I won’t likely lay out the whole album, both because of time constraints and the challenge some of the new songs present (two tracks with spoken sections, for example). But when additional songs are available, I’ll post them here.
Better Here: On the album, this is a piano song, but live they add guitar and banjo, and the piano recedes into the background. I have included both a piano version and a guitar version (capo 3).
C Sections: It was really tough getting this song onto two pages. Had to double up lines, use ampersands (&) and tighten up the letter spacing. I’m afraid I’ve left out the little guitar solo at the start, and have not marked out Scott’s backing vocals.
When You Learn: I believe this song is played on a nylon string (classical) guitar, and on ukulele. On headphones, you’ll can hear the guitar towards the left and the ukulele toward the right. I’m fairly certain of the chord forms here, though possibly in the intro the shape for F is x87565. Ukulele is played very gently, just a couple notes here and there.
Who Will I Hold This is really a banjo song, so working out the strum for guitar may be a challenge. Since the chorus of this song varies, I’ve numbered each.
Please let me know in the comments if you find any mistakes. I’m sure there are some.
Posted in Music | Comments Off on Closer Than Together Tabs
I’ve just added all the songs from the Avett Brother’s new album, True Sadness to my Avett Archive. This is the first time I’ve laid out an entire album like this.
These lyrics, chords and tabs are as accurate as I could manage through careful listening to the tracks, reference to live performance videos, and comparison to other tabs out there (which are typically riddled with errors, some of them substantial). See below for notes on a couple of the songs, and please email me with any suggested corrections.
Each of these song layouts is a PDF intended to be downloaded and printed out for playing. For notes on some of the marks and abbreviations used here, see the complete Avett Archive.
Here are a few notes on some of the songs:
Satan Pulls the Strings: The album version is quite different from the version on Live, Volume 4, lacking the long intro and using only a G chord (live version also includes D). Find the live version here.
True Sadness: Spacial limits kept me from including the backing vocals on the bridge; I always keep these layouts to two pages, to keep from having to turn a page while playing.
I Wish I Was: I laid this song out over a year ago, after hearing it at a show in Lafayette, Indiana. Classic Seth love song. The album version may be slightly different from what I have here.
Fisher Road to Hollywood: I’ve only attempted to provide tablature for the intro to this song. The intro reappears in each chorus, and the other places where Seth walks up and down the fretboard are fairly easy to figure out from the chord forms I’ve provided. Also, Seth and Scott trade off singing the high and low parts; I broke the chorus down into pre-chorus and chorus to more easily note this.
Victims of Life: From my first listen, this song reminded me of Emotionalism‘s “Pretty Girl from San Diego,” and indeed it is played open in the same key of Bb, unusual for an Avett tune.
May It Last: I made no attempt to represent the symphonic complexities of the intro, interludes and outro, except to note that there are B6 and Bmaj7 chords in there. As far as I can find, mine is the only version of the song available.
Posted in Music | Comments Off on New True Sadness Tabs and Chords (full album)
For me, one of the great joys of a new Avett Brothers record is getting to know the music more intimately by learning to play it. Magpie and the Dandelion is especially fulfilling because, with old favorites like “Never Been Alive” and “Skin and Bones” ready to be rediscovered, the familiar but never previously appreciated “Open Ended Life” and a string of outstanding new songs like “Apart from Me,” “Morning Song” and “Bring Your Love To Me.” (Also among old favorites is “Souls Like the Wheels,” but I’ve never learned to play it.)
So far I’ve worked out the lyrics and chords, along with some tablature, for the following songs on Magpie. These are all PDFs intended to be downloaded and printed:
“Skin and Bones” and “Never Been Alive” have been in the archive for two years or more and were closely revisited when Magpie came out, with significant refinements, especially in the intro and chorus chords of “Never Been Alive.” The guitar lick in “Skin and Bones” has been tabbed.
“Morning Song,” “Open Ended Life,” “Apart from Me,” and “Good to You” were all worked out on my own, the last on piano (still working on Seth’s beautiful outro—and not getting very far).
For “Bring Your Love to Me,” I’m indebted to YouTuber CJ Rich, who worked out the song (open C tuning) and even went so far as to post a tutorial on how to play it. Many outstanding Avett covers on his channel.
My second cover video, hot on the heals of my first, nearly two years ago. I’ve been meaning to do this one for a long time. Hopefully it won’t be so long before my next!
I’m a little hesitant on the last verse, I’m afraid. After about 12 takes, I could scarcely believe I was going to finish the thing without a major mistake.
I recoded the vide with a Canon PowerShot Elph 310 HS and the audio with a Zoom H2. Video editing with Adobe Premiere Pro CS6 on a mid-2012 13″ MacBook Pro.
This is my cover of a new, untitled, unreleased song by the Avett Brothers, commonly referred to as the “New Years Eve Song,” because it was first played to an audience on New Years Eve 2010 in Asheville, North Carolina. It’s also known as “Scared to Die,” from a lyric in the chorus.
I first heard this song at the Kalamazoo show on January 27, 2011. At the end of the first chorus, when Seth sang, “If I live the life I’m given, I won’t be scared to die,” we all realized this unfamiliar song was not a cover, but a new Avett song.
It has since become one of my favorite of their songs. Find a discussion of this song on forum at the Avett Brothers website here, and my PDF of the lyrics and chords here.
I recorded this video with a Flip MinoHD (older version at 30fps), and the audio with a Zoom H2, and mixed them together with Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 on a Macbook Pro. My guitar is a 2004 Santa Cruz D/PW (Dreadnought Pre War).
Posted in Music | Comments Off on Cover: Untitled by the Avett Brothers
I’ve just added a few songs from the Avett Brother’s new album, Closer Than Together to my Avett Archive:
I’ve just added all the songs from the Avett Brother’s new album, True Sadness to my 
For me, one of the great joys of a new Avett Brothers record is getting to know the music more intimately by learning to play it. Magpie and the Dandelion is especially fulfilling because, with old favorites like “Never Been Alive” and “Skin and Bones” ready to be rediscovered, the familiar but never previously appreciated “Open Ended Life” and a string of outstanding new songs like “Apart from Me,” “Morning Song” and “Bring Your Love To Me.” (Also among old favorites is “Souls Like the Wheels,” but I’ve never learned to play it.)
I recorded this video with a