FREE CITY RHYMES tabbed by Chris Lawrence (mustang@islandnet.com) Tunings: T - CGDGBB L - *** K - DGDDBB *** -- lee plays a 12-string electric guitar with only 10 strings on it. they are tuned as follows, from low to high: C (one string) G (one string) C/C octave higher (set of 2 strings) C/C octave higher (set of 2 strings) G/G octave higher (set of 2 strings) A#/C (set of 2 strings) I'm not 100% positive that the G string is doubled an octave higher, it might be in unison. So could the Cs, for all I know... I've tried to tab the song in a way that works on a 6-string guitar tuned to CGCCGC. During the intro Thurston wedges a drumstick between the neck and the nearest pick-up. He plays the strings over the pickups to get the plinky sounds, while manipulating them with the drumstick for subtle changes in pitch. It's pretty basic to listen to the record (though I'd recommend a live version) and get the general rhythm of it. Here's a rough guideline worked out by Ellis (Ellisd76@aol.com): for the beginning part of the song, Thurston plays this: B---------------------------------- B---------------------------------- G-----------------0---------------- D----------0----------0------------ G-----0-------0-----------0-------- C-0----------------------------0--- Then, he starts to hit the high B strings: B--------------------------------------------------------------------- B----------------------------------------------------0---------------- G-------------------0-----------------------------------0------------- D------------0---------0--------------------0--------------0---------- G-------0-------0---------0-----------0--------0---------------------- C---0------------------------------0---------------------------------- He plays this two or three times, then: B-----------------------------------------000000000000------ B---------------------0-------------------000000000000------ G-------------------------0-------0------------------------- D-------------0---------------0----------------------------- G--------0-------0------------------------------------------ C----0------------------------------------------------------ During Lee's interlude, Thurston removes the drumstick. Thurston verse: B--0-10-7--7-7-7-7-7-7-- B--0-10-7--7-7-7-7-7-7-- G--0--0-0--0-0-0-0-0-0-- D--0-------0-0-0-0-0-0-- G--7-------7-7-7-7-7-7-- C--7-------7-7-7-7-7-7-- After verse ends, Thurston moves up to: B--20-20-20-20-20-20-20-20-- B--20-20-20-20-20-20-20-20-- etc G--------------------------- D--------------------------- G--------------------------- C--------------------------- then: B--12-12-12--------------------------- B--12-12-12-----------*12*------*12*-- G-----------*12*-*12*------*12*------- D------------------------------------- G------------------------------------- C------------------------------------- then: B--0-0-0-3----0-0-0-3-- B--0-0-0-3----0-0-0-3-- G---------------------- D---------------------- G---------------------- C---------------------- Then he begins hitting harmonics all across the 7th fret. After this, he returns to the verse riff for the second verse. Kim sticks to her verse riff during this section. After the 2nd verse he plays the same things he played after the first verse. then for the atonal part, thrash out a chord similar to this: B--0-- B--1-- G--2-- D--2-- G--2-- C--2-- bang that out for a while, explode into an improvisational fury of noise, slide that drumstick back in there and return to the intro riff.... and that's about it. Kim's intro is as follows: B----------------------------- B----------------------------- D--------17-17---------17-17-- D--------17-17---------17-17-- G--17-17--------17-17--------- D----------------------------- she changes to: B-------------------- B-------------------- D------7-7------7-7-- D------7-7------7-7-- G--7-7------7-7------ D-------------------- and repeat. Verse: Kim opens with this riff: B--------------5--------------5------------5------------5---- B--------------5--------------5------------5------------5---- D--5-5-5-0-0-0-0-0-4-5-5-5-4--0-4-5-5-5-4--0-4-5-5-5-4--0-4-- D--5-5-5-0-0-0-0-0-4-5-5-5-4--0-4-5-5-5-4--0-4-5-5-5-4--0-4-- G--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0-0-0--0-0-- D------------------------------------------------------------ etc.. keep jamming that... the repeated riff is basically: B--------------5-------- B--------------5-------- D--5-5-5-4-4-4-0-0-4---- it's fairly simple to get the rhythm down. D--5-5-5-4-4-4-0-0-4---- G--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-- D----------------------- During the instrumental between the 2 verses, Kim keeps playing variations on the above riff. During the heavier part, she plays: B------------- B------------- D--0-0-0-0-0-- D--0-0-0-0-0-- G--7-7-7-7-7-- D--0-0-0-0-0-- etc until the outro, which is just a recreation of the intro. LEE's part: During the initial intro, Lee plays pick scrapes w/ delay and modulation. After a while he begins playing something like this: C--------0----------0--------2-- G------0---0----0---------0----- C----2------------2---2--------- C--2----------2----------2------ G--------------------0---------- C------------------------------- Honestly, it's pretty difficult to distinguish Lee's part on the LP. He plays with a lot of delay and dreamy effects, and the mix is a little awkward for picking things out. I've seen .this song live many times and he seems to be doing a lot of improvising within an obvious key.. around the Cs, Gs, etc. Also, the 10-string gtr is a pretty essential aspect of the sound. The verse is pretty cloudy, try improvising around what I've already tabbed... basically in G / C. After the first verse, at 3:13, he plays something like: C-------------9--6-------11-11-12-12\14-12-11- G------------------7-------------------------- C--------------------------------------------- C--------------------------------------------- G--5--4--------------------------------------- C--------------------------------------------- and variations on those sort of scales.... w/ harmonics... honestly though, because of the 10-string and all the effects, i'm going to more or less leave it up to you to work out what sounds best. for the explosive part, a chord like this works: C--0-- G--0-- C--2-- C--2-- G--2-- C--2-- then just chaos.. back to the intro, of course.. more weird noises, then arpeggiate a chord like this: C--0-- G--2-- C--2-- C--2-- G----- C----- and there ya go.. sort of. i'll be the first to admit that this is a rather bare bones interpretation of it, but it's better than nothing. ------------------------------------------------ THE SONIC YOUTH GUITAR/BASS TABLATURE ARCHIVE: http://www.islandnet.com/~mustang/tab/index.html ------------------------------------------------