To Be Alone With You – Sufjan Stevens
Tabbed by: D.H.
Email: dreq10@gmail.com
Every tab I’ve ever seen of this song has used the same chords, and I always
felt like they never sounded the same as when Sufjan plays it live or on
his album. So, I sat down and made this tab by watching videos of him
playing it live. I’m 95% sure that the chords are the same he uses. Other
tabs have you playing chords on the higher strings, but I think playing it
on lower strings really adds to the feeling of the song.
I’ve seen him play it with a capo on both the fourth and fifth frets, but on
the album the capo is on the third. So just put it wherever you like the
sound I guess. I’m not sure why he changes it up so much, maybe he just gets bored.
Sufjan plays the song by alternating down and up-strokes with his thumb, and
the pad and fingernail of his index finger. Check out a live video to get an
idea. It really helps reproduce his sound.
He also adds lots of little intricacies to the chords as he plays them. I
think he improvises them, ’cause they’re different almost every time.
Because of that, I didn’t try to tab them. As you play the song more you can
develop your own version.
Lastly, there’s a second guitar that comes in for the rest of the song after
the first chorus that I didn’t tab. It does some solo picking on about the
same chords that Sufjan is strumming.
Tuning: Standard
Capo: Album Version – 3rd, Live Version – 4th or 5th. Tab relative to capo.
Intro/ First Verse (6x):
|————————-|————————|
|————————-|————————|
|——–5–5—-5–5–5–|——-5–5—-5–5–5–|
|——–3–3—-3–3–0–|——-2–2—-2–2–0–|
|——–x–x—-x–x–0–|——-x–x—-x–x–0–|
|—5—-5–5—-5–5–5–|–5—-5–5—-5–5–5–|
******** First 5 Times**|
|————————-|————————|
|————————-|————————|
|——–4–4—-4–4–4–|——-2–2—-0–0–0–|
|——–0–0—-0–0–0–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|——–2–2—-2–2–0–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|—3—-3–3—-3–3–0–|–1—-1–1—-0–0–0–|
************************************** 6th Time **|
|————————-|————————|
|————————-|————————|
|——–2–2—-2–2–2–|——-2–2—-2–2–2–|
|——–3–3—-3–3–3–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|——–3–3—-3–3–3–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|—1—-1–1—-1–1–1–|–1—-1–1—-1–1–1–|
Chorus (1x):
|————————-|————————|
|——–1–1—-1–1–1–|——-1–1—-1–1–1–|
|——–0–0—-0–0–0–|——-0–0—-0–0–0–|
|——–2–2—-2–2–2–|——-2–2—-2–2–2–|
|——–3–3—-3–3–3–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|—3—-3–3—-3–3–3–|–3—-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|————————-|————————|
|————————-|————————|
|——–2–2—-2–2–2–|——-2–2—-2–2–2–|
|——–3–3—-3–3–3–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|——–3–3—-3–3–3–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|—1—-1–1—-1–1–1–|–1—-1–1—-1–1–1–|
|————————-|————————|
|——–1–1—-1–1–1–|——-1–1—-1–1–1–|
|——–2–2—-2–2–2–|——-2–2—-2–2–2–|
|——–2–2—-2–2–2–|——-2–2—-2–2–2–|
|—0—-0–0—-0–0–0–|–0—-0–0—-0–0–0–|
|————————-|————————|
|————————-|————————|
|——–3–3—-3–3–3–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|——–2–2—-2–2–2–|——-2–2—-2–2–2–|
|——–0–0—-0–0–0–|——-0–0—-0–0–0–|
|——–x–x—-x–x–x–|——-x–x—-x–x–x–|
|—2—-2–2—-2–2–2–|–2—-2–2—-2–2–2–|
|————————-|————————|
|————————-|————————|
|——–2–2—-2–2–2–|——-2–2—-2–2–2–|
|——–3–3—-3–3–3–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|——–3–3—-3–3–3–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|—1—-1–1—-1–1–1–|–1—-1–1—-1–1–1–|
**************** End of First Chorus *************|
|————————-|————————|
|——–1–1—-1–1—–|——pause for———|
|——–0–0—-0–0—–|——-entire ———-|
|——–2–2—-2–2—–|———-bar———–|
|——–3–3—-3–3—–|————————|
|—3—-3–3—-3–3—–|————————|
(At the end of the second chorus, skip these two
measures and go straight to the outro)
Bridge/Second Verse: Same as Intro/First Verse
Second Chorus: Same as First Chorus, minus the last two bars
Outro (3x):
|————————-|————————|
|——–1–1—-1–1–1–|——-1–1—-1–1–1–|
|——–2–2—-2–2–2–|——-2–2—-2–2–2–|
|——–2–2—-2–2–2–|——-2–2—-2–2–2–|
|—0—-0–0—-0–0–0–|–0—-0–0—-0–0–0–|
|————————-|————————|
|——–3–3—-3–3–3–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|——–3–3—-3–3–3–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|——–0–0—-0–0–0–|——-0–0—-0–0–0–|
|——–0–0—-0–0–0–|——-0–0—-0–0–0–|
|—2—-2–2—-2–2–2–|–2—-2–2—-2–2–2–|
|————————-|————————|
|————————-|————————|
|————————-|————————|
|——–2–2—-2–2–2–|——-2–2—-2–2–2–|
|——–3–3—-3–3–3–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|——–3–3—-3–3–3–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|—1—-1–1—-1–1–1–|–1—-1–1—-1–1–1–|
***** First 2 Times *** |
|————————-|————————|
|————————-|————————|
|——–2–2—-2–2–2–|——-2–2—-2–2–2–|
|——–3–3—-3–3–3–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|——–3–3—-3–3–3–|——-3–3—-3–3–3–|
|—1—-1–1—-1–1–1–|–1—-1–1—-1–1–1–|
********* 3rd Time ******|
|————————-|
|————————-|
|————————-|
|————————-|
|————————-|
|—1———————|