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Tie up My Hands

 Complimentary "Tie up My Hands" Ringtone 

/------------------------------------------------------------------------------\
 |   ARTIST : Starsailor                                                        |
 |    ALBUM : Love Is Here                                                      |
 |     SONG : Tie Up My Hands                                                   |
 |------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | Credits:                                                                     |
 |                                                                              |
 | Tablature by : Shawn Smalley                                                 |
 |       E-Mail : ssmalley@smsdesign.net                                        |
 |      Website : http://www.smsdesign.net/~ssmalley/                           |
 | Last version : April 8, 2003                                                 |
 |------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
 | Disclaimer:                                                                  |
 | I am, in no way, affiliated with the artist or record company in any way.    |
 | This tablature is independently made and intended for private use only. It   |
 | is not intended for any public use or for financial gain. It may be freely   |
 | distributed so long as this header remains intact. Any comments,             |
 | corrections, or suggestions, including other versions of this song, are      |
 | appreciated. This is my first tab, and I would enjoy some feedback on it.    |
 \------------------------------------------------------------------------------/

This song is in the key of A Major, with a capo on the third fret. All finger
positions and chord charts are relative to the capo, of course. The recorded
version of the song was done with an acoustic. However, the song sounds
great either on an electric or an acoustic, whichever is your preference.
Personally, I think intreasing the treble on an electric and playing the picking
part makes the song sound eerie and distant. For a closer-to-the-original feel,
this works best on an acoustic, though.

The intro picking part works best keeping your hand in the position for Am, which
is with your ring and middle finger covering fret 2 on the D and G strings and
leaving your index finger open for hammering on fret 1 on the b string. Aside from
the hammering motion, all movement will be opening and closing from fret 2 to open
on both D and G strings. Roughly transcribed, it will appear something like the
tablature below. You may wish to play around with combinations to add your own
touch, or, for fun, figure out this part on your own using A major as the base.

E---------------------------------------------------------------------------
A--------0---0^h1---0-----------------------0---0^h1---0--------------------
D----2------------------2---0---2-------2------------------2---0---2--------
G------2---2------------------------2-----2---2-------------------------2---
b--0--------------0---0---0---0---0---0--------------0---0---0---0---0----0-
e---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Followed by this (x2) after the first repeat:

E--------------------------:
A--------------------------:
D--2-----2-----2-----2-----:
G----2^0---2^0---2^0---2^0-:
b--------------------------:
e--------------------------:

Or this after the second repeat:

E--------------------------:
A--1-----1-----0-----0-----:
D----2^0---2^0---2^0---0^2-:
G--------------------------:
b--------------------------:
e--------------------------:

Also, at the end of the intro, just before the chorus, there is a different pattern
which goes like this:

E-------------------------0-----0-----------------
A---------------------------1-----1---3^0---3^0---
D-2-----2-----2-----2---------2-----2-----1-----1-
G---2^0---2^0---2^0---2^0-------------------------
b-------------------------------------------------
e-------------------------------------------------

When the chorus begins, you will switch from a picking or fingering style
(depending on your own personal taste) and move on to the strumming part, which is
a four-chord structure as shown below. Listen to the song as you practice to get
your own strumming pattern down. The chords go in order as they are below. Most of
the fingering positions are simple transitions from the Am hand position, and are
pretty smooth to pull off. Chord names are rough due to the position of the capo.

    Am   E    F    C
E---x----0----0----x----
A---0----2----0----3----
D---2----2----3----2----
G---2----1----2----0----
b---1----0----1----1----
e---0----0----1----0----

Also, the very last note of the song is a single strum in Am. There are a few changes
here and there, as far as the picking part goes in various parts of the song, so
listening to it as you play will help you get the pattern down. That is as much of the
song as is needed to play around with and get your own style down. Experiment a little
using variations until it sounds right to you. I usually add a few extra hammers and
pull-offs on occasion just for character.