Creator Area
Sign in Creator Area

Practice Studio

The Smashing Pumpkins - Today - Guitar Tab

Sections · Loop · Speed · Metronome

Not in tune?

Select a Loop

Start of your loop
End of your loop

Speed Control

Speed
100%

Tools

BPM
Key E major
The Smashing Pumpkins - Today guitar tab video
Lex Guitar Tabs
Lex Guitar Tabs Top Contributor
YouTube: 63Ksubs 76Kviews
Creator Page →
·
–50¢ 0 +50¢
· Tap to start

Your browser will ask for microphone permission.

Amp Settings

Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
AI tone preset

AI-selected preset based on genre and era — adjust the knobs to taste.

Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.
Siamese Dream album cover
Siamese Dream
1993 3:21
Listen on Spotify
The Smashing Pumpkins Alternative Rock 1993 E major
Capo Advisor 0 E major · Original key

About Today

Few songs from the 1990s capture the quiet-to-loud dynamic as well as "Today" by The Smashing Pumpkins. Written by Billy Corgan, the track sits in E major at a relaxed 84 BPM in standard tuning, which makes it approachable, but the real challenge is nailing the contrast between the soft, dreamy verse picking and the wall of layered, distorted guitar that hits in the choruses. The verse tone asks for a clean, restrained touch, while the chorus demands you commit to the crunch without losing the melodic shape underneath. Getting that volume and gain shift to feel natural, rather than jarring, is where most players need work. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the verse-to-chorus transition slowed down until the switch feels automatic. The song is a great entry point into the world of Alternative Rock arrangement, where dynamics carry as much weight as the notes themselves.

  • The song alternates between clean, fingered verse passages and heavily layered distorted guitar in the choruses, so your gain and picking attack need to shift dramatically.
  • Played in E standard tuning at 84 BPM, the tempo is relaxed enough for beginners but the chord voicings in the chorus reward attention to clean fretting.
  • Billy Corgan layered multiple distorted guitar tracks on the studio recording, so a single live guitar part benefits from a fuller, thicker rhythm tone to compensate.

How to Play Today

Tuning: E Standard · Key: E major · Tempo: 84 BPM

Loop each section and focus on clean, even timing rather than speed, with the metronome at 84 BPM.

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Billy Corgan's primary weapon, particularly his late-'70s hardtail model with stock single-coils that create the Pumpkins' signature scooped, fizzy fuzz tone when slammed into a Big Muff. The single-coil bridge pickup delivers that aggressive high-end sizzle and cutting sustain central to their distorted sound.

Fender Telecaster
Guitar

Fender Telecaster

James Iha's go-to rhythm guitar, providing bright, cutting tones that complement Corgan's Strat-based layers and add definition to the band's wall-of-sound approach without sacrificing the clarity needed in their dense arrangements.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Corgan used Les Pauls with stock PAF-style humbuckers for warmer, thicker lead tones that contrast with his Strat's fizz, allowing him to shift between aggressive rhythm fuzz and fat, sustaining solos throughout the Pumpkins' catalog.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

A variation of Corgan's Les Paul arsenal, the Custom offered similar warm humbucker character for lead work while its thicker body resonance provided deeper low-end support for the band's heavier passages on later recordings.

Gibson ES-335
Guitar

Gibson ES-335

Corgan deployed this semi-hollow body for textured, slightly more organic tones that provided sonic variety beyond his Strat and Les Paul, particularly useful for cleaner, more nuanced passages that needed definition without harsh high-end artifacts.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

The core of Corgan's distortion tone, cranked to the edge of breakup and pushed harder by his Big Muff pedal, the JCM800's natural tube compression and high-volume sustain became synonymous with the Pumpkins' crushing wall-of-sound aesthetic.

Recommended for You