Acoustic Tabs

[ylimeU2]

"How to play electric numbers acoustic"

Silenus has, what I think is a great idea. How about posting any acoustic tabs you have for any U2 song, for those of us with acoustic guitars?

 

[silenus]

Thanks for your support "ylimeU2"...
I' ll kick off with this very good part of Bad I've got from the net:

(tune 1/2 step down)

e---0---0---0---0---0----------------------0----------------
b-2---2---2---2---2---2---3---3---3---3-------3---3-----
g-----------------------2---2---2---2---2-------2-----------
d--------------------------------------------------------------
a--------------------------------------------------------------
e--------------------------------------------------------------

 

[OnFire]

Sounds like a great idea, I find a little narrative helps too, especially for us non-musician type newbies who have a hard time reading raw tab and making sense of it (I've been playing approx 2 years). I'm finding some U2 songs that are not acoustic work well unplugged and others I think will sound good end up sounding too thin.

Here's one that I like playing unplugged alot, the nice thing about it is even non-U2 fans know it and can sing along.

Desire: note-the chords aren't tough but getting the hang of the strumming rhythm can be so I'll include that.

Open by wailing away on a D chord, you want to keep your wrist loose so don't put a death grip on your pick. (This is before Bono goes "Yeah").

Verse: D (two down strums), A (2 upstrums), E (down,up), A (1 down), E (1 down).

Looks pretty easy on paper doesn't it? Well if your an uncoordinated caucasian like me it might take some work (my guitar teacher wrote "don't be so white!" on my tab book). The two upstrum A chords felt a bit unnatural to me at first but with practice you'll get it eventually. Also, to do the quick E-A-E change, try keeping the E chord shape and buckling your ring and middle finger down on the D,G&B strings to get the A chord, I find it's the only way to do it quick enough.

The rest is a piece of cake, the bridge (lyrics- burning, burning) is just D,A,D,E with a more natural up&down strumming pattern. For the last verse (lyrics- she's the dollars, etc...) I just make a F# chord shape directly on top of the second fret and strum to the rhythm of Larry's beat (ie- you don't want an actual F# chord, just muted strums to the beat).

It ends with the same chord progression as the verse and if you can find someone who can jam out on a harmonica, look out!

This post is probably a bit longer than I thought but I hope it helps. Great song for building up your rhythm chops.

 

[ylimeU2]

That's really good advice. And I don't think it is too long. I think you've explained everything very well, especially for beginners like myself. Sometimes I need that extra help.

 

[silenus]

Same with me...
and indeed the A E A E switching
is the hardest part of it.
Thanks

 

[OnFire]

Thanks,

When I have some time, I'll try to thow my "Stay" tab up here(acoustic version from Boston Elevation). It's probably the U2 song I've been playing the most for the past couple of months.

 

[discothequeLP]

A note on Desire-


Don't just play the regular D chord. Always keep the high E string open! It sounds so much better and is easier to play.



And on Stay, there's this one chord that looks like this:


e |0
B |0
G |1
D |2
A |x
E |4


That you play appregio (well, almost appregio, the way Edge plays all the other chords). I used to think a barred F was hard! This chord is pretty tough to play.

 

[OnFire]

And on Stay, there's this one chord that looks like this:


e |0
B |0
G |1
D |2
A |x
E |4


That you play appregio (well, almost appregio, the way Edge plays all the other chords). I used to think a barred F was hard! This chord is pretty tough to play.

Yeah, that's a pretty stretchy chord, I find the key is to lead with the pinky and get that pinky on the fourth fret down first. The other part that's kinda tricky is getting a good hammer on with the pinky just before this part. It wouldn't be as much fun if it was all easy stuff though.

Thanks for the tip for playing the D chord on Desire, I'll have to try that.

 

[Strato Edge]

Desire chords are slighty wrong it's:

D, A, E, Esus4, E tuned down one half step

 

[silenus]

Thanks Strato Edge
Is Esus4 like this (or am I wrong)?

0
0
2
2
2
0

If so, it seems also a bit easier to play

 

[silenus]

P.S.: Anybody got (an idea of) the chords for an acoustic "So Cruel".
Kinda "Hershey Tapes" version (love that song...)
Thanks and Joy to all

 

[OnFire]

Interesting,

I've been playing around with Desire tonight using Esus4 and Dsus4 as StratoEdge and discothequeLP suggested.

The Esus4 sounds almost identical to the way I've been playing the A by rolling my ring and middle fingers down. I think I like my way a bit better only because I'm used to it and I can mute the B string (then again, maybe it's just because I'm used to that sound). The Dsus4 didn't sound right to me on the main riff but sounds better at the bridge (the "burning, burning" part).

Always good to experiment with what your doing though, thanks for the suggestions. I'm to lazy to bother tuning down a half step though (acoustic Stay is also 1/2 step down, but I usually play it in standard tuning).

 

[Strato Edge]

The Esus4 chord is the chord to use.

And there is no Dsus4 in the song, it's just plain ole D

 

[silenus]

Anybody knows how to play "So Cruel" acoustic (like on the Hershey tapes) ???
Joy to all

 

[OnFire]

Sorry Silenus, I wasn't ignoring you just not farmiliar with that version of So Cruel. I presume the version on the Guitar Archive is the AB version. You might do a search of the message board (there's a link to it in the archive). Good luck.

 

[silenus]

Thanks Onfire but I think the chords are (a bit) different on this one...
Talking about the one on
http://www.u2theendoftheworld.co.uk/
>>>downloads>>>Achtung Baby Live>>>nr.6
If someone can help me out with the chords in the first verses, I would be happy .