Dirty Fingernails Tab

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                             DIRTY FINGERNAILS - Modest Mouse
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Tabbed by: Isaac (no, not Isaac Brock)
E-mail: talleyi21@gmail.com
 
Tuning: E A D G B E
 
************************************
 
KEY:
 
| w~~ flutter whammy bar
| w/  whammy bar pitch up
| w\  whammy bar pitch down
(note that an additional / or \ means return to original pitch)
| ( ) ghost note
| +   harmonic
| /   slide up
| \   slide down
| h   hammer-on
| p   pull-off
| ~   vibrato
| x   Mute note
| b   Bend
| pb  Pre-bend
| br  Bend release
| pbr Pre-bend release
| brb Bend release bend
 
************************************
 
Riff A:
(Roll down strum on the four harmonics in the first chord and let them ring out. Harsh
and abrupt up strums on the second chord of the riff. Quickly silence the strings with
your palm after strumming the second chord. On the recording, there is so much distortion
that some harmonics ring out after Isaac has muted his strings.)
 
e|-----------------|
B|--+7---x-(+7)----|
G|--+7--+7-(+7)----|  (x4)
D|--+7--+7-(+7)----|
A|--+7---x---------|
E|-------x---------|
 
Harmonics From ~0:20 to ~0:25:
(Isaac Brock uses his whammy bar to bend the harmonics throughout this song.
if you're like me and don't have a whammy bar, then you can bend the strings
behind the nut of your guitar to try and emulate the effect--or just get a
whammy pedal.)
 
e|--------------------------------------------------|
B|--+5w/\(x1)---------------------------------------|
G|-----------------------------+5w\/(x2)------------|
D|------------+5w\/(x2)-----------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------|
 
Riff A2:
 
e|-----------------|
B|--+7---x-(+7)----|
G|--+7--+7-(+7)----|  (x8)
D|--+7--+7-(+7)----|
A|--+7---x---------|
E|-------x---------|
 
Harmonics From ~0:35 to ~0:45:
 
e|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--+5w\/------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|----------------+5w\/----------------------------------------------------|
D|---------+5w\/--+5w\/--+5w\/w/\w/(hold it)\------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 
Riff A3:
 
e|---------------------------------|
B|--+7---x-(+7)--------------------|
G|--+7--+7-(+7)--(x15)--+7w~~------|
D|--+7--+7-(+7)---------+7w~~------|
A|--+7---x-------------------------|
E|-------x-------------------------|
 
Harmonics From ~1:06 to ~1:15
(To obtain the ghost notes, make sure you pick the string just
microseconds before tapping the harmonic on your fret board. Lots of
distortion helps here too.)
 
e|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--(0)+5w\/------------+5w\/------------+9w/\w/\w/\w~~--------+5w\/------|
G|------------(0)+5w\/-------------------+9w/\w/\w/\w~~---------------+7--|
D|-----------------------------(0)+5w\/-------------------------------+7--|
A|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 
Riff A4:
(On the seventh repetition of the riff don't strum the part you'd
normally up-strum--instead just mute all of the strings except for
the g string.)
 
e|-------------------------------------------------|
B|--+7---x-(+7)--------+7---x(mute)----------------|
G|--+7--+7-(+7)--(x6)--+7--+7(let ring)--+7--------|
D|--+7--+7-(+7)--------+7---x(mute)------+7--------|
A|--+7---x-------------+7---x(mute)----------------|
E|-------x-----------------------------------------|
 
Riff B:
(Alternatively, if you don't have a whammy bar, you can prebend the g string
on the 12th fret a whole tone upward before releasing the bend to emulate a
whammy bar bringing the pitch down a whole step at the 14th fret.)
 
e|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
G|--9~---7~--/14~--------14w\/--------9~---7~--/14----14w\---14w\/-----------|
D|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 
Riff A5:
 
e|------------------------------------|
B|--+7---x-(+7)--------+7w\/----------|
G|--+7--+7-(+7)--(x7)--+7w\/----------|
D|--+7--+7-(+7)-----------------------|
A|--+7---x----------------------------|
E|-------x----------------------------|
 
Harmonics From ~1:52 to ~1:56
 
e|------------------------------------|
B|--+7w\/w\/w\/w\/--------------------|
G|--+7w\/w\/w\/w\/--+7w\/w\/w\/w\/----|
D|------------------------------------|
A|------------------+7w\/w\/w\/w\/----|
E|------------------------------------|
 
Harmonics From ~1:57 to ~2:07
 
e|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
B|--+5w\/w/\w~~-------------+5----------------------+5w/\-------------------------|
G|------------------+5--------------+5------+5--------------------+5w/\-----------|
D|----------------------+5------+5------+5------+5---------+5w\/---------+5w~~----|
A|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 
The rest of the song is just Isaac playing soft variations of riff A until the outro--which is
just a previous part of the song in reverse.
 
Also, don't be afraid to email me if you have any questions! It can be difficult to communicate
Isaac Brock's specific style of playing through tabs so I'm willing to help anybody out if
they're confused about anything.
X