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Tonight’s The Rodeo

By: Robert Pollard Appears on: Blazing Gentlemen For Robert Pollard’s 66th birthday I’ve decided to tab out “Tonight’s The Rodeo” from the Blazing Gentlemen album. Todd Tobias recorded some tasteful lead parts that aren’t too difficult to play on guitar, which are included in this transcription. You need to be logged in to view the […]

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Flunky Minnows

By: Guided By Voices Appears on: English Little League The majority of the guitar work in “Flunky Minnows” relies on Robert Pollard’s guitar technique that I refer to as “open string drone.” He’s playing notes on the sixth string (both fretted and open) and keeping the open fifth string ringing out at the same time […]

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For The Home

By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Nowhere To Go But Up The main riff in “For The Home” features a type of guitar arpeggio that’s used less frequently in Robert Pollard’s arsenal. His typical arpeggio includes a fretted note (most commonly as the lowest note) followed by two open strings (most commonly the next two […]

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Timing Voice

By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Strut Of Kings “Timing Voice” has become one of the Strut Of Kings songs to make it to the live set, which should come as no surprise. It’s definitely one of the rockingest songs on the album, with a terrific riff that’s pretty simple to nail down on guitar.

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This Will Go On

By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Strut Of Kings When I published the tablature post for “Bit Of A Crunch,” I mentioned how it had already become one of my favorite Robert Pollard compositions to include guitar arpeggios. It was definitely remiss of me to not also mention “This Will Go On” from the same […]

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Leaving Umbrella

By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Strut Of Kings Certain elements of “Leaving Umbrella”—specifically the effect on Robert Pollard’s vocals and Doug Gillard’s tone on the brief lead guitar part—remind me of early Guided By Voices recordings. I don’t know if it’s any song in particular, but it just makes me think of those early […]

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Dear Onion

By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Strut Of Kings Track 2 on Strut Of Kings is “Dear Onion,” a song that represents a style of song I hope Robert Pollard never stops writing: less than two minutes long with a hooky chorus, crunchy guitar chords, and a driving rhythm. (Of course, I hope he just […]

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