blend into one at points - I
personally found it really difficult to disect. I will highlight particular 'problem
arears' as they arise but just hope that this tab will lead to someone with a greater
musical knowledge to fill in the many gaps. Also, I used the music video of Feist 
performing with the Mastodon track played over the top and as such the time notes Ive made may 
be a
little off for other versions but I hope not by much.

NOTE: I actually started this tab in Guitar Pro but found the timings difficult to lay
down. If anyone knows how to use guitar pro and wants to go about creating a version with
me just message me/write on my profile!

Now down to business!

INTRO (NOTE: Alternate Picking & Palm Muted)
Very simple but awesome sounding chug going on here - listen to track for timings
D|------------------------------------------------------------------------||
A|------------------------------------------------------------------------||
F|------------------------------------------------------------------------||
C|------------------------------------------------------------------------||
G|------------------------------------------------------------------------||
A|--0-0-0-0--(for ages)--5-5-5-5--(for a few bars)--0-0-0-0---------------||

VERSE {0:50 - 1:18}
(Guitar 1)
Now theres a few ways you can do this but Im going to lay out this method as I have a
gut feeling its the right way (at least if played live). You can seperate this guitar part
into two guitars if you wish and again, listen for timings.
D|---------------------------------------------||
A|---------------------------------------------||
F|---------------------------------------------||
C|--4-4-4-4--2-2-2--9-9-9-9---7-7-7------------||
G|--2-2-2-2--0-0-0--7-7-7-7---5-5-5------------||
A|--0-0-0-0---------5-5-5-5---3-3-3------------||
PM  .......         .......   .....

(Guitar 2)
Im pretty sure theres a second guitar here doing something I just cant pick it out
D|------------------------------------------------------------------------||
A|------------------------------------------------------------------------||
F|------------------------------------------------------------------------||
C|------------------------------------------------------------------------||
G|------------------------------------------------------------------------||
A|------------------------------------------------------------------------||

PRE-CHORUS {1:19 - 1:34}
(Guitar 1)
Im pretty sure I have this guitar down right or at least close...
D|-------------------------------------------------||
A|---------------<7>---------------<5>-------------||
F|-------------------------------------------------||
C|--2--2--4------------2--2--4---------------------||
G|--0--0--2------------0--0--2---------------------||
A|-----------0-------------------0-----------------||

(Guitar 2)
... this Im not so sure of...
D|-----------------------------------------------------||
A|-----------------------------------------------------||
F|-----------------------------------------------------||
C|-----------------------------------------------------||
G|--5--5--7--2--222222222-----5--5--7--2--22222222-----||
A|--3--3--5--0--000000000-----3--3--5--0--00000000-----||
PM              .........                 ........

CHORUS {1:35 - 1:50}
(Guitar 1)
D|--------------------------------              -------------------||
A|--------------------------------              -------------------||
F|--------------------------------              -------------------||
C|--7-7-7-7-7-7--4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4--              --2-2-2-2-2-2--4---||
G|--5-5-5-5-5-5--2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-- x3  Then     --0-0-0-0-0-0--2---||
A|--3-3-3-3-3-3--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--              ---------------0---||

(Guitar 2)
I know this isnt right but hopefully someone can build on this
D|-----------------------------------------||
A|----------0------------------------------||
F|--------------------------6-7------------||
C|------5-----5--------5-------------------||
G|----5---5-----5----5---5-----------------||
A|--3--------------0-----------------------||


VERSE 2 {1:51 - 2:47}
(Guitar 1)
The first part of this is the same as the first verse, however it changes a little when
the line "it held me down tight" comes in (around 2:20). There are some open notes
thrown in to make it sound a bit groovier - something like this:
D|---------------------------------||
A|---------------------------------||
F|---------------------------------||
C|--4-4---4-4---4----2-2-2---------||
G|--2-2-0-2-2-0-2-0--0-0-0--etc----||
A|---------------------------------||

(Guitar 2)
Has 4 little leads that come in during the gaps in singing - again not 100%on these.
Listen for timings:
D|--7-5---5----------------------||
A|------7---7-5-3-5-3---3--------||
F|---------------------4---4-----||
C|-------------------------------||
G|-------------------------------||
A|-------------------------------||

D|--10-7-5-7-5----------7-10-9---||
A|--------------7-5-3------------||
F|---------------------4---------||
C|-------------------------------||
G|-------------------------------||
A|-------------------------------||

D|--------5-7---7/9 bend---------||
A|--5-3-------7------------------||
F|------6------------------------||
C|-------------------------------||
G|-------------------------------||
A|-------------------------------||

D|--------5-7-9-9 bend and trem--||
A|--3-5--------------------------||
F|------6------------------------||
C|-------------------------------||
G|-------------------------------||
A|-------------------------------||

PRE-CHORUS {2:48 - 3:03} Same as Before:
(Guitar 1)
D|-----------------------------------------------||
A|---------------<7>---------------------<5>-----||
F|-----------------------------------------------||
C|--2--2--4--------------------2--2--4-----------||
G|--0--0--2--------------------0--0--2-----------||
A|-----------0--------------------------0--------||

(Guitar 2)
D|--------------------------------------------------||
A|--------------------------------------------------||
F|--------------------------------------------------||
C|--------------------------------------------------||
G|--5--5--7--2--222222222-----5--5--7--2--22222222--||
A|--3--3--5--0--000000000-----3--3--5--0--00000000--||
PM              .........                 ........

OUTRO {3:18 - 4:00}
(Guitar 1 & 2) - same as Chorus but with varying effects etc - just listen to figure it out
(Guitar 3 - around 3:33) - Classic Mastodon 'noodling', play around with something like this:
D|---------------------------------------------------||
A|--17-15----15-17/19-19--------17-15----15\12-------||
F|---------16---------------------------16-----------||
C|---------------------------------------------------||
G|---------------------------------------------------||
A|---------------------------------------------------||

D|--------------------19----------15-----------------||
A|--17-15-----15-17--------17-19----19---------------||
F|---------16----------------------------------------||
C|---------------------------------------------------||
G|---------------------------------------------------||
A|---------------------------------------------------||

D|--------------------------------------------------12 bend---------------||
A|-----------------------------------------------------10-12-12 let ring--||
F|------------9-11 let ring-----------------------------------------------||
C|-----9-12-9------------------9-12-9-12-9 let ring-----------------------||
G|------------------------------------------------------------------------||
A|-15\--------------------------------------------------------------------||

LYRICS
It flickered to light
It turned broke what was right
It got the roots by the hair
What was was no longer there

It blocked out the sun
It climbed up the stairs
And then it slipped through the cracks
I wasn't watching my back

A commotion

If it rips you all apart
The grudge has still got your heart

It stalked through the rooms
And then it tore the sheets off the bed
It ripped the books off the shelf
It turned heaven to hell

It held me down tight
It took all my fight
It broke all the windows
It came flame from the kindle

A commotion

If it rips you all apart
The grudge has still got your heart


----------------------------------------------------------------------------

And thats about the best I can get from this guys. Sorry its not perfect but I think its
enough to get someone going on a more accurate version. Thanks everyone and please feel
free to comment and rate!
Show more