Ants Marching - Dave Matthews Band
00:00 / 00:00
Tabs and lyrics
Tunning: Standard (E A D G B e)
[Intro]
(Violin transcribed for guitar)
e|-------------------------------------------|
B|-10-----10-----10-----10-----10--10--10--10|
G|-10h11--10h11--10h11--10h11--12--12--12--12|
D|-------------------------------------------|
A|-------------------------------------------|
E|-------------------------------------------|

[Verses]
(Main Riff)
"He wakes up in the morning"
e|-2-----------------3-----------------|
B|-3-----------------3-----------------|
G|-2-----------------0-----------------|
D|-0------4-----4----0------5-----5h7p5| (x2)
A|-0--4h5---4h5---5--2--4/5---4/5------|
E|-2-----------------3-----------------|

[Chorus]
"Take These Chances Place Them In A Box Until A..."
e|-2-----------------3-----------------|
B|-3-----------------3-----------------|
G|-2-----------------0-----------------|
D|-0------4-----4----0------5-----5h7p5|
A|-0--4h5---4h5---5--2--4/5---4/5------|
E|-2-----------------3-----------------|

"Quieter Time Lights Down You Up And Die"
e|-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-3-2-0|
B|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-2|
G|-4-4-4-2-2-2-0-0-0-4-2|
D|-4-4-4-0-0-0-0-0-0-4-2|
A|-2-2-2-0-0-0-2-2-2-2-0|
E|-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-3-2-0|

[Verse 2]
"Goes To Visit His Mommy..."
[Chorus 2]
"Take These Chances..."
e|-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-3-2-0|
B|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-2|
G|-4-4-4-2-2-2-0-0-0-4-2|
D|-4-4-4-0-0-0-0-0-0-4-2|
A|-2-2-2-0-0-0-2-2-2-2-0|
E|-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-3-2-0|

[Verse 3]
"Driving Along This Highway..."
1st Interlude
"When All The Little Ants Are Marching..."
e|------------------------------|
B|------------------------------|
G|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4|
D|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2| (x2)
A|-2-2-2-2-0-0-0-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2|
E|-3-3-3-3-2-2-2-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0|

[Chorus 2]
"Take These Chances..."
e|-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-3-2-0|
B|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-2|
G|-4-4-4-2-2-2-0-0-0-4-2|
D|-4-4-4-0-0-0-0-0-0-4-2|
A|-2-2-2-0-0-0-2-2-2-2-0|
E|-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-3-2-0|

(After Chord Progression In 2nd Interlude)
e|-0-0-0-0-3-3-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-3-2-0|
B|-1-1-1-1-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-3-2|
G|-2-2-2-2-0-0-0-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-4-4-4-4-2-2-2-2-0-0-0-4-2|
D|-2-2-2-2-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-4-4-4-4-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-4-2|
A|-0-0-0-0-2-2-2-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-2-2-2-2-0-0-0-0-2-2-2-2-0|
E|-0-0-0-0-3-3-3-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-3-3-3-2-0|

[Outro]
(Main Riff)
"He wakes up in the morning"
e|-2-----------------3-----------------|
B|-3-----------------3-----------------|
G|-2-----------------0-----------------|
D|-0------4-----4----0------5-----5h7p5| (x2)
A|-0--4h5---4h5---5--2--4/5---4/5------|
E|-2-----------------3-----------------|

[Ending]
"Lights Down You Up And Die Here"
e|-3-3-3-3-2-2-2--2|
B|-3-3-3-3-3-3-3--3|
G|-0-0-0-0-2-2-2--2|
D|-0-0-0-0-0-0-0--0|
A|-2-2-2-2-0-0-0--0|
E|-3-3-3-3-2-2-2--2|


************************************

| h Hammer-on
| p Pull-off
| / Slide up

************************************
Tunning: Standard (E A D G B e)
Ants Marching


Tuning: E-A-D-G-B-E

Funk Intro
The slide part is during Leroi's solo
E---------------------------- -------------|
B---------------------------- -------------|
G---------------------------- ---10\11-----|
D--12--10--9--7--5--3--2--0-- ---11\12-----|
A---------------------------- ---x-\x------|
E---------------------------- ---9-\10-----|
1 1 1 1 1 1 1


Verse
E-2--x-x-x-----------------3--x-x-x-----------------|
B-3--x-x-x-----------------0--x-x-x-----------------|
G-2--x-x-x-----------------0--x-x-x-----------------|
D-0--x-x-x------4-----4-0--0--x-x-x------5-----5\7--|
A-----------4\5---4\5------2---------4\5---4\5------|
E--------------------------3------------------------|
(2) 1 (2) 1 (1) 2 (1) (2)


Chorus
E----2--3--------|
B----3--0-----2--|
G-4--2--0--4--2--|
D-4--0--0--4--2--|
A-2-----2--2-----|
E-------3--------|


"All the little Ants..."
E-------------------|
B-------------------|
G-4---4---4--



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Tunning: Nashville (E A D G B E)
I'll include the violin/ sax parts in the beginning:

E|---------------------------------------------------|
B|-10-----10-----10-----10--10--10--10---------------|
G|-10h11--10h11--10h11--12--12--12--10h11------------|
D|---------------------------------------------------|
A|---------------------------------------------------|
E|---------------------------------------------------|

Sometimes in live shows where they have the snare intro, Dave and Stefan open up with this:

E|-------------------|
B|-------------------|
G|-------------------|
D|-12-10-9-7-5-4-2-0-|
A|-------------------|
E|-------------------|

Then, during Le Roi's (or I guess Jeff's now.....) solo, Dave plays a riff-type thing
you can play in two ways:

E|-------------------| E|-----------------|
B|-------------------| B|-----------------|
G|-10-11/------------| OR G|-4-5/------------|
D|-x--x--------------| D|-4-5/------------|
A|-11-12/------------| A|-6-7/------------|
E|-9--10/------------| E|-----------------|

Both sound good. That goes on live until it goes back to just snare and sax/violin, and
the actual song starts (This is also the riff during the verse and solos):

E|-2-xxx------------3-xxx------------------------|
B|-3-xxx------------3-xxx------------------------|
G|-2-xxx------------0-xxx------------------------|
D|-0-xxx-----4---4--0-xxx-----5-5/7--------------|
A|--------4/5-4/5-0-2-xxx--4/5-5-----------------|
E|------------------3-xxx------------------------|

Then if your band has two guitarists, and your lead wants to follow the bass and
part at the end of solos/the intro, it's this:

E|------------------------------------------------|
B|------------------------------------------------|
G|------------------------------------------------|
D|-2h4/5-4h5/7-5h7/9-7h9/11-9h11/12---------------|
A|------------------------------------------------|
E|------------------------------------------------|


The chorus riff goes something like this:

E|----2--3-----0-----------------------------|
B|----3--3-----2-----------------------------|
G|-4--2--0--4--2-----------------------------|
D|-4--0--0--4--2-----------------------------|x2
A|-2-----2--2--0-----------------------------|
E|-------3-----------------------------------|

Then, during the breakdown ("When all the little ants are marching..."), Dave plays this:

E|-------------------------|
B|-------------------------|
G|--4-44-4-44-4-444-444-44-|
D|--x-xx-x-xx-x-xxx-xxx-xx-|x4
A|--2-22-2-22-2-222-222-22-|
E|--3-33-2-22--------------|

Then he goes back to the verse riff, and then the chorus. During Boyd's solo, they
between a D and a G chord in that order. Then, they play the breakdown riff and then the
riff, if you cant hear the change, it's:

Breakdown x4
Chorus x2

Then they play the verse and then end on a D chord. The changes are:

Guitar/Bass intro: x12
Jeff Solo: x4
Verse: x18
Chorus: x2
Verse: x8
Chorus: x4
Verse: x4
Breakdown: x4
Verse: x3
Chorus: x4
Verse: x4
Switch between D and G: as many times as you want, but the original recording was 4.
Breakdown: x4
Chorus: x2
Verse: x4

Then end on a D chord.

Hope this helped!
Tunning: Standard (E A D G B e)
alright so i looked for this tab and it was ok but they had the chords all screwed up so i
gonna fix it:

Verse:

e-2-----------------3-----------------------------|
b-3-----------------3-----------------------------| this riffed is played for the
g-2-----------------0-----------------------------| entire verse
d-0------4-----4----0------5-----5h7p5------------|
a-0--4h5---4h5---5--2--4/5---4/5------------------|
e-2-----------------3-----------------------------|

Chorus:

e-2-----------------3------------------|
b-3-----------------3------------------|
g-2-----------------0------------------|
d-0------4-----4----0------5-----5h7p5-|
a-0--4h5---4h5---5--2--4/5---4/5-------|
e-2-----------------3------------------|


on the first chorus its weird and different than the second chorus. you play the verse
the first half of the chorus but then for the second half you play these chords:


Bm D G Bm A
e---2------2------3-----2-------0-------|
b---3------3------0-----3-------2-------|
g---4------2------0-----4-------2-------|listen to the song for strumming
d---4------0------0-----4-------2-------| patterns
a---2------0------2-----2-------0-------|
e---2------0------3-----2-------0-------|

then the verse is played again:

e-2-----------------3------------------|
b-3-----------------3------------------|
g-2-----------------0------------------|
d-0------4-----4----0------5-----5h7p5-|
a-0--4h5---4h5---5--2--4/5---4/5-------|
e-2-----------------3------------------|


then the second chorus but this time it only plays the chords:

Bm D G Bm A
e---2------2------3-----2-------0-------|
b---3------3------0-----3-------2-------|
g---4------2------0-----4-------2-------|
d---4------0------0-----4-------2-------|
a---2------0------2-----2-------0-------|
e---2------0------3-----2-------0-------|


Verse:
e-2-----------------3------------------|
b-3-----------------3------------------|
g-2-----------------0------------------|
d-0------4-----4----0------5-----5h7p5-|
a-0--4h5---4h5---5--2--4/5---4/5-------|
e-2-----------------3------------------|

the riff played when dave is singing "When All The Little Ants Are Marching..." and it
basically just working off of the G chord and the low e string so basically make a G and
this strumming pattern (below):

Riff:

e-----------------------------------------|
b-----------------------------------------|
g-----------------------------------------| {x4}
d-----------------------------------------|
a--2-2-2--2-2-2--2-2-2-2-2-2--------------|
e--3-3-3--2-2-2--0-0-0-0-0-0--------------|

Verse:

e-2-----------------3------------------|
b-3-----------------3------------------|
g-2-----------------0------------------|
d-0------4-----4----0------5-----5h7p5-|
a-0--4h5---4h5---5--2--4/5---4/5-------|
e-2-----------------3------------------|

Chorus:

e-2-----------------3------------------|
b-3-----------------3------------------|
g-2-----------------0------------------|
d-0------4-----4----0------5-----5h7p5-|
a-0--4h5---4h5---5--2--4/5---4/5-------|
e-2-----------------3------------------|

then you are gonna play the same thing that you did in the first riff:

Riff:

e-----------------------------------------|
b-----------------------------------------|
g-----------------------------------------|
d-----------------------------------------|
a--2-2-2--2-2-2--2-2-2-2-2-2--------------|
e--3-3-3--2-2-2--0-0-0-0-0-0--------------|

Outro (same as the verses):


e-2-----------------3------------------|
b-3-----------------3------------------|
g-2-----------------0------------------|
d-0------4-----4----0------5-----5h7p5-|
a-0--4h5---4h5---5--2--4/5---4/5-------|
e-2-----------------3------------------|

and thats it. Enjoy!
Tunning: Nashville (E A D G B E)
Dave Matthews Band - Ants Marching

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Notes*
-Tacet = a musical term simply meaning MUTE
-The outro is only how my band leaves the song
and how i leave it when im playing alone in
front of others. The Rythem is hard to
explain for it E-mail me at MusicEAD@aol.com
if you would like me to explain it more elaboratley
-Phrase 2 is played through all verses and interludes
-The Chorus is a bit messed up (i felt lazy this took
long enough) but i put which beats each chords should
be on.
-If anyone has ANY recomendations for the bridge
please E-mail me MusicEAD@aol.com and i will
edit it thank you.
-For the intro the D and Dsus4 chords may also
be played like so (again this is how i play them)
________________________________________
| D = X X 0 7 7 5 | Dsus4 = X X 0 7 8 5 |
----------------------------------------


Chords - E A D G B E
D - X X 0 2 3 2
Dsus4 - X X 0 2 3 3
G - 3 2 0 0 3 3
Bm - X 2 4 4 3 2
Gsus4 - 3 3 0 0 3 3

[Intro]

Phrase 1
| 1(3)+ + | 1(3)+ + | 1(3)+ + | 1(3)+ + |
| D | Dsus4 | D | Dsus4 |
E|-2---2-2-|-3---3-3-|-2---2-2-|-3---3-3-|
B|-3---3-3-|-3---3-3-|-3---3-3-|-3---3-3-|
G|-2---2-2-|-2---2-2-|-2---2-2-|-2---2-2-|
D|-0---0-0-|-0---0-0-|-0---0-0-|-0---0-0-|
A|---------|---------|---------|---------|
E|---------|---------|---------|---------|

Phrase 2 (for verses too)
| 1 + a 2 + a 3 + a 4 + | 1 + a 2 + a 3 + a 4 + |
| D | G |
E|-2--X-X-X----------------|-3--X-X-X----------------|
B|-3--X-X-X----------------|-3--X-X-X----------------|
G|-2--X-X-X----------------|-0--X-X-X------0-----0---|
D|-0--X-X-X------4-----4---|-0--X-X-X----------------|
A|----X-X-X--4h5---4h5---5-|-2--X-X-X--4h5---4h5---5-|
E|----X-X-X----------------|-3--X-X-X----------------|

[Verse 1]
D G
He wakes up in the morning
D G
Does his teeth, bite to eat and he's rolling.
D G
He never changes a thing
D G
The week ends, the week begins. She thinks,
D G
We look at each other
D G
Wondering what the other is thinking
D G
But we never say a thing
D G
And these crimes between us grow deeper.

[Solo 1]

| 1 + a 2 + a 3 + a 4 + | 1 + a 2 + a 3 + a 4 + |
| D | G |
E|-2--X-X-X----------------|-3--X-X-X----------------|
B|-3--X-X-X----------------|-3--X-X-X----------------|
G|-2--X-X-X----------------|-0--X-X-X------0-----0---|
D|-0--X-X-X------4-----4---|-0--X-X-X----------------| X2
A|----X-X-X--4h5---4h5---5-|-2--X-X-X--4h5---4h5---5-|
E|----X-X-X----------------|-3--X-X-X----------------|

[Chorus 1]
D G
Take these chances
D G
Place them in me that sounds like a
Bm D
quieter time
G Bm A
Lights down you up and die

[Interlude]

| 1 + a 2 + a 3 + a 4 + | 1 + a 2 + a 3 + a 4 + |
| D | G |
E|-2--X-X-X----------------|-3--X-X-X----------------|
B|-3--X-X-X----------------|-3--X-X-X----------------|
G|-2--X-X-X----------------|-0--X-X-X------0-----0---|
D|-0--X-X-X------4-----4---|-0--X-X-X----------------| X2
A|----X-X-X--4h5---4h5---5-|-2--X-X-X--4h5---4h5---5-|
E|----X-X-X----------------|-3--X-X-X----------------|

[Verse 2]
D G
Goes to visit his mommy
D G
She feeds him well, has con-cerns he forgets them
D G
And remembers be-ing small
D G
Playing under the table and dreaming

[Chorus]
1 2 | 1 3 4
Bm D | G Bm - A
Take these chan-ces
Bm D G Bm A
Place them in me that sounds like a
Bm D
quieter time
G Bm A
Lights down you up and die

[Interlude/Solo]
(Verse Progression) X4

[Verse 3]
D G
Driving in on this highway
D G
All these cars end up on the sidewalk
D (tacet) G
People in every direc-tion
D (tacet) G (tacet)
No words exchanged, no time to exchange them

[Bridge]
G G/F# Em
When all the little ants are marching
G G/F# Em
Red and black antennas waving
G G/F# Em
They all do it the same
G G/F# Em
They all do it the same way

[Interlude]
| 1 + a 2 + a 3 + a 4 + | 1 + a 2 + a 3 + a 4 + |
| D | G |
E|-2--X-X-X----------------|-3--X-X-X----------------|
B|-3--X-X-X----------------|-3--X-X-X----------------|
G|-2--X-X-X----------------|-0--X-X-X------0-----0---|
D|-0--X-X-X------4-----4---|-0--X-X-X----------------|
A|----X-X-X--4h5---4h5---5-|-2--X-X-X--4h5---4h5---5-|
E|----X-X-X----------------|-3--X-X-X----------------|

[Verse 4]
D
Candyman tempting the thoughts of a
G
Sweet tooth, torturing the weight loss
D
Program cutting the corners
G
of a loose end, loose end, cut cut
D G
On the fence, not to of-fend cut cut, cut cut

[Chorus]
1 2 | 1 3 4
Bm D | G Bm - A
Take these chan-ces
Bm D G Bm A
Place them in me that sounds like a
Bm D
quieter time
G Bm A
Lights down you up and die

[Outro]
(self-made)
(Switch Chord Progression Order On Purpose)
D G
E|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
B|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|
G|----------------------------------|----------------11----11----11----|
D|----------------11----11----11----|-11h12-12-12-12----12----12----12-| X4
A|-11h12-12-12-12----12----12----12-|----------------------------------|
E|----------------------------------|----------------------------------|

G Bm A
Lights down you up and die
Song info
Ants Marching
Dave Matthews Band
2001
  • Rock
  • Alternative Rock
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