intro G|————————————| D|————————3———| A|——5—————————| E|————————————| X3 verse G|—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————| D|———3————————————3————3———————3——————————3———3—————3————————————3—5———————| A|—5———3———————5—————3————3——5———3———2345———3———345———3———2345—3————————234| E|————————1235/————————————————————3————————————————————3————————————3—3———| to chorus chorus 1st ending G|————————————————————————| |——————————————————————| D|———————————————————5————| |————————————————————5—| A|5—5——5—5———————7——7—————| |—5—5——5—5———————7——7——| E|——————————5—5———————————|x3 |—————————23455————————| back to verse 2nd ending |————————————————————————| |——————————————————————5—| |—5—5——5—5—————————7——7——| |—————————023455/————————| outro G|———————————————————————————————————| D|—————3—————3—————3—————————————————| A|——5—————5—————5—————3————————5====—| E|———————————————————————1235———————| / slide up slide down = hold note
Old Man bass tabs
Section 1: Basic Chords
Before we dive into the tablature, it’s important to understand the basic chords and progression of Old Man. The song is in the key of D and uses four chords: D, G, A, and C. The chord progression is as follows:
- D (8 beats)
- G (8 beats)
- A (8 beats)
- D (8 beats)
- C (4 beats)
- G (4 beats)
- D (4 beats)
Practice playing these chords until you’re comfortable with the progression and the transitions between chords.
Now, let’s move on to the bassline.
Section 2: Adding the Melody
The bassline for Old Man is simple and follows the basic chord progression. Here is the tablature:
Verse
G|-------------------------|-----------------| D|------0---------0--0--0--|-------------0---| A|---------0--2-----------|--------0--2------| E|--0----------------------|--0--------------|
Chorus
G|-----------------|-----------------| D|-------------0---|-------------0---| A|--------0--2-----|--------0--2-----| E|--0--------------|--0--------------|
Start by playing the verse bassline and then switch to the chorus bassline when you reach the chorus of the song. The transition is seamless and easy to follow.
Once you’ve mastered the basic bassline, you can add some variations and embellishments to make it more interesting.
Section 3: Full Tablature
Here is the full tablature for Old Man, including variations and embellishments:
G|------------------------------------------------|-----------------| D|------0---------0--0--0-----0-------0--0--0h2--|-------------0---| A|---------0--2--------------2-----2-------------|--------0--2------| E|--0----------------------0----------------------|--0--------------| G|------------0--------------|----------------0--------| D|------0--4-----4--0-----0--4|--0--0--2--4--------4--2--| A|---2--------------2--------|--------------------------| E|---------------------------|--------------------------|
Practice playing the full tablature slowly at first and gradually increase your speed until you can play it comfortably at the tempo of the song. Once you’re confident with the bassline, you can try playing along with the song.