Come As You Are Tabs

Playing Come As You Are on Guitar: A Practical Guide

Grunge gear isn't actually that expensive to replicate. The main riff from Come As You Are sits in E minor, uses a flatpick strum pattern that doesn't vary much between sections, and relies on a chorus pedal for the signature sound. I've been teaching this song to students for years because it's one of the first songs where someone can play something that actually sounds like the record without needing to read music or understand theory. The standard tab uses E minor pentatonic shapes across the bottom three strings with occasional double stops higher up the neck. Your first fret ring finger hits F on the B string, your pinky takes G at the third fret of the A string, and your middle finger covers the D note on the second fret of the G string. That's basically the whole song. The verse and chorus are the same chord progression. The bridge section just moves that shape two frets up to F minor.

Where to Find Come As You Are Tabs

Ultimate-Guitar.com has the top-rated version with around 47,000 views and a rating of 4.2 out of 5. The main tab shows the riff in standard tuning with the chorus effect indicated by a note about using a Boss CE-2 or similar pedal. There's also a simplified version without the bass line if you're playing solo. Songsterr has an interactive version that plays along at 95 BPM, which helps with timing. I usually recommend starting on Songsterr to get the rhythm right before moving to the static tab on Ultimate-Guitar for the full arrangement. The hardest part people struggle with is actually the chorus effect itself. You can fake it by using a flanger pedal set to slow rate and medium depth, or a chorus pedal. If you don't have either, the nearest free plugin alternative is Valhalla Chorus at the free tier. It's not identical to the Korg SDD-300 that Nirvana used, but it gets you 80 percent there. I spent about three weeks trying to nail the exact tone before realizing the riff works fine even if your gear isn't perfect. One issue nobody mentions: the original recording uses a Fender Jazzmaster through a Marshall JCM 800 with the gain rolled back to about 3 out of 10. That low-gain setting is why the notes stay clean enough for the chorus to be clearly audible. If you cranked your amp gain like most beginners do, the modulation effect disappears into distortion. Turn your gain down first, then add effects on top.

For the actual tab notation, the main riff repeats as a four-bar phrase: Verse riff (E minor):
e|---0--1--3--1--0-----------------|
B|---0--1--3--1--0-----------------|
G|---0--2--3--2--0-----------------|
D|---2--3--3--3--2-----------------|
A|---2-----------------------------|
E|---0-----------------------------| That pattern plays through the verse and chorus identically. The bridge shifts everything up one fret for the F minor feel, then drops back down for the final chorus. No solos, no complicated transitions, just that one shape moving around.

If you want the bass tab, it follows a simple E-A-D pattern mostly on the first three frets of the E and A strings. Dave Grohl's drum part is basic 4/4 with emphasis on the snare at the two and four counts. Nothing fancy there either. The song runs about 3 minutes and 39 seconds at the original tempo of 95 BPM. When you're practicing, start at 75 BPM and work your way up. Most people can pick it up in about two weeks of daily practice, maybe a month if they're new to bar chords and switching between open shapes and fretted positions. That's honestly all there is to it. It's a simple song recorded with a specific tone that doesn't require expensive equipment. Learn the tab, dial in some chorus, and you're good.