Mastodon - Elephant Man Chords & Tabs

Transcribed By: (J. Merrick)


.  - palm mute           /  - slide up to
\  - slide down to       ~  - vibrato
h  - hammer on           b  - Bend
p  - pull off            Suffixes for bend
t  - tap                 f  - full bend    h - half bend
ph - pinched harmonic    q  - quarter bend t - tap bend
*  - see comment         ^  - Hold bend    r release bend
x  - Stuccatto           ~  - vibrato bend
,  - slight palm mute    () - ghost note, sustained note
"  - tremolo note        <> - Trill

Tuning standard down one whole step D G C F A D
This is exactly the way Brent showed me how to play it.
There are a few sections to the song which I have tabbed
individually rather than the whole song.
he sequence is obvious when you listen to the song.

Intro
Play loosely, letting the open strings ring
|---------------0-------------------0---------|
|-------12--------12---------12--------12-----|
|-----0-----0--------------0-----0------------|
|---9--------------------9--------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|

|-----------------0-----------------0---------|
|----------10-------10--------10------10------|
|-------0-----0-------------0-----0-----------|
|----7--------------------7-------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------|


Then strum when the drums come in
|------0--0--0----0--0--0--0--------0---------|
|------0--0--0----0--0--0--0--------0---------|
|------4--4--4----2--2--2--2-/--4-------------|
|------5--5--5----3--3--3--3-/--5-------------|
|------7--7--7----5--5--5--5-/--7-------------|
|--0------------------------------------------|
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/m/mastodon/elephant_man_tab.html ]
|------0--0--0----0--------------------------------|
|------0--0--0----0--------------------------------|
|------4--4--4----2--------------------------------|
|------5--5--5----3------------0----0----0-----2---|
|------7--7--7----5----------5---4----2-----0------|
|--0-------------------- 0--5----------------------|

|------0--0--0----0--0--0--0--------0---------|
|------0--0--0----0--0--0--0--------0---------|
|------4--4--4----2--2--2--2-/--4-------------|
|------5--5--5----3--3--3--3-/--5-------------|
|------7--7--7----5--5--5--5-/--7-------------|
|--0------------------------------------------|

|------0--0--0----0--------------------------------------|
|------0--0--0----0--------------------------------------|
|------4--4--4----2--------------------------------------|
|------5--5--5----3------------0---0---0----0-----2------|
|------7--7--7----5----------5---5---4----2-----0--------|
|--0-------------------- 0-5-----------------------------|

Then strum this chord sequence
    F         C     Bb      Am       G       F
|------------------------------------3-------1------------|
|--10-------5-------3--------1-b-----3-------1------------|
|--10-------5-------3--------2-b-----4-------2------------|
|--10-------5-------3--------2-b-----5-------3------------|
|---8-------3-------1--------0-------5-------3------------|
|------------------------------------3-------1------------|

First solo
|---12h13p12--10-12-10-8-7h8p7--5-7-5-3-----------------|
|---------------------------------------3~ 5-6-5-6------|
|-------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------|

|-------------------------------------------------------|
|---5h6p5--3-5-3--1-0h1p0-------------------------------|
|-------------------------2-4-2-------------------------|  X2
|-------------------------------5-0-2-3-2-3-------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------|

Brent improvised the second, end solo in one take. He told me not even
he could tab it accurately! So you'll have to work it out yourselves...