♥ Add to my Songbook
Rooster Tab by Alice In Chains

Rooster tab by Alice In Chains

Guitar Tab

"Rooster," by Alice in Chains (written by Jerry Cantrell)
Tablature approximated to best of ability by Rob Goggins
(rob@praline.nrlssc.navy.mil)

There are two hard parts of this song. The first is to get the right
tuning--it's what I call the "drop F#" tuning--lower the G string 1/2
step to an F#. Whew, that was easy. The other hard part is notated later.

In addition, Alice in Chains detunes everything by 1/2 step, so the
actual tuning is (low freq to hi freq) Eb, Ab, Db, F, Bb, Eb. But I'm
going to pretend were using E, A, D, F#, B, E.  Here goes....

intro, verse:

        F#5     A5~Asus2
Eb-> E  02-0----5--0--0-
Bb-> B  02-0----5--0--0-
F--> F# 00-0----7--3--3-   repeat for duration of intro, 2 verses
Db-> D  44-4----7--2--2-   (Ain't found a way....leads me to nowhere)
Ab-> A  44-4----0--0--0-
Eb-> E  02-0----|-------

pre-chorus:

B       Asus2   F#5             B      Asus2
|-------0-------02-0----|-------|-------0-------
0-------0-------02-0----|-------0-------0-------
0-------3-------00-0----|-------0-------3-------
4-------2-------44-4----|-------4-------2-------
2-------0-------44-4----|-------2-------0-------
|-------|-------02-0----|-------|-------|-------
Here they come...               Yeah, here comes the Rooster...


chorus:

F#5     Asus2   F#5
02-0----0-------|--0----
02-0----0-------|--0----
00-0----3-------|--0---- repeated several times
44-4----2-------|--4----
44-4----0---4320|--4----
02-0----|-------0--0----
   ^    ^          ^
   |    |          |
   |    CRUNCH!    OBCRUNCH!
   CRUNCH!
        You know he ain't gonna die...


"interlude riff":

F#5     E       F#5     Asus2
|-------|-------|-------|-------
|-------|-------|-------|-------
|-------|-------|-------|------- repeat 2 more times
|-------|-------|-------|-------
2124----4--2--4-1-------|-------
2--2----0-------|20-----|-------
                        ^
                        |
                       ********************************************
                       *This is the hardest part of the song...   *
                       *the guitar plays nothing here, even though*
                       *you ache to crunch out an Asus2!          *
                       ********************************************

Come out into another pre-chorus, chorus, verse, pre-chorus, chorus,
and then outro. Don't step on any mines while playing (even though
it'd be COOL!).


enjoy

Last updated:

Please rate for accuracy!
🎸
Accuracy Rating: - Votes: -
Video/Audio

Other versions of Rooster by Alice In Chains

Alice In Chains tabs for Rooster

About this song

"Rooster" by Alice in Chains is a song from their second album, "Dirt," released in 1992. The song was written by guitarist Jerry Cantrell as a tribute to his father, who served in the Vietnam War. The main riff features Cantrell's signature use of drop D tuning, adding a heavy and dark tone to the song. The haunting vocals by Layne Staley and the dynamic shifts in the song contribute to its powerful and emotional impact.