Copyright 2009 Ian Marquis, all rights reserved.
Tuning: Standard, full step down - D G C F A D
Tone: Clean, Heavy Distortion
The main phrase of Bleed Dry is based on D and E chord shapes.
In full-step-down, that's C and D. The first part of the song
begins with two guitars. One alternates between two chords:
|--0----0--|
|--3----0--|
|--2----0--|
|--0----2--|
|--0----2--|
|-------0--|
The second guitar plays two arpeggios, each going with one
of the chords, like this:
|--------0--------0--------------------------------------|
|------3--------3----3-----------------------------------|
|----2--------2--------2--------0-------------0----------|
|--0---------0----------------2----2--------2----2-------|
|---------------------------2---------2---2---------2----|
|-------------------------0-------------0-------------0--|
Then, a third guitar comes crashing in:
|--0--|
|--3--| This chord holds until
|--2--| it fadess out of
|--0--| the mix.
|--0--|
|--X--|
A fourth guitar creeps in on the other channel, playing this:
|--X-X-0------------------|
|--X-X-3---3/5-5---5\3-3--| Repeat
|--X-X-2---2/4-4---4\2-2--| throughout
|--X-X-0------------------|
|--X-X--------------------|
|--X-X--------------------|
The third guitar fades out, but the fourth continues. Then,
the other guitar returns, first playing the following:
|--------|
|--0-----| That first "chord" is a mistake,
|--0-----| but I left it in because I liked
|--X--2--| how raw it sounded.
|-----2--|
|-----0--|
Now, that guitar settles into a more predictable rhythm:
|-----0-----------------------------------------|
|-----3-----------------------------------------|
|--XX-2---2-XX----------------------------------|
|--XX-0---0-XX-2-----2-----2---2-----2-----2-X--|
|--XX-0---0-XX-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-X--|
|--XX-X-----XX-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-X--|
m m m m m m m m m
|--0----0---0-----0-0-----|
|--3----3---3-----3-3-----| This guitar mixes it up
|--2-XX-2---2--XX-2-2-----| quite a bit, but it's always
|--0-XX-0---0--XX-0-0--2--| on those two chords, and
|--0-XX-0---0--XX-0-0--2--| always following the rhythm.
|--X-XX-X---X--XX-X-X--0--|
At this point, we've got all four guitar playing at the same
time - this continues until the next section of the song.
Here, we've got two main guitars. The "lead" guitar plays
this riff, like so:
|---------------------------------------------------------|
|--3/5-5-----5-----5/6-6-----6-----6/8-8-----10---10-8----|
|--2/4---4-4---4-4-------5-5---5-5-------7-7----7------7--|
|---------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------|
|--8-----10---10-8-\5-----5-----5/8-8-----10---10-8----|
|----7-7----7------\--4-4---4-4-------7-7----7------7--|
|------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|
|--\3-----3----5---3-----3----3--| This is just a D shape,
|--\--2-2----2---2---2-2----2----| and it's easy to hold.
|--------------------------------| Repeat this section 2x.
|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|
While the lead is playing, another guitar holds down the
chords, keeping in time:
|-------------------|-----------------0--|
|-------------------|-----------------3--|
|-------------------|-----------------2--|
|--2-----2-----2----|--3--5--5--2--5--0--|
|--2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2--|--3--5--5--2--5--0--|
|--0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--|--1--3--3--0--3--X--|
m m m m m
In the above riff, following the rhythm outlined in the
first section, play through the chords in the second section,
playing one set of the rhythm for each chord listed. This
section repeats twice with the lead riff.
Then, during that same section, we have a third guitar that
plays the following:
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|--9--9/10-10---10/12-12---12-XXXX-12-XX-12\9-9--|
|--9--9/10-10---10/12-12---12-XXXX-12-XX-12\9-9--|
|--7--7/8--8----8//10-10---10-XXXX-10-XX-10\7-7--|
|------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------|
|-----------------------|
|--9/12-12--12/14-\7-7--| Of course,
|--9/12-12--12/14-\7-7--| play 2x.
|--7/10-10--10/12-\5-5--|
|-----------------------|
When we get back into the second "verse", things change
up a little. The underlying arrangement is the same, but
the guitars are doing something a little different.
First, trailing in from the end of the last part, we've
got a guitar playing octaves:
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|--9--9-9--9-9-XX-9--9-XX--| Play 2x
|--X--X-X--X-X-XX-X--X-XX--|
|--7--7-7--7-7-XX-7--7-XX--|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|--7--7-7--7-7-XX-7--7-XX--| Play 2x
|--X--X-X--X-X-XX-X--X-XX--|
|--5--5-5--5-5-XX-5--5-XX--|
|--------------------------|
While that part repeats, the other guitar is playing either
heavy chords (D or E shape, like the first part of the song),
or the "predictable rhythm", also from the first part of the
song. Part of the fun is improvising - that's what I was doing.
After that verse, we go into the second theme again, the same
as the first time. No real changes here. Both guitars end on
the D shape - a C chord.
Now, for the extended mid section of the song. The solo, if
you will. This goes on for a while, and there are three guitars
playing at all times.
The first guitar plays some basic chords that hold the mix
together - nothing new here:
|-------0-------------0--|
|-------3-------------3--|
|-------2---------5---2--| Repeat throught.
|--2----0----2----5---0--|
|--2----0----2----3---0--|
|--0----X----0--------X--|
In the other channel, a second rhythm guitar plays some
chords with a bit of flanger on them, to make them sound
watery and thin:
|-----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------|
|--7h9-9-9-7h9-9-7h9--5h7...--7h9...--3h5...--5h7...--|
|--7h9-9-9-7h9-9-7h9--5h7...--7h9...--3h5...--5h7...--|
|--7---7-7-7---7-7----5--...--7--...--3--...--5--...--|
|-----------------------------------------------------|
Play the first bit, and then shift the riff to the other
chords in turn, playing the same thing at each position -
listen to the recording to get the timing down.
The above guitar mixes it up a bit as the mid section
wears on - just listen, and make it up as you go, becase
this is not hard and fast.
The lead guitar in this section plays the following:
(Note that this entire solo is played with wah. Just play with
the pedal as you go along.)
|------------------------------------------------|
|--3/5-5-5--5-5/7--7-7--7--7-7-7/8--8-8--8-8/10--|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------|
|--10-10--10--10-10-10/12--12-12--12-12/13--13--|
|-----------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------|
|--13-13--13-13-13/15--15-15--15-15/17v--|
|----------------------------------------| Play 2x,
|----------------------------------------| with (very)
|----------------------------------------| slight changes
|----------------------------------------| the second time.
|-------------------------------------------------|
|--3/5-5-5--5-5/7--7-7-5h7-7/8--8-8-7-8/10-10-10--|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--10--8-10/12--12-12-10-12/13--13-13-13-12-13/15--|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------|
|--15-15--15-15/17--15-15v--|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|
|---------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|--3/5-5-5--5-5/7--7-7--7--7-7-7/8--8-8--8-8/10--|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------|
|--10-10--10--10-10-10/12--12-12--12-12/13--13--|
|-----------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------|
|--13-13--13-13-13/15--15---15/17v--|
|-----------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------|
Then, we get to the second part of the solo, which goes
something like this:
|-----------------------------------------------|
|--14-15-/17-17v--17X-15X-15--15h17-15v--17h15--|
|-----------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--15-17h15-15-17h15-15-17h15-15-17h15-15-h17-17v--|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--15h17-17/19v--17v--15-15v---17-17/19--19-19-19--|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------|
|--19/20-19-17-17v---19--17-20--17-19--17-15/17-15--|
|---------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|--15v---15h17-17v-15v--17-19--17-20--17-19--17--|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|--21--17-20--17-19-17-15/17-15--15-15/17-15--15--|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|--15/17-15--15-15/17v--\--|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
|--------------------------|
Once the solo ends, the watery flanger guitar carries us
for a few measures before we segue into the outro:
|---------------------------------|
|---------------------------------|
|--9----10----12----9----12----7--|
|--9----10----12----9----12----7--|
|--7----8-----10----7----10----5--|
|---------------------------------|
The rhythm in that bit is the same for each chord, really,
but it's difficult to transcribe. Again, just listen and
figure out what sounds best to you.
Now, at the start of the outro, we begin with the basic
chords from the intro. No arpeggios yet.
After two chords, a new guitar comes in. This riff is
heavily reliant on wah, so break out your pedal and mess
around with it until you get that sound.
|------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------|
|--9-X-9-X-9--9-X-9-X-9--7-X-7---7-X-7--7--|
|--X-X-X-X-X--X-X-X-X-X--X-X-X---X-X-X--X--|
|--7-X-7-X-7--7-X-7-X-7--5-X-5---5-X-5--5--|
|------------------------------------------|
Repeat that throughout. The arpeggios start to come back
in, and before long we get to the final new guitar:
|--0--X-0--X-0-X-0--X-0--X-0-X--------------------------|
|--3--X-3--X-3-X-3--X-3--X-3-X-5--X-5--X-5-X-5--XX-5-X--|
|--2--X-2--X-2-X-2--X-2--X-2-X-4--X-4--X-4-X-4--XX-4-X--|
|--0--X-0--X-0-X-0--X-0--X-0-X--------------------------|
|-----X----X---X----X----X---X--------------------------|
|-----X----X---X----X----X---X--------------------------|
Repeat all these riffs until the song ends.
I don't think I'm ever going to attempt to tab a song this
long again, because it just about broke my will to tab.
