HARD TO HANDLE (Bassline)
As recorded by The Black Crowes
(From the 2002 Album BLACK CROWES — GREATEST HITS 1990—1999: TRIBUTE WORK IN PROGRESS)


 Words and Music by Allen Jones, Alvertis Bell and Otis Redding

 

Gtr I (E A D G) — 'Standard'


 Intro
  Moderate Rock Q=102
 4/4
  Gtr I
  W          H    E S S S E S   +H     +E  S S S E S
|——————————|——————————————————|———————————————————————|
|——————————|————————————1—2—4—|—(4)————(4)—2—0—2—0————|
|——————————|————————2—2———————|————————————————————2——|
|——————————|——————————————————|———————————————————————|


                                                Verse
  +H     +E  S S S E S   +H     +E  S S S E.     E E E S S +S  S E E E
|——————————————————————|—————————————————————||—————————————————————————|
|————————————————1—2—4—|—(4)————(4)—2—0—2—0——||o————————————————————————|
|—(2)————(2)—2—2———————|—————————————————————||o—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x—————0——|
|——————————————————————|—————————————————————||——————————————————0—2————|


  E E E S S +S  S E E E   E E E S S +S  S E E E   E E E S S +S  S E E E
|———————————————————————|———————————————————————|———————————————————————|
|———————————————————————|———————————————————————|———————————————————————|
|—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x—————0—|—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x—————0—|—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x———2—0—|
|—————————————————0—2———|—————————————————0—2———|—————————————————0—————|


  E E E S S +S  S E E E   E E E S S +S  S E E E   E E E S S +S  S E E E
|———————————————————————|———————————————————————|———————————————————————|
|———————————————————————|———————————————————————|———————————————————————|
|—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x———2—0—|—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x———2—0—|—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x———2—0—|
|—————————————————0—————|—————————————————0—————|—————————————————0—————|


                                Chorus
  E E E S S +S  S S S S S S S    E E E e S S E E S S   E E E e S S E E S S
|—————————————————————————————||—————————————————————|———————————————————————|
|—————————————————1—1—2—2—3—4—||—————4———————————————|—4———4—————————————————|
|—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x—————————————||—————————————1—2—3—4—|—————————————1—2—3—4———|
|—————————————————————————————||—2—2———2———x—————————|———2———2———x———————————|


                           1.
  E E Q  H      W          S S S S S S S S S S S S S S E
|—————————————|——————————|—————————————————————————————————|
|—————————————|——————————|—————————————————————————————————|
|—2———————————|——————————|—5—5—5—5—5—5—5—5—7—7—7—7—7—7—7———|
|—————————————|——————————|—————————————————————————————————|


  E S S +S  S E +H
|———————————————————————||—|
|——————————————————————o||—|
|——————————————————————o||—|
|—5—x—0—(0)—x—7—(7)—————||—|


    2.
    E. S +E  E +S  S S S S S S S  3x E. S +E  E +H
||————————————————————————————————||———————————————————||
||o——————————————————————————————o||———————————————————||
||o——————————————————————————————o||———————————————————||
||——5——0—(0)—7—(7)—7—7—7—7—7—7—7——||—5——0—(0)—7—(7)————||


   Verse
    E E E S S +S  S E E E  3x
||—————————————————————————||—|
||o———————————————————————o||—|
||o—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x—————0—o||—|
||——————————————————0—2————||—|


    E E E S S +S  S E E E     E E E S S +S  S S S S S S S
||—————————————————————————||—————————————————————————————|
||o———————————————————————o||—————————————————1—1—2—2—3—4—|
||o—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x———2—0—o||—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x—————————————|
||——————————————————0——————||—————————————————————————————|


 Chorus
  E E E e S S E E S S   E E E e S S E E S S   E E Q  H
|—————————————————————|—————————————————————|—————————————|
|—————4———————————————|—4———4———————————————|—————————————|
|—————————————1—2—3—4—|—————————————1—2—3—4—|—2———————————|
|—2—2———2———x—————————|———2———2———x—————————|—————————————|


  W            E. S +E  E +S  S S S S S S S  3x E. S +E  E +H
|——————————||————————————————————————————————||———————————————————|
|——————————||o——————————————————————————————o||———————————————————|
|——————————||o——————————————————————————————o||———————————————————|
|——————————||——5——0—(0)—7—(7)—7—7—7—7—7—7—7——||—5——0—(0)—7—(7)————|


   Guitar Solo
    E E E S S +S  S E E E  7x E E E S S +S  S S S S S S S
||—————————————————————————||—————————————————————————————||
||o———————————————————————o||—————————————————————————————||
||o—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x—————0—o||—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—2—2—2—2—2—2—2—||
||——————————————————0—2————||—————————————————————————————||


   Verse
    E E E S S +S  S E E E  3x
||—————————————————————————||—|
||o———————————————————————o||—|
||o—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x—————0—o||—|
||——————————————————0—2————||—|


    E E E S S +S  S E E E  4x E E E S S +S  S S S S S S S
||—————————————————————————||—————————————————————————————|
||o———————————————————————o||—————————————————1—1—2—2—3—4—|
||o—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x———2—0—o||—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x—————————————|
||——————————————————0——————||—————————————————————————————|


 Chorus
  E E E e S S E E S S   E E E e S S E E S S   E E Q  H
|—————————————————————|—————————————————————|—————————————|
|—————4———————————————|—4———4———————————————|—————————————|
|—————————————1—2—3—4—|—————————————1—2—3—4—|—2———————————|
|—2—2———2———x—————————|———2———2———x—————————|—————————————|


  W            E. S +E  E +S  S S S S S S S  3x E. S +E  E +H
|——————————||————————————————————————————————||———————————————————||
|——————————||o——————————————————————————————o||———————————————————||
|——————————||o——————————————————————————————o||———————————————————||
|——————————||——5——0—(0)—7—(7)—7—7—7—7—7—7—7——||—5——0—(0)—7—(7)————||


   Outro
    E E E S S +S  S E E E  8x     E. S +E  E +S  S S S S S S S  3x
||—————————————————————————||—||————————————————————————————————||
||o———————————————————————o||—||o——————————————————————————————o||
||o—2—2—2—x—2—(2)—x—————0—o||—||o——————————————————————————————o||
||——————————————————0—2————||—||——5——0—(0)—7—(7)—7—7—7—7—7—7—7——||


  E. S +E  E +H       +W           +H     H
|———————————————————|————————————:—————————————*|
|———————————————————|————————————:—————————————*|
|———————————————————|————————————:—————————————*|
|—5——0—(0)—7—(7)————|—(7)————————:—(7)—————————*|




————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————


Duration Legend
———————————————
W — whole; H — half; Q — quarter; E — 8th; S — 16th; T — 32nd; X — 64th; a — acciaccatura
+ — note tied to previous; . — note dotted; .. — note double dotted
Uncapitalized letters represent notes that are staccato (1/2 duration)
Irregular groupings are notated above the duration line
Duration letters will always appear directly above the note/fret number it represents the
duration for.  Duration letters with no fret number below them represent rests.  Multi—
bar rests are notated in the form Wxn, where n is the number of bars to rest for.  Low
melody durations appear below the staff

Tablature Legend
————————————————
 h   — hammer—on
 p   — pull—off
 b   — bend
 pb  — pre—bend
 r   — bend release (if no number after the r, then release immediately)
 /  — slide into or out of (from/to "nowhere")
 s   — legato slide
 S   — shift slide
 — natural harmonic
  — artificial harmonic
n(n) — tapped harmonic
 ~   — vibrato
 tr  — trill
 T   — tap
 TP  — trem. picking
 PM  — palm muting
n/  — tremolo bar dip; n = amount to dip
 n  — tremolo bar down
 n/  — tremolo bar up
/n  — tremolo bar inverted dip
 =   — hold bend; also acts as connecting device for hammers/pulls
  — volume swell (louder/softer)
 x   — on rhythm slash represents muted slash
 o   — on rhythm slash represents single note slash

Misc Legend
———————————
 |  — bar
||  — double bar
||o — repeat start
o|| — repeat end
*|  — double bar (ending)
 :  — bar (freetime)
 $  — Segno
 &  — Coda
Tempo markers —  = BPM(8/16=s8/s16), where s8 = swing 8ths, s16 = swing 16ths

About Black Crowes

The Black Crowes are an American rock and roll band that has sold over 20 million albums. They were labeled by Melody Maker as "The Most Rock 'n' Roll Rock 'n' Roll Band in the World". In 1990, the readers of Rolling Stone voted them 'Best New American Band'. The band has opened for some of the biggest names in rock and roll history, including Heart, Robert Plant, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Dave Matthews Band and The Grateful Dead. The band is listed at number 92 on VH1's "100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock".

How to Read Bass Tabs

Bass tablature (tabs) is an easy way to learn songs without needing to read traditional sheet music. Here’s a quick guide to understanding the symbols and techniques commonly found in tabs:

1. The Basics

Strings and Frets:
Each line in a tab represents a string on your bass:
- The top line is the highest-pitched string (G on a 4-string bass).
- The bottom line is the lowest-pitched string (E on a 4-string bass).
Numbers on the lines indicate which fret to press. For example:
```
G|-------------------|

D|-------------------|

A|---3---------------|

E|-------------------|

            
```
This means you play the 3rd fret on the A string.

2. Common Techniques

Hammer-On (h):
Play the first note by picking it, then press down on a higher fret with another finger without picking again.
```
G|-------------------|

D|-------5h7---------|

            
```
Pull-Off (p):
Pluck a note and then "pull off" your finger to let a lower fret ring.
```
G|-------------------|

D|-------7p5---------|

            
```
Slide (/ or \):
Move your finger up (/) or down (\) the fretboard while maintaining pressure.
```
G|-------------------|

D|-------5/7---------|

            
```

3. Advanced Techniques

Bend (b): Push the string up or down to raise the pitch. Example: G|-------7b9---------|
Vibrato (~): Shake the string slightly after playing a note to create a vibrating sound. Example: G|-------7~----------|
Muted Notes (x): Rest your finger lightly on the string without pressing a fret and pluck for a percussive "click" sound.

4. Rhythm and Timing

Tabs don’t always indicate timing, so listen to the song while reading the tab. Wider spaces between numbers mean longer pauses, while closer numbers indicate quicker notes.

5. Slap and Pop

Slap (s): Strike the string with the side of your thumb for a percussive sound.
Pop (p): Pull the string away from the fretboard and let it snap back.

Practice Makes Perfect

Tabs are a great tool to learn songs, but mastering the techniques takes practice. Listen carefully to the original track and play along to lock in the rhythm. Don’t rush — smooth, accurate playing is more important than speed. Happy jamming! 🎸

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Black Crowes — Hard To Handle bass tabs