About Today Tab

by The National
29,722 views, added to favorites 253 times
Difficulty: intermediate
Capo: no capo
Author mcerqueira [a] 53.
1 contributor total, last edit on Oct 31, 2016
We have an official About Today tab made by UG professional guitarists.
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=====================
ARTIST: THE NATIONAL
SONG: ABOUT TODAY
ALBUM: Cherry Tree EP
=====================
 
Standard tuning, no capo.
 
I think this is exactly how it's played, other versions have missing notes and some
details here and there. This is the original track from the Cherry Tree EP which has only
one guitar, there are wonderful live versions with a second guitar (Aaron or Dessner)
playing an octave higher but the studio track is the best to learn the song has there's
not so much instrumentation going on as the live versions.
 
The main thing is the picking pattern on the right hand, the thumb is used a lot on each
bar, that's what was more difficult to pick-up when I first started learning it. Once
you get into the groove the pattern is basically repeated with some string skipping and
"walking" melody lines thrown in.
 
There's just two different parts that repeat throughout. Formatting of the tab is not super tidy
(I put the first notes with no initial spacing, etc),sorry, not used to fiddling with tabbing software.
 
Don't be lazy and skip notes, stick to it as it's the details that make the song so
beautiful :-)
 
 
If you'd like a video tutorial, I uploaded a video to Youtube: http://youtu.be/nBiJk7imXTA
 
Enjoy...
 
 
[PART 1:] (repeats 5 times)
 
 
|-3------------------------------|0-------------------------------|
|--------------1-----------------|--------------1-----------------|
|-----------2--------------------|----------2---------------------|
|-3-------3----3---3-------------|3-------3-----3---3-------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
 
 
|0-------------------------------|0-------------------------------|
|----------1-----1---------1-----|----------1-----1---------1-----|
|------2---------------2---------|------2---------------2---------|
|----2-----2--2------2-----2---2-|----2-----2-2-------2-----2---2-|
|0---------------0---------------|0---------------0---------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
 
 
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|0-------0-----0-------0---------|--------------------------------|
|------0-------------0-----------|--------------------------------|
|----0---0---0-----0---0---0-----|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|3-------------3-----------------|--------------------------------|
 
 
[PART 2:]
 
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|1-------0-------1-------0-------|1-------0-------1-------0-------|
|------0---------------0---------|------0---------------0---------|
|----2---2---2-------2---2---2---|----2---2---2-------2---2---2---|
|3---------------3---------------|3---------------3---------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
 
(some times the open high E is played alternating here too, as in the end, see below)
|0-------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|--------0-------0-------0-------|0-------0-------0-------0-------|
|------0---------------0---------|------0---------------0---------|
|----2---2---2-------2---2---2---|----2---2---2-------2---2---2---|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|0---------------0---------------|0---------------0---------------|
 
 
|1-------------3-----------------|1-------------0-----------------|
|--------1-------------1---------|--------1-------------1---------|
|------2-------------2-----------|------2-------------2-----------|
|3---3---3-3---3---3---3-3-------|3---3---3-3---3---3---3-3-------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
 
 
|----------------3---------------|--1---------------0-------------|
|0-------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|--------0---------------0-------|----------0---------------0-----|
|------0---------------0---------|--------0---------------0-------|
|----0---0---0-------0---0---0---|------0---0---0-------0---0---0-|
|3---------------3---------------|--3---------------3-------------|
 
 
Back to part 1, and repeat...
 
The end of the song is PART 2 repeated two times. Also please note that he plays a
slight variation on the E minor chord where it alternates the open E string (see below)
 
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|1-------0-------1-------0-------|1-------0-------1-------0-------|
|------0---------------0---------|------0---------------0---------|
|----2---2---2-------2---2---2---|----2---2---2-------2---2---2---|
|3---------------3---------------|3---------------3---------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
 
 
|0-------------------------------|0-------------------------------|
|--------0-------0-------0-------|--------0-------0-------0-------|
|------0---------------0---------|------0---------------0---------|
|----2---2---2-------2---2---2---|----2---2---2-------2---2---2---|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|0---------------0---------------|0---------------0---------------|
 
 
|1-------------3-----------------|1-------------0-----------------|
|--------1-------------1---------|--------1-------------1---------|
|------2-------------2-----------|------2-------------2-----------|
|3---3---3-3---3---3---3-3-------|3---3---3-3---3---3---3-3-------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|--------------------------------|--------------------------------|
 
 
|----------------3---------------|--1---------------0-------------|
|0-------------------------------|--------------------------------|
|--------0---------------0-------|----------0---------------0-----|
|------0---------------0---------|--------0---------------0-------|
|----0---0---0-------0---0---0---|------0---0---0-------0---0---0-|
|3---------------3---------------|--3---------------3-------------|
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About Today – The National
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1 comment
serg_k2
some mistakes on the tab vs the video. But overall, this is the best tab there is.
+1