ACTIVITY
If You Must
#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------------------#
#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------##
IF YOU MUST
As recorded by Nirvana
Words by Kurt Cobain
Music by Nirvana
Gtr I (E A D G B E) - 'Kurt Cobain (dist.)'
Gtr II (E A D G B E) - 'Kurt Cobain (w/ effect)'
Intro
Moderately Slow Rock Q.=71
N.C. (Bb5) (D5/E(Bb5)D5/E Bb5 D5/E
6/8
Gtr I
PM-----------------|
Wx4 Wx3 Q. E E E E E E E E E
|----------|----------|------------||-------------|
|----------|----------|------3-3-3-||-----------3-|
|----------|----------|------2-2-2-||---3-----2---|
|----------|----------|------2-2-2-||-3-3-3-2-----|
|----------|----------|------------||-1---1-------|
|----------|----------|------------||-------------|
1st Verse Interlude
$
Bb5 D5/E Bb5 D5/E Bb5 (D5/E) (Bb5) (D5/E)
Gtrs I, II
>
PM----------------------------|
E E E E E E 3x E E E E E E 8x Q. +Q. +Q. +Q.
||---------------||-||---------------||------------|-------------|
||o-----------3-o||-||o-----------3-o||------------|-------------|
||----3-----2----||-||----3-----2----||-3----(3)---|-(3)---(3)---|
||------3-2------||-||------3-2------||-3----(3)---|-(3)---(3)---|
||o-1-----------o||-||o-1-----------o||-1----(1)---|-(1)---(1)---|
||---------------||-||---------------||------------|-------------|
2nd Verse
(Bb5) (D5/E) (Bb5) (D5/E) Bb5 D5/E
Gtr I
PM--------|
+Q. +Q. +Q. +Q. E E E E E E 8x
|-------------|-------------||---------------||
|-------------|-------------||o-----------3-o||
|-(3)---(3)---|-(3)---(3)---||----3-----2----||
|-(3)---(3)---|-(3)---(3)---||------3-2------||
|-(1)---(1)---|-(1)---(1)---||o-1-----------o||
|-------------|-------------||---------------||
Interlude
Bb5 (D5/E) (Bb5) (D5/E) (Bb5) (D5/E) (Bb5) (D5/E)
Gtrs I, II
>
Q. +Q. +Q. +Q. +Q. +Q. +Q. +Q.
|------------|-------------|-------------|-------------||
|------------|-------------|-------------|-------------||
|-3----(3)---|-(3)---(3)---|-(3)---(3)---|-(3)---(3)---||
|-3----(3)---|-(3)---(3)---|-(3)---(3)---|-(3)---(3)---||
|-1----(1)---|-(1)---(1)---|-(1)---(1)---|-(1)---(1)---||
|------------|-------------|-------------|-------------||
Bb5
Gtr I
PM--------------------------------------------------|
E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------||
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------||
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------||
|-3-3-3-3-3-3-|-3-3-3-3-3-3-|-3-3-3-3-3-3-|-3-3-3-3-3-3-||
|-1-1-1-1-1-1-|-1-1-1-1-1-1-|-1-1-1-1-1-1-|-1-1-1-1-1-1-||
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------||
Chorus 1st Bridge
To Coda
Bb5F5E5 G5/A Bb5F5E5 G5/A G5 E5
PM----------------------|
Q E Q E 4x Q E Q E 16x E E E E E E E E E E E E 3x
||-------------||-||-------------||-||--------------|--------------||
||o-----------o||-||o-----------o||-||o-------------|-------------o||
||--3-------0--||-||--3-------0--||-||--------------|--------------||
||--3----2--0--||-||--3----2--0--||-||--------------|--------------||
||o-1--3-2--0-o||-||o-1--3-2--0-o||-||o-5-5-5-5-5-5-|-5-5-5-5-2-2-o||
||-----1-0-----||-||-----1-0-----||-||--3-3-3-3-3-3-|-3-3-3-3-0-0--||
Interlude
G5 Ab5 Bb5 Bb5F5E5 G5/A Bb5F5E5
PM--------------------|
E E E E E E E E E E E E Q E Q E 3x Q E Q.
|-------------|-------------||-------------||-----------||
|-------------|-------------||o-----------o||-----------||
|-------------|-------------||--3-------0--||-3---------||
|-------------|-----------3-||--3----2--0--||-3----2----||
|-5-5-5-5-5-5-|-6-6-6-6-6-1-||o-1--3-2--0-o||-1--3-2----||
|-3-3-3-3-3-3-|-4-4-4-4-4---||-----1-0-----||----1-0----||
2nd Bridge
E5 B5 Bb5 E5 E5 B5 Bb5
PM------|
Q. +E +E E Q. +E +E E Q. +E +E E E E E E E E
||-----------------|----------------|----------------|---------------||
||o----------------|----------------|----------------|--------------o||
||--9----(9)-(9)-4-|-3----(3)-(3)-9-|-9----(9)-(9)-4-|-3-------------||
||--9----(9)-(9)-4-|-3----(3)-(3)-9-|-9----(9)-(9)-4-|-3-3-3-3-3-3---||
||o-7----(7)-(7)-2-|-1----(1)-(1)-7-|-7----(7)-(7)-2-|-1-1-1-1-1-1--o||
||-----------------|----------------|----------------|---------------||
Interlude
D.S. al Coda
Bb5 D5/E Bb5 D5/E Bb5 D5/E Bb5 D5/E
PM--------------------------------------------------|
E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------||
|-----------3-|-----------3-|-----------3-|---------3---||
|---3-----2---|---3---2-2-2-|---3---2-2-2-|---3---2-2-2-||
|-3-3-3-2-----|-----3-2-2---|-----3-2-2---|-----3-------||
|-1---1-------|-1-----------|-1-----------|-1-----------||
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------||
&
Bb5
H. +H.
|---------|--------*|
|---------|--------*|
|-3-------|-(3)----*|
|-3-------|-(3)----*|
|-1-------|-(1)----*|
|---------|--------*|
Duration Legend
---------------
W - whole; H - half; Q - quarter; E - 8th; S - 16th; T - 32nd; X - 64th; a - acciaccatura
+ - note tied to previous; . - note dotted; .. - note double dotted
Uncapitalized letters represent notes that are staccato (1/2 duration)
Irregular groupings are notated above the duration line
Duration letters will always appear directly above the note/fret number it represents the
duration for. Duration letters with no fret number below them represent rests. Multi-
bar rests are notated in the form Wxn, where n is the number of bars to rest for. Low
melody durations appear below the staff
Tablature Legend
----------------
h - hammer-on
p - pull-off
b - bend
pb - pre-bend
r - bend release (if no number after the r, then release immediately)
/ - slide into or out of (from/to "nowhere")
s - legato slide
S - shift slide
- natural harmonic
[n]
- artificial harmonic
n(n) - tapped harmonic
~ - vibrato
tr - trill
T - tap
TP - trem. picking
PM - palm muting
/ - tremolo bar dip; n = amount to dip
- tremolo bar down
n/ - tremolo bar up
/n - tremolo bar inverted dip
= - hold bend; also acts as connecting device for hammers/pulls
<> - volume swell (louder/softer)
x - on rhythm slash represents muted slash
o - on rhythm slash represents single note slash
Misc Legend
-----------
| - bar
|| - double bar
||o - repeat start
o|| - repeat end
*| - double bar (ending)
: - bar (freetime)
$ - Segno
& - Coda
Tempo markers - = BPM(8/16=s8/s16), where s8 = swing 8ths, s16 = swing 16ths
If You Must
(Kurt Cobain)
(intro)
(1st.verse)
I can read, I can write
I can breathe, proven fact
Bless my greed, crease unfold
Is it me or my ego?
(interlude)
(2nd.verse)
Write some words, make them rhyme
Pieces for story line
Set the mood, something new
Is it me or my attitude?
(interlude)
(chorus)
If you want to belong
And you miss the extremes
The extremes acted out
Practicing, perfecting
Pressuring, On to me
On to me (2x)
(1st.bridge)
I will wade in the fire
To explain your asylum
Idle times analyzing
We'll compare all our sightings,
come on
(interlude)
(2nd.bridge)
I speak to hear my voice
(interlude)
(repeat all, except the intro, and the two bridges)
0