Riff Rundown

Difficulty: Intermediate

Composer - Yellowcard

Where to find this song - Ocean Avenue track # 6

Release Date - July 22, 2003

The Band:

Ryan Key - vocals, guitar
Sean Mackin - vocals, violin
Ben Harper - guitar
Longineu Parsons - drums
Alex Lewis - bass

The Bio:

Punk-pop quintet Yellowcard formed in Jacksonville, FL, in 1997 but didn't solidify their lineup until a move to Southern California in early 2000. They have become quite popular on radio and television circuits since. They have enhanced their musical stylings by adding violinist Sean Mackin, much like The Dave Matthews Band with their own Boyd Tinsley. Sean Mackin lists Tinsley as the reason he picked up the violin as a younger musician. One defining characteristic of the band is their use of rather simplistic chords with an edgy sound. Vocalist Ryan Key has been compared to Chris Carabbara from Dashboard Confessionals with his high-end voice and brash sense of pitch flucuation. By the way, guitarist Ben Harper is NOT the same Ben Harper that you learned about in another riff-a-day feature.

Intro & Verse

The intro and verse has a neat guitar part, but in the official recording by Yellowcard you can hardly hear what's being played because of the heavy use of a tremelo effect.

The intro and verse to this song is what makes it more intermediate. The positioning is not difficult, but the picking is a little. The first and second measures are identical. As are the third and fourth. Begin the first measure by using your 1st finger on the first fret on the "G" string. Pick accordingly. For the remainder of the intro and the verse you will use your 2nd finger for the rest of the frets, except when you get to the seventh and eighth measures. In the seventh measure, use your 1st finger on the second fret on the "G" string. Use your 4th finger for the fourth fret on the "high E" string. To end this next measure, use your 1st finger and your 2nd fingers.

Below you can see me perform the riff without any tremelo effect. I've chosen to fingerpick the piece, but you can choose to use a pick.

Chorus

The has two guitar parts and a bass guitar part all playing similar roles. The straight eighth notes in each individual part should all be picked with strong downstrokes. It's a brisk tempo at 160 beats per minute so it's going to be hard to keep up.

Here's what all three parts sound like together:

Guitar 1

The plays standard power chords with the addition of the B string and high E strings played open. You will be using your 1st , 3rd, and 4th fingers when applicable.

Guitar 2

The 2nd guitar part is very similar to the 1st.

Bass

The bass part is really easy. You can just use your 1st finger to play all notes within the tablature.

Riff Resources

Complete Transcription To "Only One" (PDF)

Complete Transcription To "Only One" (Power Tab)