Stay Or Leave Chords & Tabs
Stay or Leave
by Dave Matthews
Tab by Brad Lewis (bradley.w.lewis@vanderbilt.edu)
Standard tuning
Capo 2
I used the live recording with just the acoustic guitar. It's much
easier to hear the exact notes on this recording.
I played this forever the slightly wrong way before realizing he
frets the (1st string 1st fret) for a large part of the intro/verse.
I always used to play it with the 1st string open (and this is wrong).
This tiny little change gives the song the same feel as the real
recording, but most people miss it in their tabs. Very important to
pay attention to the first string fingerings here :)
Intro/Verse
|------0-0-0-0-----0-0-0-0-----3-3-3-3---1-1-1-1--|
|------1-1-1-1-----1-1-1-1-----0-0-0-0---1-1-1-1--|
|------2-2-2-2-----0-0-0-0-----5-5-5-5---2-2-2-2--|
|--(2)---------(2)---------3/5---------3----------|
|---0-----------3---------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------|
|Play 1st Time |
|----1-1-1-1---1-1-1-1---1-1-1-1---0-0-0-0----|
|----1-1-1-1---1-1-1-1---1-1-1-1---1-1-1-1---.|Repeat
|----0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0----|
|--2-------------------0---------------------.|
|------------3-------------------2------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|Play 2nd Time |
|----0-0-0-0-3--3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3-3--3-3-3-3----|
|----0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0---.|
|----0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0----|
|--2--------------------2----------------------.|
|-----------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------|
Chorus (strumming):
Dm F C G
For the last part, it's a bit superfluous to write out every single
little strum, but I'm sure you can figure out the pattern if you listen
to the song. I'm giving the basic fingerings.
Note: For the first two frettings coming up (4033 and 3033), the
fingerings are a little tricky. The easiest way I've found is..
For 4033, use 2nd finger on the 4th fret and
barre strings 1 and 2 (on fret 3) with 1st finger.
Then for 3033, use fingers 2, 3, and 4 (on strings 4, 2, and 1, respectively).
Having the 3rd and 4th fingers at fret 3 on strings 1 and 2 (a basic G chord position)
allows you to make the next chord changes easily.
Remember not every single strum is written out separately. Listen to the song.
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/d/dave_matthews_band/stay_or_leave_tab_ver_6.html ]
"So what to do with the rest of the day's afternoon..."
|----3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3---3-3---3-3---3-3-3-3--|
|----3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3---3-3---3-3---3-3-3-3--|
|----0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0---0-0---0-0---0-0-0-0--|
|--4---------3-----------------------------4----------------------|
|----------------------3---------2---------------0-----3----------|
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
(G chord)
|----3-3-3-3--3-3-3-3----3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3--|
|----3-3-3-3--3-3-3-3----3-3-3-3---3-3-3-3--|
|----0-0-0-0--0-0-0-0----0-0-0-0---0-0-0-0--| Back to intro x1
|-------------0-0-0-0--4---------3----------| but ending differs
|--2----------2-2-2-2-----------------------| (see below)
|-------------------------------------------|
The Ending (the strumming pattern changes here)
The strumming pattern gets a bit crazy here. I have no clue how he
came up with this, but it's very impressive songwriting. The strumming
slows on the word "Remember".
It will take a bit of listening to the song closely to get the timing correct,
but once you get it, it's not that hard.
(same as intro, then..) "Remember we used to dance..."
|----0-0---0-0---8-8-8-8-----5---5-------------3-3-3---3-3-3------|
|.---1-1---1-1---8-8-8-8---8-8-8-8-------------3-3-3---3-3-3------|
|----2-2---2-2---x-x-x-x---0-0-0-0-------------0-0-0---0-0-0------|
|.---------------5-5-5-5---7-7-7-7---Dm--C------------------------|
|--0-----3---------------8-------------------2-------2------------|
|-------------------------(8)-------------------------------------|
Thumb
"What day is this.." "So what to do.."
|-----------------3-3-3----------------3-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-3--|
|-----------------3-3-3----------------3-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-3--|
|-----------------0-0-0----------------0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0--|
|--Dm---F---G---4-------Dm---F---G---4-------3----------------|
|----------------------------------------------------3--------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------|
"Well isn't it strange.."
|----3-3-3---3-3---3-3---3-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-3---|
|----3-3-3---3-3---3-3---3-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-3---3-3-3--.|
|----0-0-0---0-0---0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0---0-0-0---|Repeat
|----------4-----------------------------------4-------3--------.|
|--2-------------0-----3-------2-------2-------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
End on a the second G chord in the last section.
Tab by Brad Lewis
(bradley.w.lewis@vanderbilt.edu)
