Dave Matthews Some Devil Tab

Playing Some Devil on Guitar

The riff in Some Devil is built around a simple Cadd9 to Am7 progression played with alternating bass notes and a high E hammer-on pattern. It sounds complicated because Dave layers things densely, but the core pattern is actually pretty repetitive. Once you lock in your right hand rhythm, the left hand mostly just stays in one position. I use a pick between my thumb and index finger, medium gauge strings (.011-.049). That tension helps the open D string ring out cleanly when you're rolling across it during the verses. Flatpicking alone works fine, but a little fingerstyle hybrid gives you more control over which notes stay loud and which ones fade into the background.

Where to Find the Dave Matthews Some Devil Tab

Most of the free tabs online for this song are either wrong or incomplete. The ones on Songsterr have the main riff accurate but miss the second half of the bridge. Ultimate-Guitar has a version that claims to be pro but the chord changes are off by a bar or two in places. I ended up just learning it by ear and writing my own tab out because the timing is really important here. If you want an official source, Musicnotes has a properly transcribed sheet music version that includes the actual chord voicings Dave uses rather than simplified versions. It costs about three dollars but it saves you from guessing at the harmony. Here is the main riff in standard tab notation:

Cadd9: x32033
Am7: x02010
G: 320000
Fmaj7: 133211 The pattern goes Cadd9 - Am7 - G - Fmaj7 and loops. In the verse, Dave plays the top two strings (high E and B) with a repeating figure that hooks onto the C string on the third fret. Try playing just the bass note with your thumb and then picking the high E string with your index finger. Once that feels natural, add the hammer-on from the open high E to the first fret. One thing nobody really mentions in these tabs is the palm muting. In the chorus, the strumming hand should be resting lightly on the strings near the bridge to deaden the sustain. Without it, the chorus sounds muddy and bloated. With it, you get that tight punchy sound that makes the whole section drive forward. I spent about two weeks trying to get this right because every video I watched showed the hands moving too fast to see what was actually happening.

The bridge is where most people give up. It modulates to D major for a few bars then slides back. The tab usually shows D - A/C- Bm - F#m7b5 - G, but the actual sound has a Dadd9 flavor with the high Fon top. If you play a plain D major shape, it will sound flat compared to the record. Open the D shape by lifting your ring finger off the third fret of the high E string. That tiny change makes it match what is actually on the album. I also recommend learning the bass line separately before you try combining it with everything else. Daniel Lanois plays a walking bass part in the intro and verse that moves independently from the guitar chords. If you are playing solo, you need to pick those bass notes with your thumb while your fingers handle the upper strings. Start slow, maybe 60 beats per minute, and work up from there. Most people rush this and end up with a sloppy mess. The song runs in standard tuning, four-four time, around 96 beats per minute. There is a partial capo on the second fret that Dave uses for certain sections, so if your tab says capo two, that is referring to that. Don't confuse it with a full capo placement unless the tab specifically calls for it.

Here is a practical tip that took me forever to figure out: record yourself playing the verse riff on your phone and listen back at half speed. You will immediately hear which notes are getting crushed or blurred together. Your fingers feel like they are doing the right thing, but the recording tells a different story. This cut my practice time down significantly because I stopped wasting hours reinforcing bad habits. The outro fades out with the same Cadd9-Am7-G-Fmaj7 progression but gradually simplifies until only the high E string hammer-on pattern remains. Some tabs include unnecessary fills here that are not in the original. Stick to the basic pattern and let it breathe. The song is long enough without padding it out. If you run into trouble with the Fmaj7 barre, you can use the simplified version x33211 which drops the low F on the sixth string. It sounds fine in context and takes way less finger strength. Dave uses both versions throughout the song depending on what else is happening in the arrangement.