Blur - Song 2 - Guitar Tab

About Song 2

Few guitar moments from the 1990s hit as hard and fast as the central riff in "Song 2" by Blur. Sitting in F# major at 129 BPM, the track moves quickly, and the main distorted riff demands tight, aggressive picking with clean rhythmic definition even at full speed. The real challenge is keeping that crunch tight through the loud, chaotic chorus sections without letting the notes blur together. E Standard tuning keeps everything accessible, but the attitude you bring to the pick attack matters as much as the fingering. If the chorus riff keeps slipping at tempo, pull it into the Practice Toolbar, slow it down, and build your pick control before pushing the speed back up. The Alternative Rock feel here lives in the dynamics: the contrast between the quiet verse and the wall-of-noise chorus is something to practise as a deliberate technique, not just something that happens automatically.

• The main riff sits in F# major and is built for aggressive downpicking, so focus on consistent pick attack and string muting to keep it clean.
• At 129 BPM in E Standard tuning, the song is approachable for intermediate players but demands precise rhythm control through the high-gain chorus.
• The song's big dynamic shift from sparse verse to saturated chorus is a key technique to practise: controlling your picking intensity and guitar volume between sections.