MY ARENA by Sonic Youth tab by Chris Lawrence (silvercircle@shaw.ca) TUNINGS: Kim: DADABB (?) Thurston: F#F#F#F#EB (?) Lee: AF#EF#EB A SECTION 00:00-01:04 Thurston's verse riff: B--------- E--------- Thurston starts by playing the third fret during "pass me a joint" F#-------- but quickly reduces his part to just strumming muted strings F#-------- for the duration of section A F#---3-3-- F#---3-3-- as the verses go on he starts playing sharp muted harmonics Lee's verse riff: B---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- E---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- F#--7-7---8----7-7---8----7-7---8----7-7---8----9-9---10----6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-- play 3 times E-------5----------5----------5----------5----------7------------------------------ F#----------------------------------------------------------6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-- A---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ E------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ F#------------------------------------------------------------------------6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-- E------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ F#----------4-4-4-----------4-4-4----------4-4-4---------4-4-4------6-----6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-6-- A---4-4-0-5---------4-4-0-5---------4-0-5---------4-0-5-----------7---8-------------------------- Kim's verse riff: B------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- x 4 D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A---------------------------------------------------10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-- D----------8-8-8------8-8-8-----8-8-8-----8-8-8-----10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-10-- B SECTION 01:04-01:55 Kim plays something like this, not as much emphasis on the lower notes: B------------------------- B------------------------- A----7-7-7-0---5-5-5-0---- D----7-7-7-0---5-5-5-0---- A----7-7-7-0---5-5-5-0---- D------------------------- Thurston comes in playing these notes. It sounds like he's kind of sliding into the higher notes and muting them right away, staccato like... B----------------------- E----------------------- F#---------------------- F#---------------------- F#----10---3----8---3--- F#----10---3----8---3--- Lee plays something like this for his solo: B--------------------------------------------------------------------------- E------------------------------------------------------22------------------- F#---22~~---22-22-22-22~----------------------------22--------22----22------ E------------------------22-22~~---22-22-20~~-20-20--------22----22----22--- F#-------------------------------------------------------------------------- A--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1:21 B----19-19-------19--19----------------------------------------------------- E----------22-----------22--22-22-22--20^22-22br---18~---------------------- F#-----------------------------------------------------18------------------- E---------------------------------------------------------17--17~17~17~----- F#-------------------------------------------------------------------------- A--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1:29 B--------------------------------------------------------------------------- E--------------------------------------------------------------------------- F#-13-------------------13----------------------13\15---18~----18-20br--\22- E----------------------------------------------------------17--------------- F#-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13-13\15----------------------- A--------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1:38 B-------------------------------------------19-19~--------------19-20-19--------------- E--------------------------22~~--22-22-22---------22~~22-22-22-----------22~-22-22-22-- F#--22------------22br--22------------------------------------------------------------- E------21br-21br----------------------------------------------------------------------- F#------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1:46 B---------------------------------------------------------------------------- E---------------------------------------------------------------------------- F#------20-22-20------20-------------------------------------18---18-18-18~~- E---20~~-----------20----17--17-17-17---15~-17-15-17---17-15----------------- F#--------------------------------------------------------------------------- A---------------------------------------------------------------------------- That's approximate at best - it sounds like an improvised solo to begin with and not one I'm particularly concerned with replicating that accurately. A SECTION 01:55-02:18 For the last verse, Lee and Kim play the same riffs they started with, but Thurston switches to harmonics instead of mutes: B---------------------------------------- E---------------------------------------- F#--------------------------------------- F#--------------------------------------- F#-----10-------------------------------- F#-----10-----*3*-*3*-*3*---*3*-*3*-*3*-- etc w/ 3rd fret harmonics These are the same harmonics you can get at the 7th fret of the middle F# strings, but I think they sound heavier and chunkier so he's probably playing them on the low strings. "pass me a vacuum": B------7----- E------7----- F#-----6----- F#-----6----- F#----------- F#----------- text + tab by Chris Lawrence special thanks to gavin last updated: 04/20/22 ------------------------------------------------ THE SONIC YOUTH GUITAR/BASS TABLATURE ARCHIVE: http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/tab/index.html ------------------------------------------------