CAT STEVENS - "if i laugh" Tablature
Official CAT STEVENS Tablature & Sheet Music »
The song is played with a flatpick in open D tuning
(DADF#AD low to high). The basic technique is to
pick the melody while strumming the chords. If
you have trouble finding the chords in open D, let
me know and I'll try to find some more time for this.
It's such a great guitar tune I didn't want the
request to go unanswered.
Intro:
Where there is a full chord, you go into a strumming
pattern...you'll have to listen to the record if
you want to duplicate the Cat Stevens sound.
h s
D :4-5-|7-------|------54|575-----|--------|-
A :----|0-------|--------|555-----|--------|-
F#:----|0-------|--------|555-----|--------|-
D :----|0-------|--------|555-----|--------|-
A :----|0-------|--------|--------|--------|-
D :----|0-------|--------|--------|--------|-
D :7--97---|5--75---|--50--40|202-----|-
A :7---7---|5---5---|--5---0-|0-0-----|-
F#:7---7---|5---5---|-5---3--|1-1-----|-
D :7---7---|5---5---|5---4---|2-2-----|-
A :--------|--------|--------|--------|-
D :--------|--------|--------|----0---|-
The song:
The song starts out like the intro and stays in
a strumming pattern while picking out the melody
on the high strings.
Interlude:
This should be played with a flatpick, alternating
up and down strokes on each successive note even
though each note is on a different string. This
is a *very* useful technique - and this is a nice
piece to practice it on. So, for the first two
measures below, the first note of each "group" of
notes (the normal D string) is picked down, the
second note (the G string tuned down to F#) is
picked with an up stroke, and so on. At the end,
you end up flowing into the strumming thing you
did at the end of the intro.
D :---0---0|---0---0|---0---0|--------|-
A :--2---2-|--4---4-|--2---0-|---0---0|-
F#:-1---1--|-3---3--|-1---0--|--0---0-|-
D :2---2---|4---4---|2---0---|-2---1--|-
A :--------|--------|--------|3---2---|-
D :--------|--------|--------|--------|-
D :---0---0|---0---0|---0---0|---0---0|-
A :--2---2-|--4---4-|--2---2-|--4---4-|-
F#:-1---1--|-3---3--|-1---1--|-3---3--|-
D :2---2---|4---4---|2---2---|4---4---|-
A :--------|--------|--------|--------|-
D :--------|--------|--------|--------|-
D :---0---0|---0---0|---0---0|---7---5|-
A :--2---2-|--4---4-|--2---0-|--7---5-|-
F#:-1---1--|-3---3--|-1---0--|-7---5--|-
D :2---2---|4---4---|2---0---|7---5---|-
A :--------|--------|--------|--------|-
D :--------|--------|--------|--------|-
D :--50--40|202-----|-
A :--5---0-|0-0-----|-
F#:-5---3--|1-1-----|-
D :5---4---|2-2-----|-
A :--------|--------|-
D :--------|----0---|-
Dave
This musical interpretation has been removed due to a legal threat from Moses & Singer LLP,
representing the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) and
The Music Publisher's Association of the United States (MPA).
Unfortunately, these threats are fueled by greed and being masked by a "copyright infringement." They claim tab sites are
"hurting the songwriters," but it's a known fact that the publishing companies garner most of the
revenue. Instead, they would prefer you to purchase the
official CAT STEVENS tablature
which is an option we've always given our users. And due to the highly error-prone nature of tabs on the internet, many choose to go this route.
These companies also do not realize that tablature sites help to promote their artists.
For more information on this onslaught, you can read the
NY Times Article.
We hope one of the larger tablature sites will have the money to fight this. Until then, we urge you all to keep tabbing songs and sharing them in any way you can.
Return to CAT STEVENS Tablature »
Official CAT STEVENS Tablature & Sheet Music »