STIL by Sonic Youth Tab by Chris Lawrence (silvercircle@shaw.ca) w/ historic thanx to Larsen (DoublDwn11) TUNINGS ------- Thurston: CGDGBB Lee: GGDAGA Kim: CGGDDD LAYOUT: A - B - C A SECTION 00:00-03:25 Thurston: B-----------------12b~~~~~-----12br~~~~~~~- raise + shake w/ bar B---(11~~~~~~~~~)-11----------------------- G------------------------------------------ this is just warm up noise before the main riff D------------------------------------------ G------------------------------------------ C------------------------------------------ B-------------------------------------------------------------------- B------11-13b~~~~~----11-13b-13br---11~------------------------------ G---12-------------12------------12-----12/10-10~~~------------------ D------------------------------------------------------------12b~~~~- SUPER TREBLE WAH G------------------------------------------------------12-15--------- C-------------------------------------------------------------------- At 0:39 he clicks on his Mu-Tron Wah/Vol and really takes the bite to another level. B------------------------------------------ B-----------------------*12*~~~~~---0^^^^-- w/ bar could just be pinch harmonics G------------------*12*-------------------- D---12~12~12~~~---------------------------- G------------------------------------------ C------------------------------------------ He hits that open B string around 0:50 and starts really working it with the bar, and basically just makes harsh trebley noise until 1:12 when he returns to the main riff: B------------------------------------------- B------11-13br~~~~-------------------------- G---12-------------------------------------- D---------------------------------12br~~~~~~ flick toggle back and forth, fx on/off, more noise G-------------------12-12-12--15------------ C------------------------------------------- At 1:32 begin the next melody line: B------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ B------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ D---12---9--7--5----12-12\14~~-9--7--5---7~~~5-7-\12~--9--7-5--2~~~--9-\14~~--9--7-5--7~~-- G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ B------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ B------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ D---5-7-\12~~--7-9~---2\9-7-5~~---7\12--7-9~~--2~\9-7~--9--\12~~~9--7-5~~~~9-12-14~~~9--7-5--7--- G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ B------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ B------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ D---5-7-\12~~--9-/7--5--2~~--7--\14~~~9--7-5--7----5-7-\12~-7-9~~~--5--3--\9--7--5~~\12~-7-9~~~-- G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ B------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D---2~-\9--7--9--12~~---9-12-14~-9----14-14-16/-12-9~~--\16~~14/9--7-5-\12~12~-9-12-14--9--- G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D---14-14-16/-9---\16-16-14/9---7--5--\12~~~--9--7-5~~--12-14-14-14~~~~9--7-5--7~~--5-7-\12~~--- G----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B-------------------------------------------------- B-------------------------------------------------- G-------------------------------------------------- D---9/7--5--2~~--12--14~~~~9--7-5--7----5-7-5------ G---------------------------------------------0---- C-------------------------------------------------- Lee comes in at 0:07, trem picking low chord shapes, holding each chord for a while: A----------------------------/--------------------------------- G---------------------------12--------------------------------- A---/----/----/----/----/---------/----/----/---/-----/---/---- D---7----8----7---10----7---12----7----8---10--12----/7---8---- G---7----8----7----7----7----0----7----8---10--12----/7---8---- G---7----7----7----7----7----0----7----7----7---0----/7---7---- At 1:04 there is an edit so Lee's part kinda loses its pattern. It starts again at the 7th fret, but I think it's technically the "fifth" chord rather than the start of a new repeat, since the next chord is the open G again, then it does a bit more 7/8/12. Live versions were basically just the first six shapes above repeated. At 1:34 when Thurston starts the main melody line, he begins loosely following along: A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G--------------------*7*-----------------7~~-----7\9~~--------------------------- A----------------------------*7*------------------------------9-9~~----7-7^9-7~~- D----------------*7*-----*7*----------------9~~---------7\9~~~------9~~---------- G-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G---*7*~~~~~--------------------------------------------------------------------- 2:13 A------------------------------------------------------ G------------------------------/----/----/------------- A------------------------------/----/----/----/-------- D---7-7\9~~---7/5-7------7-----7----8----7----/----0--- G--------------------------7---7----7----7----9----0--- G----------------------0-------7----7----7----7----0--- Around 2:13 he starts droning the chords like the intro, with heavy distortion and trem picking. He doesn't follow the exact same progression, but listen to hear how long he holds the chords for. Around 2:43 he releases to the open low G strings and I think he just lets the open feedback ring with assistance from various effects until the next section. Kim strums the open strings, while turning her tc electronic phaser one and off over and over: D---0-0-0-0-0-0-0--- etc D---0-0-0-0-0-0-0--- D---0-0-0-0-0-0-0--- she mostly emphasizes the D strings, but when the edit cuts at 1:04 G--(0)-------------- her low strings become much more prominent G--(0)-------------- C--(0)-------------- B SECTION 03:25-05:09 Thurston goes center: He begins by just tearing into the G chord ringing from the previous section, kicking his wah/vol into overdrive and just making noise. Around 3:46 he hits a super stinging harmonic: B---*5*~~~~~~------------------------------------------------------------------------ B----------------------11~-----11-13b-13b-13b-13b~~~13b-13b-14b-11~~~11--11---------- G-----------------11--------11-----------------------------------------11--11-10b~~~~ D------------------/----------------------------------------------------------------- G------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ C------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Okay he basically just does squealing sonic shred, no point in tabbing it specifically cuz he's just "freaking out". Get higher, push that whammy bar to its limits, lean into the wah/vol + octave fuzz. End in total meltdown leading to next section! Lee starts by basically making wild motorcycle sounds and then settles into a descending figure slowly moving from the 15th to 12th fret, with so many effects you can hardly tell what note he's actually playing sometimes: A----------------- G---15///////12--- A---15///////12--- D---15///////12--- G---15///////12--- G----/--------/--- There's lots of feedback with whammy bar infused sustain. This is basically the "freak out" section, but while Thurston keeps freaking out, Lee actually calms down ahead of the big climax, killing the distortion around 4:47 or so and just trem picking the D notes with heavy phase: A------- G------- A---/--- D---/--- G---7--- G---7--- this leads to the next section Kim goes right: D---0--- keep strumming this chord D---0--- D---0--- G------- G------- C------- During live versions, Kim would often add fretted note accents during this part. Around 4:45 I think she turns on some distortion and starts to sustain feedback from the open strings. At the end of this noise she is panned back center. C SECTION 05:09-07:27 Thurston back right: B-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D---12--9--7--5----9--12--\14---9-7--5--7----5-5-9-\12---7\9-7-5-2----9-12-\14---9--7-5--7--- G-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- C-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- B--------------------------------------------------- B--------------------------------------------------- G--------------------------------------------------- D---5-7-\12-7-9----2\9-7-5----12--5-\9----2\9-7-9--- G--------------------------------------------------- C--------------------------------------------------- At 5:43 it cuts to a different take, and on this version he includes the open G string droning through the riff. B------------------------------------------------------------------------ B------------------------------------------------------------------------ G------------------------------------------------------------------------ D---12-9-7-9---5-7----5-5--\12-7-9---2-9-7-5--5-5-5-\12-7-9----2-9-7-9--- 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--- C------------------------------------------------------------------------ B--------------------------------------------------------------- B--------------------------------------------------------------- G--------------------------------------------------------------- play variation x 4 D---12-12-9-12-\14-14-9---14-14-16/-9----16-16-14/9---7-5-5-5--- G----0--0-0--0---0--0-0----0--0--0--0-----0--0--0-0---0-0-0-0--- C--------------------------------------------------------------- During live versions he repeats this lightly til end, on the record he's playing even quieter: B-------7--- B-------0--- G---0-0----- D----------- G----------- C----------- Lee cleanly picks around the 7th fret for a bit: A-------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- G-------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- A-------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------- D---/------7-------7------- ---------7--8----------7--10----------10--10-10-8---7--- G---7----7---7---7---7----- ---7-7-7---------7-7-7---------7-7-7----------------7--- G---7----------0-------0--- ---0-0-0---------0-0-0---------0-0-0----------------0--- A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- G-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- D---10-10-9---------------------------9--7-9-9-9---9--------7--7\8-8-----8---8-----7--- G----7--7-7----7^9-9----9-9-9-9-7-7-7-9--7-9-9-9---9---7---------------7---7---7^9-7--- G----0--0-0----0---0----0-------------0--0-0-0-0---0---0---------------------------0--- That ends at 5:43, where there's a huge cut. Lee drops out here, returning at 5:59 with a slide riff: A-------------------- G-------------------- x 4 A-------------------- D---15-----15//12---- w/ delay, phaser, etc G-------------------- G-------------------- Then he starts playing the low G strings with heavy reverb/delay and of course, phaser. He may switch to 5th string harmonics for a moment, or that could be the Bi-Phase going nuts. At 7:00 he does one last hint of the melody: A----------------------- G----------------------- A---9---7--------------- D-----------9---7---5--- G----------------------- G----------------------- Kim back center: D---12--- D---12--- D---12--- G-------- G-------- C-------- Around 5:48 she goes back to open D strings. Then maybe something like this towards the very end: D---12--- D---12--- D----0--- G-------- G-------- C-------- Last updated: 08/28/24 ------------------------------------------------ THE SONIC YOUTH GUITAR/BASS TABLATURE ARCHIVE: http://www.sonicyouth.com/mustang/tab/index.html ------------------------------------------------