Bones Tab

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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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