Mellencamp John

Mellencamp John - Jack And Diane guitar tab

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[two versions in different positions]

From: dbw@svl.cdc.com (Dave Woerner)

Jack and Diane

John Mellencamp

Thanks to Stuart Hamilton down under for reminding me what at great

guitar song this is.  It's pretty simple, but very tasty - one of

my all-time favorites.  I play it on solo acoustic, but, of course,

to do it right, you need an electric too.

I'm using his post as a guide since it contains the words and chords. I

hope everyone that was interested got a copy of it.

Everything here was taken from the record by ear so I'm sure it's

no exact...but it's real close.  The main difference between this

and Stuart's are the chord formations.  I tried to represent the timing

accurately, but there are limitations here (both in the idiom and the

time I have to spend on it).  You can get an idea by counting the '-'s,

but some of it wasn't cleanly on the beat.  Playing along with the song

is the only way to get it perfect.

Power intro (distorted electric guitar)

  A       E   A E D

E:5-------4---5-4-2-------------------------------------------------------

B:5-------5---5-5-3-------------------------------------------------------

G:6-------4---6-4-2-------------------------------------------------------

D:7-------6---7-6-0--00---00--00--play 3 times----------------------------

A:0-------0---0-0-0-------------------------------------------------------

E:------------------------------------------------------------------------

(I don't hear the hammer-ons (hammer's on?) Stuart posted here.  I think

the acoustic is just hitting powerful D notes here.  The timing varies a

little with each one - you'll have to listen and mimic for yourself)

Power ending (distorted electric guitar)

  A  E  E A  EA E D

E:5--4--4-5--45-4-2-------------------------------------------------------

B:5--5--5-5--55-5-3-------------------------------------------------------

G:6--4--4-6--46-4-2-------------------------------------------------------

D:7--6--6-7--67-6-0--00---00-0000-repeat and fade-------------------------

A:0--0--0-0--00-0-0-------------------------------------------------------

E:------------------------------------------------------------------------

Verse (Little ditty...)

Play the E and D with the index finger barring the highest three strings.

  A  E    D  E AE A  E    D E A

E:5754-44-2-24-54-5754-44-2-4-5-55----------------------------------------

B:5--5-55-3-35-55-5--5-55-3-5-5-55----------------------------------------

G:6--4-44-2-24-64-6--4-44-2-4-6-66------repeat----------------------------

D:7--6-66-4-46-76-7--6-66-4-6-7-77----------------------------------------

A:------------------------------------------------------------------------

E:------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chorus (Oh yeah life goes on...)

  A  E    D  E    A  E    D   E

E:5754-44-2-24-44-5754-44-2-2-4-44----------------------------------------

B:5--5-55-3-35-55-5--5-55-3-3-5-55----------------------------------------

G:6--4-44-2-24-44-6--4-44-2-2-4-44----------------------------------------

D:7--6-66-4-46-66-7--6-66-4-4-6-66----------------------------------------

A:------------------------------------------------------------------------

E:------------------------------------------------------------------------

  A  E    D  E    A  E    D   E

E:5754-44-2-24-44-5754-44-2-4-5-55----------------------------------------

B:5--5-55-3-35-55-5--5-55-3-5-5-55----------------------------------------

G:6--4-44-2-24-44-6--4-44-2-4-6-66----------------------------------------

D:7--6-66-4-46-66-7--6-66-4-6-7-77----------------------------------------

A:------------------------------------------------------------------------

E:------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cool interlude:  This is the best part of the song...Stuart calls the D

an Asus4.  His are good chords, but I think they are played up the neck.

Barre the A with your index finger.  The D and A use the same barre -

don't move your index finger between A and D.  The E is the same formation

as the D.  Slide up to the E the first time.  Neither E string is played

here.  Also, the consecutive D's are damped, that is, let up on the left

hand pressure after hitting the chords.  They also are slightly

off the beat - you'll just have to listen to the record.

  ADAE    D  E    ADAE    D   A

E:------------------------------------------------------------------------

B:2325-55-3-35-75-2325-55-3-3-2-------------------------------------------

G:2224-44-2-24-44-2224-44-2-2-2-------------------------------------------

D:2426-66-4-46-66-2426-66-4-4-2-------------------------------------------

A:0000-00-0-00-00-0000-00-0-0-0-------------------------------------------

E:------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, I've spent too much time on this already.  I think with this

and the previous post (and the record) most people should be able

to impress their friends with this song.

good luck,

Dave

The last person left on earth with no CD player.

SONG           : Jack and Diane

ARTIST         : John Cougar Mellencamp

ALBUM          : American Fool (Track 2)

TRANSCRIBED BY : Mike Cole (mcole@sedona.intel.com)

SONG STRUCTURE

GUITAR   GUITAR PART    REPEAT    LYRICS AT START

------   -----------    ------    ---------------

I        Riff    1a       3x          

II       Rhythmn 1a       2x      Little ditti about Jack...

III      Rhythmn 2        1x

II       Rhythmn 1a       2x      Suckin' on a chili dog...

II       Rhythmn 1b       1x      Oh yeah, life goes on...

I        Riff    1a       2x

II       Rhythmn 1a       2x      Jackie sits back; collects...

II       Rhythmn 1b       1x

         Tacit

III      Rhythmn 2        1x

II       Rhythmn 1b       1x      Oh yeah, life goes on...

II       Fill    1        1x      Little ditti about Jack...

I        Riff    1b       4x

Let all chords ring, unless noted.

GUITAR I

--------

Distorted electric guitar.

Riff 1a:

     A                         E/A          A    E/A       D

e-|--------------------------|--------------------------|-----|-----|

B-|-10-----------------------|--9----------10-----9-----|--7--|-----|

G-|--9-----------------------|--9-----------9-----9-----|--7--|-----|

D-|-11-----------------------|--9----------11-----9-----|--7--|-----|

A-|--0-----------------------|--0-----------0-----0-----|--0--|-----|

E-|--------------------------|--------------------------|-----|-----|

                                                           *

Riff 1b:

     A       E/A                A       E/A    A    E/A       D

e-|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------|-----|

B-|-10--------9--------9-----|-10--------9----10-----9--|-(9)-7--|-----|

G-|--9--------9--------9-----|--9--------9-----9-----9--|-(9)-7--|-----|

D-|-11--------9--------9-----|-11--------9----11-----9--|-(9)-7--|-----|

A-|--0--------0--------0-----|--0--------0-----0-----0--|-(0)-0--|-----|

E-|--------------------------|--------------------------|--------|-----|

                                                              *

* = Deaden after 1 beat

GUITAR II

---------

This is an acoustic guitar capoed at the 2nd fret.  A good clue for

figuring this out is the recognizable D-Dsus4-D chord progression,

which happens to be a whole-tone sharp.  As usual for capoed guitar

parts, I have given fret numbers relative to the capo and named chords

as if they were being played in standard tuning.

Rhythmn 1a:

     G        D  Dsus4 D        C           D  Dsus4 D

f#|--3--3--3--2-----3--2-----|--0-----0-----2-----3--2--|

C#|--3--3--3--3-----3--3-----|--1-----1-----3-----3--3--|

A-|--0--0--0--2-----2--2-----|--0-----0-----2-----2--2--|

E-|--0--0--0--0-----0--0-----|--2-----2-----0-----0--0--|

B-|--2--2--2-----------------|--3-----3-----------------|

F#|--3--3--3-----------------|--------------------------|

     G        D  Dsus4 D        C     D     G

f#|--3--3--3--2-----3--2-----|--0-----2-----3-----3--3--|

C#|--3--3--3--3-----3--3-----|--1-----3-----3-----3--3--|

A-|--0--0--0--2-----2--2-----|--0-----2-----0-----0--0--|

E-|--0--0--0--0-----0--0-----|--2-----0-----0-----0--0--|

B-|--2--2--2-----------------|--3-----------2-----2--2--|

F#|--3--3--3-----------------|--------------3-----3--3--|

Rhythmn 1b:

Same as above except that the first two bars are played 3 times

before playing bars 3 & 4 (i.e. 1 2 1 2 1 2 3 4).

Fill 1:

This may not be 100% accurate, but it's pretty close.  I find it

easiest to play this part using my thumb and fingers on my right hand

(no pick).

f#|--------------------------|--------------------------|

C#|--3-----D-----3-----3-----|--3-----D-----3-----3-----|

A-|--0-----D-----2--------2--|--0-----D-----2--------2--|

E-|--------------------------|--0-----D-----------------|

B-|--2-----D-----0-----------|--------------0-----------|

F#|--------------------------|--3-----D-----------------|

f#|--------------------------|--------------------------|

C#|--3-----D-----3-----3-----|--3-----D-----3-----------|

A-|--0-----D-----2-----2-----|--0-----D-----0-----------|

E-|--------------------------|--2-----D-----0-----------|

B-|--2-----D-----0-----------|--------------------------|

F#|--------------------------|--3-----D-----3-----------|

D = Deaden string with right hand

GUITAR III

----------

This acoustic guitar is playing the same chords used in the Riffs.

The open A string is definitely present, which means the guitar is not

capoed.  If you want to play this part on guitar II, I would suggest

playing the low A chord using a standard barre shape, 5776xx (these

are actual frets, not relative to the capo).  For the rest of the

chords, play what's given below without the open A string.

Rhythmn 2:

     A          E/A    A E/A    D          E/A    A E/A

e-|--------------------------|--------------------------|

B-|--2--2--2--2-/9----10--9--|--7-----7-----9----10--9--|

G-|--2--2--2--2-/9-----9--9--|--7-----7-----9-----9--9--|

D-|--2--2--2--2-/9----11--9--|--7-----7-----9----11--9--|

A-|--0--0--0--0-(0)----0--0--|--0-----0-----0-----0--0--|

E-|--------------------------|--------------------------|

     A          E/A    A E/A    D           A

e-|--------------------------|--------------------------|

B-|--2--2--2--2-/9----10--9--|--7-----7-----2--------X--|

G-|--2--2--2--2-/9-----9--9--|--7-----7-----2--------X--|

D-|--2--2--2--2-/9----11--9--|--7-----7-----2--------X--|

A-|--0--0--0--0-(0)----0--0--|--0-----0-----0--------X--|

E-|--------------------------|--------------------------|

X = Left hand muting

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