By: Robert Pollard Appears on: Coast To Coast Carpet Of Love When it comes to songwriting, Robert Pollard fears not running the gamut. He’s had a go at rock, pop, psych, punk, and just about everything in-between, including ballads. Today we’ll take a look at the guitar tablature for one of his truly beautiful compositions, […]
Category: tab
Lithuanian Bombshells
By: ESP Ohio Appears on: Starting Point Of The Royal Cyclopean “Lithuanian Bombshells” is definitely a top track from Starting Point Of The Royal Cyclopean for me, but it’s tough to not say that about most of the songs on this album. Robert Pollard’s songwriting is excellent throughout, and the playing by Doug Gillard, Mark […]
Moses On A Snail
By: Robert Pollard Appears on: Moses On A Snail For the guitar parts in this transcription of “Moses On A Snail,” there is really only chord strumming. There are a couple of parts that you could maybe call “riffs,” but even those are chord-based. There is some lead guitar work going on during the Todd […]
Canned Food Demon
By: Boston Spaceships Appears on: The Planets Are Blasted Whenever I sit down to transcribe a Boston Spaceships song, I like to check Chris Slusarenko’s notes that he wrote for the listening parties that were held in the GUIDED BY VOICES Facebook group way back in the summer of 2018. These notes offer some very […]
Haircut Sphinx
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Mirrored Aztec “Haircut Sphinx” is a pretty simple song to play on guitar, as there are no unconventional chord shapes; we just have power chords using the root-fifth-root octave shape. After the tablature for the main parts of the song, I’ve also included Doug Gillard’s lead fills, so you’ll […]
It’s Food
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: August By Cake On “It’s Food,” Robert Pollard uses some open string drone guitar riffs, using the open fourth string D note in conjunction with fretted notes on the third string. There is also some chord strumming involved in this song, with simple power chord shapes. You need to […]
The Rally Boys
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Zeppelin Over China “The Rally Boys” has outlasted the rest of the tracks on Zeppelin Over China by being the only one still performed live from this album. I can’t imagine this one ever leaving the set list, and in fact I think I’d be pretty disappointed if it […]
Drag Days
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Under The Bushes Under The Stars “Drag Days” is one of bonus tracks on Under The Bushes Under The Stars, although I can’t imagine hearing the album without it. There’s a pretty simple lead guitar part that runs through this song, and the chords are all standard barre shapes, […]
5° On The Inside
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: August By Cake In “5° On The Inside,” Robert Pollard gives us a pretty straightforward rock song in terms of structure, using a catchy riff in the intro, some chord strumming during the verses, and some of his two-note chords in the choruses. You need to be logged in […]
Focus On The Flock
By: Guided By Voices Appears on: Tremblers And Goggles By Rank In a recently published interview with Robert Pollard, he referred to “Focus On The Flock” as “complicated and interesting.” I’d say that sums it up pretty well; once again, Pollard has lumped together a slew of different musical ideas into a song that keeps […]
