First I want to give a brief overview of the chords. Even though I am only tabbing the Jerry parts, (mainly cause i don't know the Bobby parts in this song), I believe EVERY lead player, especially ala "Jerry" should be VERY familiar with all the changes so you can comfortably play over them (Arpeggios, melodies, scales, modes, etc.) Time: Estimated Prophet has a somewhat strange time signature. It is in 7/8. Now I know a few guitarists who argue that most of song is really alternating measures of 3/4 and 4/4 (One measure of 3/4 always followed by a measure of 4/4), so if this makes it easier for you to sort the tune out, go for it. Oh and the intro as well as the verse is all on one chord. And I believe that the time signature is reversed here. It appears to be 4/4 followed by 3/4 over and over again. Listen to the tune and work the riffs in, you will see how it works out: Use your Autowah, dynamic filter, T-Wah, Q-Tron, Mutron or whatever, throughout the song, including the modal jam at the end. Ok first the Chords: Intro: F#m (Play riff #1 over these for entirety) Remember the time signature of the tune See below for all the riffs. Verses: Also F#m, just like intro, but I caution all of you playing the Jerry parts, the trick is play VERY SPARSE HERE! For the most part you are just playing an F#m once, on the one beat of the two alternating measures. You will fan the strings, hitting all the strings on an exaggerated down stroke of the pick, and letting the Q-Tron sound opening, ring out over Bobby's vocals through the rest of the 2 measures. Sometimes Jerry will play a VERY LOW and unobtrusive, SPARSE kind of choppy rhythm, but most of what you hear in the verse, as far as guitar is the Bob-Meister! Verse part II: Every verse has this second part. In the middle of the verse, you will play riff #2, below. Note: The "second part" of the verse begins, at least on the first verse, with "Don't worry 'bout me no....na na na (something) know where I'll go Hehehehe can you tell I dont sing the Bobby parts? ;-) Chorus: Now starts the 3/4 followed by 4/4 time (3/4)[ G ] (4/4)[ G C ] (3/4)[ G ] 4/4[ F C ] (Repeat this four times in its entirety) See what I mean? I included the times at the beginning of each measure here to make it easier. Each chord(s) enclosed in brackets [ ] is one measure Oh and in the case of the second measure (the G to C chord), every time it is repeated (4 times)play the C chord (yes Jerry plays the chord here) hard and syncopated so you hit the C once on three, letting it ring out to the four! Listen to the song, VERY nice effect and Jerry uses this a lot even during his solo which is, by the way over the Chorus chords! For the fourth measure [F C], every time it repeats, you play an alternating picking style on the F and C. Here I use the open voicings of the chords. I will tab that out below also So we will call that riff # 3 After the first Chorus, go into the second verse and all the above (except for the intro) is repeated. Immediately after the second chorus you start the bridge (or hook...whatever :P ) And that begins with a repeat of the Chorus chords (in their entirety) Followed by what I will call riffs 4 & 5. Thats the "something something...we will rise to glory" parts hehehe I only know it as "ooooh" "Oohhhh" "fire wheel burning in the air....." "way up the middle of the air" cause thats the harmony I sing! So deal with it smart ass! :-P The second part of the bridge is this: You play riff 4 (see next post) which is really a signature set of licks over these chords: 3/4[ Dm ] 4/4[ Dm ] 3/4[ E7 ] 4/4[ E7 ] Play this 3 times followed by the next part which starts off with the two first measures of D minor, just like above (ie. 3/4[ Dm ] 4/4[ Dm ] ) and then moves on. Now what I am going to call Riff 5 is realy nothing but a series of simple, yet "complex sounding" arpeggio's over the next set of chords which is part of the bridge leading into the solo. So this next part is continuous with and following the "....he's gonna light my waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!" Again I will try to tab out this part next post because this is too long for the message board to handle. Also remember that my "brackets [ ] represent one measure and I put the time signature immeditely before the brackets because of the somewhat potentially confusing time sig. of the tune. 3/4[ F ] 4/4 [ A ] 3/4[ Am ] 4/4[ Cm ] 3/4[ Gm ] 4/4[ Bm ] 3/4 [ Fm ] 4/4[ Fm#5 Fm6] And then right into the solo, which, again is over the chorus chords over and over again. Tip: Remember the accents here! It is also very important to make your improvisation play around and sometimes even directly match the downbeats, especially the 2nd & 4th measure when you come on the C abruptly at first and more subtly after the F. often times when Jerry built up the solo he would play with "power triads" off the chords right over the band to hit a nice crescendo. Sometimes he would do the same things with the root note on the registers. After the solo the rest is cake. Get really quiet when you come back in, playing over the verse like you did the first two verses. THen when Bobby starts his "na na na na na na......" and his little vocal improv over the very end (as he did in later years) you play the intro (Riff #1) over this and this takes you out of the song. Then the modal jam at the end is just an F# Dorian mode (Which is really an E Major scale played from F# to F#). Also, you can use an F# minor blues (Even the passing flat 5 which is a C will be ok used sparingly). Also use F# minor pentatonic, F# Minor scale (just be careful with the D note over this modal jam because F#m is really all the notes from A major, and d is the 4th of A, but NOT diatonic to E major! and doesn't fit well at all) To be continued.....Next post will be my God Awful attempt at tab, which will more than likely be a mutilation of the nomenclature! Again, I REALLY APOLOGIZE! The good news is that I will make it clear, even if it sucks elephant tushy as far as tab writing goes. :-) ACK!!!!! Freaking figures I proof read like dogshit! Oh well. :-) I left out two measures and the corresponding chords on the second part of the bridge. They read like this: 3/4[ Bm ] 4/4[ Dm ]. Here is the entire part as it should read: 3/4[ F ] 4/4 [ A ] 3/4[ Bm ] 4/4[ Dm ] 3/4[ Am ] 4/4[ Cm ] 3/4[ Gm ] 4/4[ Bm ] 3/4 [ Fm ] 4/4[ Fm#5 Fm6] Tab Section: I have No idea if this tab diagram is upside down or not, so I labeled the strings. :-) Riff # 1 E------------------------------------------------- B------------------------------------------------- G----------------------2-------------------------- D-------------------------4--2-----4-------------- A--------------2---4------------4-----2--2-------- E--2---5---2--------------------------------5--2-- I only wrote one iteration of this riff but it is a seemless repetition. So the last note, the F#, indicated by the "2" on the top E string is actually the beginning, the first note, of the next time around. So realy the last note of the riff is A not F#. I only wrote it like this to show that you aren't missing a beat beginning the next iteration! PLay it with a live recording, you will see what I mean :) So the first note of the vocal part of the song, right on the "my" of "my time coming any day...." is either F# or, better yet, the "fanning" of that F#m Chord (first position) E---------2--------------------------------------- B---------2--------------------------------------- G---------2--------------------------------------- D---------4--------------------------------------- A---------4--------------------------------------- E---------2--------------------------------------- Riff # 2 Played and repeat riff, rhythmically, right over the second part of the verse "..Don't worry 'bout me no.....na na na I don't know where I'll go..." or whatever he is singing there :) E------------------------------------------------- B------------------------------------------------- G------------------------------------------------- D------------------------------------------------- A------------------2--4------------------------2-- E-2-2->0-2-0-2-2-5--------2--2->0--2--0--2-2--5--5 (The Arrows above are pull off's) Okay since I forgot about this little riff on the chorus I will call it riff # 2a and #2b, because I used the numbers 3, 4 and 5 already to designate other riffs, thats why! Sheesh whadda you stoo-pid or somethin'? :-) Play this right over the chorus. Note: the arrows just mean hit and slide to the indicated notes right away Riff 2a: Riff 2b: E--2--2--5->7--5--3--5 -2--2----------------8--- B--2--2--------------5 -2--2--12->10----10--9--- G--3--3--5->7--5--4--5 -3--3--12->10----10--10-- D--4--4--------------5 -4--4---------12--------- A--------------------3 ------------------------- E--------------------- ------------------------- In Riff 2A the first two chords are just G major and you can play the bar chord, triad or what I wrote. Also, the timing is like this: PLay the 2 strums on whatever G you use over (Again the arrows indicate pull off's) "California------" Then hit and slide to the rest of 2a on the "vocal rest" before "...preaching on the burning shores...". Oh and play that last part of 2a (The C major chord) by hitting once on the down beat and letting it ring out over the next beat. Play along with a recording, you will hear it. In Riff 2b you play the 2 strums on the G Major over "...California.." When it comes the second time in the chorus. Then play the rest before "...I'll be knocking on the golden door.". Oh and with 2b you can play it all with strums or you can do what I like to do. And thats "pluck" the strings you are hitting and sliding bakcwards and then pluck the last C Major triad as well.(This pucking is AFTER The 2 strums on G Major). Repeat 2a and 2b over the remainder of the chorus. On the last repeat though, only play 2a (not 2b) followed by what I guess I will now call (thats right you guessed it!) 2c! And this is played over "....Shine-------" No need to tab this. Just give it a listen. It is just the chords picked (G F C). Play the G and F as 1st position voicings and the C play an open chord C. After the second Chorus, the band goes around the chorus chords a second time, which is the beginning of what I guess I call the Bridge. "and You've all been asleep, and you will not believe me....." I guess the Jerry part is a lot simpler here because Jerry is singing more backup, and not between riffs. Like I said, all you are doing here is playing these chords 3/4[ G ] 4/4[ G C ] 3/4[ G ] 4/4[ F C ] with the same accents, only Jerry just kind of picks them. Here they are anyway: I guess I called this Riff #3: The 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th chords are all G Major and you should strum them as quarter notes, alternating up and down strokes. Listen you will hear it. the 4th chord written below (C major) you only hit once on the three and let it ring through the (Or the seven, letting it ring to the 8 if thats how you are looking at the time Signature. The 7th & 8th written (F & C) you need to strum rapidly, 4 times each as 16th notes, alternating up and down strokes, but gently or it will sound like Heavy metal. Again listen to a good live show! Oh and when learning Dead tunes PLEASE DO NOT use the studio albumn versions! They are okay but the Dead always improved on them later on. E----3--3--3---------3--3---1--------------------- B----3--3--3--5------3--3---1---1----------------- G----4--4--4--5------4--4---2--------------------- D----5--5--5--5------5--5---3---2----------------- A----5--5--5--3------5--5-------3----------------- E------------------------------------------------- Riff #4 Play this over the part of the bridge that starts with: "And I'll call down thunder and Speak the same-----!" begin it before the start of this line actually. E------------------------------------------------- B------------------------------------------------- G------------------------------------------------- D------------------------------------------------- A--5--5->3--5--3->5--5->3--2--0--7--7->5--7--5->7- E------------------------------------------------- This gets played completely 3 times (corresponding to the D Minor and E 7th chords written in the outline, second post I think. And then right into the arpeggio's. There is some variety to this part. For example, sometimes Jerry varies the hammer ons and pull offs. Also he would alternate playing an E7th Chord on the last note of one phrase, using that riff. Sometimes he would add grace notes between the iterations of this riff. The notes are easy to pick out and all very within reach of the above finger position so I will leave them to you to learn and improvise around. Usually they are riffs only involving the D & E on the A sring or the G on the D string. The 4th time just play the riff up till the open A then right into the "climbing" arpeggios Riff # 5 Again these will seem and sound more complicated than they really are. All you are playing are arpeggio's, all minors after the first two chords, which are majors. First I will give you the fingerings of the chord voicings Jerry used to play his arpeggio's and "noodle" his grace notes off of. Then The arpeggio's themselves. Remember these are just the structure chords that you WILL be playing off of so make sure to use these or very similar voicings. you will NOT be playing all the notes in most of the chords, especially the second measures in each cycle, just put your fingers here! :-) F A Bm Dm Am Cm Gm Bbm Fm Fm#5 Fm6 E--1--5--7--10--5---8--3----6---1---1----1-------- B--1--5--7--10--5---8--3----6---1---2----3-------- G--2--6--7--10--5---8--3----6---1---1----1-------- D--3--7--9--12--7--10--5----8---3---3----3-------- A--3--7------------------------------------------- E--1--5------------------------------------------- Oh, and don't get faked out by the fingerings of the last 2 chords (Fm#5 & Fm6) All you do is keep the same fingering of the Fm, which is like a bar chord "fragment", where your index finger frets all the 3 high strings notes and your ring finger the D string note (F). You will simply add your middle finger to the B string on the 3rd fret for the Fm#5 and then your pinky to the B string 3rd fret. See? Easy! :-) here I am going to play a typical simple run I might improvise along these changes. When going over this song, try to find a clean version of this part in a live show. Remember that this was a bit tricky and Jerry often fucked it up. So try to find a version that corresponds to at least a semblance of what I write here. One example that I highly recommend using for this song is the version of Estimated off of Englishtown NJ (I think that is also Dick's Picks 16, I have to look at my CD's). This is a very clean version and Jerry was right on these changes! Oh one thing, use another version for ideas on the solo though if you like jamming it out, because for some reason in this show Jerry doesn't really go too long. He just plays once or twice over the changes and right back into the vocals :-) F A Bm Dm E------------------ ------ -10-------------------- B------- ---------- ----7- ----13-10-------------- G------- ---------- --7--- -----------13->12->10-- D------3 --------7- 9----- ---------------------12 A----3-- ----4-7--- ------ ----------------------- E--1---- -5-------- ------ ----------------------- Am Cm E-------- -8-------------------------------------- B------5- ---11->10->8------8--------------------- G----5--- --------------10-----11->10->8---------- D--7----- --------------------------------10------ A-------- ---------------------------------------- E-------- ---------------------------------------- If you do these pull off's in that 2nd measure, they have to be very quick to fit into the 4/4 of the Cm chord, and proper timing is also essential! I think those pull off's are back to back 16th note triplates. Some of you may not play as fast as others. I have pretty quick fingers, so if you have trouble with the speed, practice it or work it out from a live version to match your skill level. Also, if you omit the two notes in the middle that arent pull offs(C & Eb), the riff is considerably easier. Gm Bbm Fm Fm#5 Fm6 E-------- -7---------------- ------ -------------- B------3- ---11-10---------- -----1 -2---2- -3---3 G----3--- ---------^8-8->6-- ---1-- ------- ------ D--5----- ----------------8- -3---- ---3--- ---3-- A-------- ------------------ ------ ------- ------ E-------- ------------------ ------ ------- ------ For the second measure (where the carat is) hit that note with the G string first bent up a half step to E. When you hit it, as E, you then unbend it so it is back to it's normal D# and pull off so that a C# plays (All 3 notes should sound). So you play three notes, E D#, C#. This is NOT written in stone. PLay any variation of these common themes and riffs you like. From the Fm6 you slide smoothly right into the solo over the Chorus chords! Whew! That was A lot of work! PLease feel free to correct all the mutilations of my alleged Guitar Tab. And if there are mistakes let me know as well! I know the tune pretty well though, so mistakes are probably typo's. Hope you find this helpful! PAUL! P.S. If anyone needs help with the modal jam, after the tune, lemme know.