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Nirvana - Come As You Are - Guitar Tab

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Key E minor
Nirvana - Come As You Are guitar tab video
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Nevermind (Remastered) album cover
Nevermind (Remastered)
1991 3:39
Listen on Spotify
Nirvana Grunge 1991 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About Come As You Are

The opening riff of "Come As You Are" is one of the most recognisable in 1990s guitar, and it rewards careful attention to detail. It sits in E minor and leans heavily on a hypnotic, almost droning quality built from a repeating melodic figure that needs a clean, controlled picking hand. The slight chorus or flanger effect Kurt Cobain used on the riff is a big part of its character, so dial in some modulation if you want to get close to the recorded tone. Fretting-hand muting between the notes keeps the figure tight rather than washy, and that is the first thing to nail before worrying about speed. The verse and chorus feel deceptively simple, but staying relaxed and keeping the dynamics consistent is harder than it looks. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the riff slowed down until the picking pattern is automatic. Nirvana made this kind of restrained, groove-first playing look effortless, and matching that feel is the real challenge here.

  • The signature riff is built around a repeating E-minor melodic figure and benefits from a chorus or flanger pedal to match the recorded tone.
  • Fretting-hand muting between notes is essential to keep the riff clean and prevent unwanted string noise from blurring the groove.
  • The song is a good study in consistent pick attack and dynamic control, since the verse riff loses its feel quickly if you dig in unevenly.

How to Play Come As You Are

The song moves through: Full Step down, Half step down, Standard.

Key: E minor · Tempo: 120 BPM · Difficulty: Medium

The central challenge here is the main riff itself: it is built on a closely spaced, chromatic-feeling figure in E minor that must lock into a steady groove at 120 bpm while you keep the notes clean and even. In Eb Standard tuning, all six strings are tuned down a half step, so check that before you start or the riff will sound wrong against any reference recording. The hardest part for most players is the left-hand finger independence required to move through the riff smoothly without inadvertently muting adjacent strings, so loop that opening figure slowly and isolate any position shifts that feel awkward. A heavy chorus effect is essential to the authentic tone, so if you are practicing without one, the riff will sound noticeably sparse compared to the record.

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 120 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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