SMALL FLOWERS CRACK CONCRETE by Sonic Youth from the NYC Ghosts & Flowers LP Tab by Chris Lawrence (silvercircle@shaw.ca) TUNINGS: Thurston: FGCFAF# w/ chisel/file under strings *** Lee: DFCDFF Kim: DADABB *** Thurston plays most of the plinky sounds you hear throughout the song, with a chisel under the strings of his guitar. Most of his playing is rhythmic, with no tones. When it was first played live (and when it was recorded, I believe), it was played on a Les Paul in FGCFAF#. On the NYC Ghosts tour, however, it was played on a Dearmond in GABDEG. Listen to the record to hear all his various rhythms and picking patterns and whatnot... LAYOUT A - B - A - B - C - D - E A SECTION 00:00-00:44 Lee starts by playing a low D note, then plays this arpeggiated riff beginning at 0:24: F------------0-----------------0------- F----------0-----------------0--------- D--------0-----0-----------0-------0--- x 2 C------0-----------------0-------0----- F----0-----------------0--------------- D--0-----------------0----------------- Thurston jams a metal file under his strings, directly over the pick-up, and plays on either side of it throughout the song. At the start he is just plucking out random arpeggios. After the line "back seats of cop cars" he rakes the strings between Lee's first two open string riffs (0:28), then after Lee's second open string pass, it sounds like there's another guitar down the middle that rakes the strings again (0:33), unless this is Lee just strumming behind the bridge of his guitar after playing his riff? Since Thurston starts picking randomly right after (off to the left). Kim lightly strums one chord in a rhythm similar to "Nevermind": B----------------------- B----------------------- A---7--7--7-7--7--7-7--- etc etc D---7--7--7-7--7--7-7--- A---0--0--0-0--0--0-0--- lift your fingers off the 7th fret so they don't sustain D---0--0--0-0--0--0-0--- The note on the 7th fret of the A string is much more prominent on live versions, on the record it almost sounds like she's playing 0070xx - she does change her part slightly live, so it's possible she's actually not hitting that note on the album. I think her part sounds less "bright" with that note in there, which might work better overall for the song. On the live video I posted, you can hear she already has the open low B string bleeding into the chord right from the start. B SECTION 00:44-01:04 Lee then plays the "Get Back" riff: F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ D---7-7-7-7-9--9\10--10-10-10-9/7-------7-------7-7-7-7-9--9\10--10-10-10-9--7-----7------- C-----------------------------------6-6---5~~------------------------------------6---5~~~-- F------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ D------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Between Lee's two "Get Back" licks, there is a left rake followed directly by a center rake. Kim strums the same chord until 1:01 when she lets the open low B string ring out: B--------------------------------- B--------------0------------------ A---7--7--7-7--7---7-7--7-7-7-7--- keep the DADA strings soft, let the B ring loud D---7--7--7-7--7---7-7--7-7-7-7--- A---0--0--0-0--0---0-0--0-0-0-0--- D---0--0--0-0--0---0-0--0-0-0-0--- A SECTION 01:04-01:24 Lee plays a variation of his arpeggiated open string riff. Thurston starts wiggling the file around, letting the strings sound naturally. Kim keeps playing her main rhythm w/ the open B included. B SECTION 01:24-01:43 Lee plays a variation of the "Get Back" riff: F----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- F----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D---7-7-7-7-9--9\10--10-10-10-9-7-------7-------7-7-7-7-9--10--10\12-----12------12------7------ C-----------------------------------6-6---5~~-------------------------10----10-9-------7---5~~-- F----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thurston keeps wiggling the file around, letting the strings sound naturally. Kim keeps playing her main rhythm w/ the open B included. C SECTION 01:44-02:03 Lee plays the "Friction" riff: F---------------------------- F---------------------------- D------0--0--0------0--0----- (staccato) C---------------------------- F------------------------0--- x 4 D---0------------0----------- Thurston is making occasional file noise during this part. Kim continues softly playing the same D chord, without the prominent B, until 2:00 when she moves to this note: B------- B---9--- A--(0)-- open string optional D------- A------- D------- D SECTION 02:03-04:04 Lee starts by playing his main "Creedence" riff, then goes off at 2:23: F------------------------------------------------------------------------------- F-------------12--12--12-----12----12-----------------12~-12~-12~--x-12b-b12r--- w/ heavy delay D---------10--------------10----10----10----------10---------------------------- C------9---------------------------------------9-------------------------------- F------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D---0---------------------------------------0----------------------------------- F----------------------------------------------------------------- F------12~12~-----12---------------12~12~--12b-12-12-12-12-r12~~-- D--------------12----12----12------------------------------------- C-----------------------12---------------------------------------- F----------------------------------------------------------------- D---0---------------------------0--------------------------------- F------------------------------------------------------------------- F------12~12~-----12---------------12~12~--12\14-14-14-14\16-16b~~-- D--------------12----12----12--------------------------------------- C-----------------------12------------------------------------------ F------------------------------------------------------------------- D---0---------------------------0----------------------------------- F---------------------------------- F---12----------------------------- this is about 3:00 in and D------12----12--------12---------- the distortion + delay makes it C---------12--------12----12-9~~--- a little hard to discern every note... F---------------------------------- D---------------------------------- so improvise around that area.... at 3:05 he starts climbing low notes w/ heavy delay then ends up back at the 12th fret: F------------------------------------------------------------ F------------------------------------------------------------ D-------------------------------15-14-12----12----12----12--- C----------------------------------------12----12----12------ F---12--14--15--16---18--19---------------------------------- D------------------------------------------------------------ at 3:18: F---16---18--19------------------------------------------------------------------- F---16---18--19------------------------------------------------------------------- D----/----/---/---------------15--14--12------------------------------------------ C------------------------------/---/---/------------------------------------------ F--------------------------------------------12--14--16br-----14--12---/---/------ D---------------------------------------------/---/---/--------/---/--10--12------ Keep trem picking last D note w/ heavy distortion/delay until the end of section, sliding back into the outro. Thurston continues doing mostly random string strikes, maybe even pick scrapes? Around 2:55 he starts striking the strings in a pretty constant rhythm as everyone else gets more intense. By 3:30 he's really going wild with it. Kim now adds the G# note on the low B string to her riff. It's the same rhythm as the rest of her part, but if you watch it live you can see she pulls off the 7th fret to strike the 9th fret, which is when I first realized the B string had to be tuned down. She could have easily gone from the 6th to 7th fret on the D string for the same effect. B---------------------------- B---------9--9--------------- A---7--7-------7--7--7-7-7--- D---7--7-------7--7--7-7-7--- A---0--0-------0--0--0-0-0--- D---0--0-------0--0--0-0-0--- As the section continues, it sounds like she might be adding the 9th fret on the A: B---------------------------- B---------9--9--------------- A---7--7--9--9-7--7--7-7-7--- D---7--7-------7--7--7-7-7--- A---0--0-------0--0--0-0-0--- D---0--0-------0--0--0-0-0--- By 3:30 things are getting pretty choppy and she gets a little inconsistent with the rhythm, trailing off a bit right as the climax breaks. E SECTION 04:04-05:12 Lee plays a harmonic version of his main "Creedence" riff: F---------------------------*12*---------------------------------*12*------------- F----------------------*12*---------------------------------*12*------------------ D-----------------*12*-----------*12*------------------*12*----------------*12*--- clean w/ delay C------------*12*---------------------------------*12*----------------*12*-------- F-------*12*---------------------------------*12*--------------------------------- D--*12*---------------------------------*12*-------------------------------------- Kim taps the strings over the pick-ups with both hands, in a typewriter motion. Thurston also taps the strings over the pick-ups with both hands. ------------------------------------------------ THE SONIC YOUTH GUITAR/BASS TABLATURE ARCHIVE: http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/tab/index.html ------------------------------------------------