NOTE: The L/R Margins for this tab should be .3" L/R!
Tool — "Forty Six and Two" for Bass (plus rhythmic explanations)
Notes: I've spaced the measures so that the correct number of dashes appear, but sometimes
notating strings on double—digit frets takes up too much space in the line, so in those
cases I have simply extended the scale of the fret—board. For example on the first riff,
I have 4 dashes per beat, but tabbing "12p11" took too much space, so for that riff I have
6 dashes per beat. The counting line should still be accurate.
Timing is indicated below the fret—board. I've used "a" (and) to represent the 1/8th
notes, so counting typically sounds like "one—and—two—and—three—and..." although
saying every "and" isn't necessary. All the notes should match up to the count. One thing
to watch out for is counting the seventh beat. Since the word "seven" has two syllables,
you have to be careful to count the seven quickly, or just say "sev." Other than that,
the parts flow easily after you've mastered the main rhythms. The toughest parts are
the "stop—and—start" accents at the end of the choruses, and of course counting during
the drum solo's rapid—fire triplets.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Opening Riff (Riff A) (12 Bars) — This riff consists of 3 bars of eight beats ending on
3h5, and a 4th bar which includes the 12p11 and 8p7. This set of 4 bars repeats three times,
making for a total section of 12 bars of straight eight time. On the fifth bar of the phrase,
the guitar begins with the subtle palm—muted part, and the drums come in with a very quiet
cymbal part, which both continue through bar 12.
|——————————————————————————————Play—entire—thing—3—times—————————————————————————————|
g ————7—————5h7———8p7———5h7———3h5— g ——————7————————5—h7—————8p7——————12p11————8p—7
d 0———————0—————0—————0—————0————— d 0———————————0————————0————————0———————————————
a ———————————————————————————————— a ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d ———————————————————————————————— d ——————————————————————————————————————————————
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a 1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|—————————Play—3—times———————————| |—————————————————Play—1—time——————————————————|
Tips: There are 5 hits on the open D string per bar, and it helps to know where they fall
when counting it. Think of it like this, with "0" meaning an open D string note:
1—and—2—and—3—and—4—and—5—and—6—and—7—and—8—and
0 0 0 0 0
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Riff B |0:36| (2 bars) — This riff starts on beat one of the 13th bar. It ends up being only
two bars, the first 7 beats and the second 8 (because of the added 8h10). During this riff
there is a cymbal roll which lasts through both bars. The guitar part is the same for this
riff.
g ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
d 12————10————13p12—0——12————10————13p12—0——12————10————13p12—0——12————10————13p12—0——8h10
a ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
d ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|—————————————————7—bar——————————————————||—————————————————8—bar————————————————————————|
Note: Be prepared to go right back to Riff A as soon as you hit the 8h10, it happens fast.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Next Page: Pre—Chorus (Riff A)
Pre—Chorus (Riff A)(0:42) — Now back to the beginning riff for 24 bars of eight beats.
This part sets the tone before the aggressive chorus begins. Again, the 12pll variation
appears in this section. I like to think about this section divided up into six parts,
each containing four bars for a total of 24 bars. Listen for the Kick—Drum. It hits on
beat 2 for the first four bars, then shifts to beats 1 AND 2 until bar 16. Then a low tom comes
in on the "and" of beat 8, still with the same kick drum.
|——————————————————————————————Play—entire—thing—6—times————————————————————————————|
g ————7—————5h7———8p7———5h7———3h5 g ——————7————————5—h7—————8p7——————12p11————8p—7
d 0———————0—————0—————0—————0———— d 0———————————0————————0————————0———————————————
a ——————————————————————————————— a ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d ——————————————————————————————— d ——————————————————————————————————————————————
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a 1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|—————————Play—3—times——————————| |—————————————————Play—1—time——————————————————|
Note: The 3rd bar seems to be a chord change, probably 3rd fret instead of open for one
bar.
Note: On the ninth bar, 2nd four—bar section, I think the 12p11 is actually just played
as 8p7. Note: The last bar of this section contains an aggressive drum fill, so feel free
to add/subtract/improvise notes.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
1st Chorus (Riff A2) (1:55) (8 bars) — This is where things start getting heavy. I call
it Riff A2 because it's basically just riff A moved down to the low D string.
g ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d ——————————————————————————————————————————————
a ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d 0—————12————0——10h12—0——13p12—0——10h12————8h—10
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|————————————————play—4—times——————————————————|
This gets us to halfway through the chorus. At this point, the guitar gets a little heavier
sounding (possibly strumming more strings). The bass switches to the following riff
for the last half of the chorus. The riff is played 4 times, but the 4th time, the drums
stop and only the accents get hit. The last note is skipped, which would have landed on
the "and" of beat 7. He also leaves off the muted notes.
g ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d ——————————————————————————————————————————————
a 5———————————5————————5————————5————————5——————
d 0—————x—————0——x—————0——x—————0——x—————0——x———
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|————————————————play—3—times——————————————————|
"Must.....guess.....again......"
g ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d ——————————————————————————————————————————————
a 5———————————5————————5————————5———————————————
d 0———————————0————————0————————0———————————————
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|——————————————————play—once———————————————————|
Next Page: Bridge A
Bridge A (2:19)(4 bars) — This section opens things up a bit, with the guitars panning
out L&R and the addition of the ride cymbal. The bass riff is simpler, allowing the guitar's
version of Riff A2 to stand out. Notice how the open D string accents sync up directly
with the Kick Drum. Also, there is some space at the end of both bars which could be open
to interpretation. The riff is 2 bars long.
g ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
d ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
a ————————————5———————————————————————5———————————————————————5——————————————3———————————————
d 0—————0————————0—————0—————0—————0——————————————0—————0————————0—————3—————————————————————
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a 1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8
|——————————————————————————————————————Play—Twice———————————————————————————————————————————|
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
2nd Pre—Chorus (2:31)(12 bars) — This time, the pre—chorus starts out with the familiar
Riff A2 for 4 bars, along with the guitar. The remaining 8 bars are different and apparently
nobody can figure it out. Some people say he is playing it up high on the A and D strings.
This part may have to be improvised. Otherwise play around with this (riff A2) and try
to work in the chord changes.
g ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d ——————————————————————————————————————————————
a ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d 0—————12————0——10h12—0——13p12—0——10h12————8h—10
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|————————————————play—4—times——————————————————|
The 8 remaining bars....need to be figured out. All I can really hypothesize is that
bar 5 will be D, bar 6 will be on the 3rd fret, and bar 7 will be on the 5th fret.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
2nd Chorus (3:07)(8 bars) — Same as first chorus
g ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d ——————————————————————————————————————————————
a ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d 0—————12————0——10h12—0——13p12—0——10h12————8h—10
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|————————————————play—4—times——————————————————|
g ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d ——————————————————————————————————————————————
a 5———————————5————————5————————5————————5——————
d 0—————x—————0——x—————0——x—————0——x—————0——x———
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|————————————————play—3—times——————————————————|
g ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d ——————————————————————————————————————————————
a 5———————————5————————5————————5——————————————— (All instruments in sync)
d 0———————————0————————0————————0———————————————
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|——————————————————play—once———————————————————|
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Riff C — Pre—Solo Section build—up (3:30)(8 bars) — Another new riff starts this section,
which leads into the single string guitar solo, and eventually into Bridge B. The first
4 bars will be just Maynard Vocals, and then the guitar solo starts.
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
g ———————————————————————————————
d ———————————————————————————————
a ———————————————————————————————
d 5h7—0—0—3h5—0—5h7—0—3h5—5h7—0—0
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|————————Play—eight—times———————|
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Bridge B (3:53)(4 Bars) — This section contains a great vocal hook from Maynard. Watch
out for the big drum fill in the 4th bar.
g ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d ——————————————————————————————————————————————
a ——————————————————————————————3—————3—————3——5
d 0—————0——0——10——————3—————3———————————3——————
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|————————————————Play—Four—times———————————————|
Drum Fill 4th bar (Just for reference)
d ————S—————T—t—————S——C————————————————————————
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Drum Solo Section (4:05) — The apex of the song. The back—beat for the drum solo kicks
in right away, coming out of Bridge B as Maynard sings, "What it takes to step through..,"
with the word "through" being beat 1 of the Drum Solo Section. The riff is a flashback
to riff B from the intro. Only this time, your going to have to alternate between bars
of 7 and 8 several times. Here are the patterns again:
g ————————————————————————————————————————— ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d 12————10————13p12—0——12————10————13p12—0— 12————10————13p12—0——12————10————13p12—0——8h10
a ————————————————————————————————————————— ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d ————————————————————————————————————————— ——————————————————————————————————————————————
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|—————————————————7—bar——————————————————| |—————————————————8—bar————————————————————————|
The bars are arranged like this: 7 7 7 8 7 7 7 8 7 7 7 7 7 8 7 7 7 7 7 7
"Three—Eight.Three—Eight.Five—Eight....Seven."
To remember that pattern, say the words underneath the numbers to yourself, whereas
the Three—Eight means 3 bars of seven and then one of eight. You know there are two of those,
then Five—Eight, and then just say seven because it stays in 7/8 for six more bars until
the drum fill. It sounds like a phone number if you speak it in time, so that makes it a bit
easier.
Next Page: Drum Solo Section (Continued)Drum Solo Section (Continued)
Then as soon as those bars are completed, the most intense drum—fill of the song begins
(5:00). You could continue to count it in 7/8 time, and it would last a full two bars. But
there is an easier way to follow along with the triplets on the toms. Instead of using
7, look below and you can see how 4 groups of six, plus the two leftover notes, bring us
out in the same place. Having the last two notes counted normally works well because
the last set of tom—tom triplets is the 3...4...5 (or the 4th set of sixes).
Counted in 7: |1....2....3....4....5....6....7....1....2....3....4....5....6....7|
Counted in 6: |1 2 3 4 5 6....1 2 3 4 5 6....1 2 3 4 5 6....1 2 3 4 5 6....1....2|
Outro Verse: (7 7 7 7 7 7 7 8) Seven bars of 7, one bar of 8
This is another part where it's difficult to hear the placement of the notes. Although
It shows just the down—beats here, I'm sure there is more going on. Try to match up the
accents to the drums, and be mindful that the last bar is *eight* not seven.
"See..my..Shadow..Changing" "Stretchin up and over me..."
g ———————————————————————————————————————— | ————————————————————————————————————————
d ———————————————————————————————————————— | ————————————————————————————————————————
a 5—————5—————5—————5—————5—————5—————5——— | 8—————8—————8—————8—————8—————8—————8———
d 0—————0—————0—————0—————0—————0—————0——— | 8—————8—————8—————8—————8—————8—————8———
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a
"Soften this old armor..." "Hoping I can clear the Way.....by...."
g ———————————————————————————————————————— | ————————————————————————————————————————
d ———————————————————————————————————————— | ————————————————————————————————————————
a 5—————5—————5—————5—————5—————5—————5——— | 3—————3—————3—————3—————3——/——5—————5———
d 0—————0—————0—————0—————0—————0—————0——— | 3—————3—————3—————3—————3——/——5—————5———
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a
"Stepping through my shadow...." "Coming out the other side...."
g ———————————————————————————————————————— | ————————————————————————————————————————
d ———————————————————————————————————————— | ————————————————————————————————————————
a 5—————5—————5—————5—————5—————5—————5——— | 8—————8—————8—————8—————8—————8—————8———
d 0—————0—————0—————0—————0—————0—————0——— | 8—————8—————8—————8—————8—————8—————8———
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a
"Step into the shadow...." "Forty Six & Two are just ahead of me."
g ———————————————————————————————————————— | ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d ———————————————————————————————————————— | ——————————————————————————————————————————————
a 5—————5—————5—————5—————5—————5—————5——— | 3——3—————3—————3—————3—/5—————5—————5——5——5——5
d 0—————0—————0—————0—————0—————0—————0——— | 3——3—————3—————3—————3—/5—————5—————5——5——5——5
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
Next page: Final Bridge A (pre—ending)
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Bridge A (4 bars) — Back to the bridge again before the ending. Except this time, the last
bar is different.
g ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
d ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
a ————————————5———————————————————————5———————————————————————5——————————————3———————————————
d 0—————0————————0—————0—————0—————0——————————————0—————0————————0—————3—————————————————————
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a 1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8
|——————————————————————————————————————Play—Once———————————————————————————————————————————|
g ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
d —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————3—————————————————————
a ————————————5———————————————————————5——————————————————————————————————————————————————————
d 0—————0————————0—————0—————0—————0——————————————12————10————13p12——————————10————12————1———
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a 1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8
|——————————————————————————————————————Play—Once———————————————————————————————————————————|
Ending:
g ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d ——————————————————————————————————————————————
a 5———————————5————————5————————5————————5—————— (Guitar playing Riff A2) (5:39)
d 0—————x—————0——x—————0——x—————0——x—————0——x———
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|——————————————play—three times————————————————|
g ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d ——————————————————————————————————————————————
a 5———————————5————————5————————5————————5—————— (All instruments in sync) (5:48)
d 0—————x—————0——x—————0——x—————0——x—————0——x——— (Careful! Only hit the "1" beat 3 times here)
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|——————————————play—three times————————————————|
g ——————————————————————————————————————————————
d ——————————————————————————————————————————————
a 5———————————5————————5————————5——————————————— (Same but last beat is dropped) (5:57)
d 0—————x—————0——x—————0——x—————0——x————————————
1 a 2 a 3 a 4 a 5 a 6 a 7 a 8 a
|—————————————————play—once————————————————————|
Thats it!
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:
Each line in a tab represents a string on your 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.
Play the first note by picking it, then press down on a higher fret with another finger without picking again.
G|-------------------|
D|-------5h7---------|
Pluck a note and then "pull off" your finger to let a lower fret ring.
G|-------------------|
D|-------7p5---------|
Move your finger up (/) or down (\) the fretboard while maintaining pressure.
G|-------------------|
D|-------5/7---------|
G|-------7b9---------|G|-------7~----------|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.
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! 🎸
Comments
Report this comment
Quote
Report this comment
Quote
Post a comment