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Nirvana - About a Girl - Guitar Tab

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Speed Control

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100%

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BPM
Key E minor
Nirvana - About a Girl guitar tab video
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Amp Settings

Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
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Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.
Bleach album cover
Bleach
1989 2:48
Listen on Spotify
Nirvana Grunge 1989 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About About a Girl

Few tracks on Bleach reveal Kurt Cobain's pop instincts as clearly as "About a Girl," a clean, melodic number that sits apart from the sludgier material around it. The song is built on a repeating verse riff that alternates between open and fretted positions in E minor, so getting the left-hand muting tight is the first thing to nail. The chord changes feel simple on paper, but keeping the strumming relaxed and slightly behind the beat is what gives the part its easy, swinging feel, and that takes more control than it looks. Pay close attention to the transitions between the verse and chorus, where the rhythm shifts and your pick hand needs to stay consistent. If the riff is not locking in, use the Practice Toolbar to loop just that section slowed down until the muting and timing are automatic. Nirvana recorded this as a straightforward electric track, so a clean or lightly overdriven tone is the right starting point.

  • The main riff cycles through E minor chord shapes, making left-hand muting between changes one of the most important techniques to practice.
  • A clean or lightly overdriven electric tone suits the song well, keeping the melodic riff clear rather than buried in heavy distortion.
  • The rhythm feel sits slightly behind the beat, so practicing with a metronome at a reduced tempo helps you find the right relaxed pulse.

How to Play About a Girl

The song moves through: Intro, Verse, Chorus, Solo, Outro.

Key: E minor · Tempo: 124 BPM · Difficulty: Medium

Once the main sections feel solid, isolate the solo, which is usually the steepest jump.

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 124 BPM to build it up to tempo.

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Cobain used the Stratocaster on several Nevermind tracks, leveraging its bright single-coils to cut through dense arrangements. Though less iconic than his Mustang, the Strat provided tonal clarity for melodic passages within Nirvana's heavy sonic framework.

Fender Twin Reverb
Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

Cobain deployed the Twin Reverb's clean headroom and natural breakup for softer verses and intros, creating dynamic contrast against his saturated Mesa preamp tones. The amp's warm response complemented his sparse, dry-focused signal chain.

DiMarzio Super Distortion
Pickup

DiMarzio Super Distortion

Cobain swapped DiMarzio humbuckers into his Jaguars and Mustangs to fatten their typically bright single-coils, pushing harder into his Mesa preamp for compressed, fuzzy sustain. This high-output bridge pickup was essential to Nirvana's thick, aggressive midrange distortion.

Boss DS-1 Distortion
Pedal

Boss DS-1 Distortion

The DS-1 functioned as Cobain's heavy-hitting boost pedal, slamming the front end of his already-overdriven Mesa preamp to intensify saturation during explosive chorus sections. Its gritty character helped define Nirvana's raw, in-your-face distortion tone.

Electro-Harmonix Small Clone
Pedal

Electro-Harmonix Small Clone

Cobain's signature chorus voice, heard prominently on Come As You Are and clean passages of Smells Like Teen Spirit, added subtle wobble and width. The Small Clone's lush modulation provided dynamic relief against his otherwise aggressive, compressed overdriven tones.

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