Tame Impala - Be Above It
from their 2012 album Lonerism
This has to be one of the easiest songs ever to physically play. It's literally
two chords, with only one note different between them (t's amazing how much Kevin
gets out of these two chords). Getting it to sound like the song is a completely
different story however. There's some crazy effects going on with loads of delay,
phase and vibrato.
Intro:
"Gotta be above it, gotta be above it, gotta be above it, gotta be above it..."
This is the note that the synth plays after the drums and vocals come in.
I've tried to indicate the rhythm with the spacing, because it's kind of strange:
e|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
D|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|-10----------------10----10----10--------10--------10----------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------------|
1st Verse:
"And I know that I gotta be above it now,
And I know that I can't let them bring me down,
And I gotta bide my time as a face in the crowd,
And I know that I gotta be above it now"
Since there's hardly anything else going on during the verse, here's how to play
the vocal melody on guitar:
e|-----------------------------------------------|
B|-----------------------------------------------|
G|-------12--11-11-9-9-11-11-9-------------------| x3
D|-12-14-----------------------12.--12--\10\9----|
A|-----------------------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------------------|
e|----------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------|
G|-------12--11-11-9-9-11-11-9------------|
D|-12-14-----------------------12.--12----|
A|----------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------|
The synth keeps that note
going after each line is sung:
e|-------------------|
B|-------------------|
G|-------------------| x3
D|-------------------|
A|-10----------------|
E|-------------------|
And the hit this chord after
the last line of the verse is sung:
e|-10--------------------------------|
B|-12--------------------------------|
G|-12--------------------------------|
D|-12--------------------------------|
A|-10--------------------------------|
E|-----------------------------------|
2nd Verse:
"And I know that I gotta be above it now,
And I gotta bide my time as a face in the crowd,
And I know that I gotta be above it now,
And I can't let them all just bring me down"
e|-10----10----10----10----10----------------|
B|-12----12----12----12----12----------------|
G|-12----11----12----11----12----------------| x3
D|-12----12----12----12----12----------------|
A|-10----10----10----10----10----------------|
E|-------------------------------------------|
3rd verse - variation:
"This time I'm just gonna take it or I'm never gonna shake it,
I'll just close my eyes and make it so that all those little things don't affect me now,
Know that I gotta be above it now"
For this variation you hit the Gmaj7 chord 4 times before the G major:
e|-10----10----10----10----10----------------|
B|-12----12----12----12----12----------------|
G|-11----11----11----11----12----------------|
D|-12----12----12----12----12----------------|
A|-10----10----10----10----10----------------|
E|-------------------------------------------|
This is the vocal melody for this bit on guitar:
e|----------------------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------------------|
G|----------12-12-11-11-9-9----9-12-12-11-11-9-9----9-|
D|----12-14-----------------12-------------------12---|
A|-14-------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------|
e|----------------------------------------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------------------------------------|
G|-12-12-11-11-9-9----9-12-12-11-11-9-9-11-11-9-------------------|
D|-----------------12---------------------------12.--12--\10\9----|
A|----------------------------------------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------------------------------------|
4th Verse:
"And I can't let them all just bring me down,
This time I'm just gonna take it or I'm never gonna shake it,
I'll just close my eyes and make it so that all those little things don't affect me now"
e|-10----10----10----10----10----------------|
B|-12----12----12----12----12----------------|
G|-12----11----12----11----12----------------| x2
D|-12----12----12----12----12----------------|
A|-10----10----10----10----10----------------|
E|-------------------------------------------|
Outro:
"Gotta be above it, gotta be above it, gotta be above it, gotta be above it..."
e|-10----10--------------------|
B|-12-----12-------------------|
G|-11------12------------------|
D|-12-------12-----------------|
A|-10--------10----------------|
E|-----------------------------|
************************************
| / slide up
| \ slide down
| h hammer-on
| p pull-off
| ~ vibrato
| + harmonic
| x Mute note
| . staccato
| b Bend
| pb Pre-bend
| br Bend release
| pbr Pre-bend release
| brb Bend release bend
************************************