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Ballad Of El Goodo

Big Star

Text File

#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------------------#
#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #
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From: marc@owlnet.rice.edu (Marc Bennett Hirsh)
Subject: TAB: "Ballad Of El Goodo" (Big Star)

A great Pop gem from a great Pop group. No wonder every cool band
(R.E.M., Replacements, Bangles, Nirvana, etc.) loved 'em. Notes:

1) Capo everything up six frets! And yet, even this won't get you in
    the right key to play along with the recording. All the
    instruments in this one are a touch flat. But the sixth fret will
    get you the closest to the recorded key. Side note: I had
    stupidly, stupidly thought that this was capoed at the first fret,
    but then I discovered that a few things didn't sound right and
    realized what was going on. Which means that I have to relearn
    this song that I thought I knew, since all of the chords have
    effectively changed. This *can* be faked with the capo at one,
    though it won't sound perfect and, frankly, you should just learn
    it at the 6th. I don't know why you'd bother confusing yourself.
    But I'm just so pissed that I know it two different ways that I
    thought I'd point it out.
2) Since we are capoed up 6 frets, I am treating the 6th fret as if
    it's the nut. Therefore, all chord names are really just the
    shapes and don't reflect the true concert pitch. Also, if the
    number in the TAB says "1", then it's really played on the 7th
    fret (since the seventh fret is the first non-capoed fret). This
    is fairly standard, but I'm just restating it.
3) As with all Big Star songs, there are some beauty vocal harmonies
    which I am abandoning for this feeble transcription. Sorry, folks.
4) I don't know what effects are on the main guitar (probably
    Chilton, since it seems to be his song), but it sounds quite
    nifty. Some sort of flanger, perhaps.
5) The rhythm for most of this song is dead-simple. 2 strums per bar
    (which means, for those of us who know nothing about theory or
    other real-music stuff, hit each chord twice and then move on).
    The chord changes are faster in the chorus than in the verses, so
    here's the deal: for the verses, hit each chord twice for each
    time I've written it. For the chorus, hit each chord once for
    every time I've written it. Thus, if it's the verse and I've
    written "Eb Eb," then play Eb four times. I've put "G (G)" in the
    chorus because you don't actually hit that second G, but you let
    the first one continue ringing. For the bridge, I actually point
    out how many times to play each chord. Make sense? I was
    originally going to put the chords in TAB, but it took up way too
    much space and you don't really need to know *exactly* what's
    going on (like rests, chordals, etc.). You can figure that out on
    your own if it bothers you.
6) A couple of places where I just list chords, there's something a
    little more complex going on. I try to point out basically what's
    happening, but I couldn't figure out exact TAB, so I decided
    against putting in guesses. If you can pick it out, please do,
    but I can't.
7) I came []