Bones

Song

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BONES - Radiohead

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Tabbed by: bobbycdm

E-mail: bobbycdm@att.net

"Bones" by Radiohead, off the album "The Bends"

There were a couple of tabs for this song, but they only listed the chords and didn't have it fully tabbed

out. Here's my shot at a tab, based off of their chords, live footage of the band, and playing along to the

song.

EDIT 12/5/2014: Fixed the verse riff for gtr 2, I thought it was an A note but it's actually an E.

Gtr. 1: Johnny Greenwood- distorted, tremolo (during intro and verses)

Gtr. 2: Ed O'Brien- clean for verse 1, then distorted

Tuning: EADGBE (Standard) (both guitars)

INTRO

Gtr 1: Strum the A5 chord with tremolo, slowly increasing in volume/strumming force until the verse.

e|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|2-2-2-2--------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|2-2-2-2--------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|0-0-0-0--------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Gtr. 2: Hit the D chord once right at the beginning of the verse (when the band enters)

e|2--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|3--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|2--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|0--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|

VERSE 1

Gtr. 1: Hit A5 once (listen for the timing- right at the end of each of Thom's lines), again

with tremolo; start with a very fast tremolo and turn the "rate" or "speed" knob down as the chord

rings out.

e|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|2--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|2--------------------------------------------------------------------------| x5
A|0--------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Then, the last time before the chorus, strum the chord progressively harder, just like the intro.

Gtr. 2: At the same time that Gtr. 1 comes in during the verse, play this (let the notes ring out)

e|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|5-------5---5---5---5---5---5---5------------------------------------------|
G|x-------x---x---x---x---x---x---x------------------------------------------|
D|2-------2---2---2---2---2---2---2------------------------------------------| x6
A|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|

In case you want to know, the bassline goes something like this:

e|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|5-5-5-5---------------0---0---0-0-0-2-0-0-0---0-0-0-2--------------------|
E|--------3-3-3-3-2-0-2-------3---------------3----------------------------|

CHORUS

Gtr.s 1 and 2: it sounds like Johnny (Gtr. 1) plays a bit of a lead here, but both guitars basically follow

this progression:

Em F#m G A5 B5 A5 B5 A5 B5 A5 B5

e|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------0-------2----------------------------------------------------------|
G|--------0-------2---4-----2---2-4---2-2-4---2-2-4---2-2-4------------------|
D|----2-2-2---4-4-4---5-5---2---2-4---2-2-4---2-2-4---2-2-4------------------| x2
A|----2-2-2---4-4-4---5-5---0---0-2---0-0-2---0-0-2---0-0-2------------------|
E|3-2-0-0-0---2-2-2---3-3----------------------------------------------------|

Note: I might be wrong about the B5's, it could also be this chord:

e|--

B|--

G|2-

D|4-

A|0-

E|--

I'm not sure, so I'd just say to use whichever sounds best to you.

VERSE 2:

On the album version, a third guitar enters here and plays the power chords tabbed out below while Gtr. 1

plays the same part from VERSE 1 and Gtr. 2 plays arpeggios, but in live performances Ed (Gtr. 2) plays this

part. I've given it to Gtr. 2 to stay consistent with the live versions.

Gtr. 2- same timing as before, but now play this (with distortion)

e|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|2---2---2-2-2---2-2-2---2-2-2---2-2-2-2-2----------------------------------|
D|2---2---2-2-2---2-2-2---2-2-2---2-4-2-4-2----------------------------------| x3
A|0---0---0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0-0-0----------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|

CHORUS 2:

Same as CHORUS 1.

VERSE 3:

It's hard to differentiate the two guitars here; play these chords with distortion; also, Johnny has a few

guitar licks in there but I'm not sure what they are.

e|2---2-------3--------------------------------------------------------------|
B|3---3(0)3---3--------------------------------------------------------------|
G|2---2(0)0---0---------2---2-4-2-2-2-4-2-2-2-4-2-2-2-4----------------------|x2
D|0---0(0)0---0---------2---2-4-2-2-2-4-2-2-2-4-2-2-2-4----------------------|
A|--------2---2---------0---0-2-0-0-0-2-0-0-0-2-0-0-0-2----------------------|
E|--------3---3---2-0-2------------------------------------------------------|

Note: The notes in parentheses are optional, just some guitar noise between chords.

Also, the second time you play this, make sure to end with the E|3-2-0- at the beginning of the chorus.

CHORUS 3:

Same as CHORUSes 1 and 2.

OUTRO:

Continue playing the chords from the chorus; Johnny has another lead here, which sounds to me like bending

strings in E minor (again, I don't know for sure).

Towards the end, hit the Em and F#m chords once, then play G, A5, and B5 normally.

End on A5- Gtr. 1 with tremolo.

And that's all, folks. I know it's not 100% complete, so any comments or corrections are welcome.

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| / slide up

| \ slide down

| h hammer-on

| p pull-off

| ~ vibrato

| + harmonic

| x Mute note

| b Bend

| pb Pre-bend

| br Bend release

| pbr Pre-bend release

| brb Bend release bend

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