Elvis Presley Tabs

It is rare to find a guitar player who hasn't looked for Elvis Presley tabs. The history of the original King of Rock and Roll is familiar to everyone with a passing interest in music. The story of the Southern boy with the looks, great voice, and the scandalous hip wiggle. His career went through phases: superstardom, the army years, the comeback, the Vegas years, and his tragic death. Elvis' legend is part of the reason why his music continues to be a hit to more and more generations of pop music lovers. The strength of Presley’s biggest hits is something that attracts legions of guitar players to learn his songs through guitar tabs. Thankfully, there are so many hits and legendary songs to choose from that there is more than enough material for any guitarist to study.

The Elvis Presley songs of the early years were generally based on the traditional I-IV-V blues and country progression and, as such, are easy to play along with. The chord structures are not complicated so any beginning guitarist can learn them. The tricky parts, the guitar solos usually played by lead guitarist Scotty Moore, are the most challenging sections. These songs are full of energy and require decent technique to play the fast trademark Scotty Moore runs. Songs from this period include:

• That’s All Right Mama
• All Shook Up
• Heartbreak Hotel
• Hound Dog
• Don’t Be Cruel
• Jailhouse Rock

There are many tab sites where guitarists can visit in order to learn how to play songs from this era. Some of these sites include:

Ultimate Guitar is a website that has a large selection of Presley tabs from the early period of his recording career. Their catalogue includes tabs, chords, and lyrics for Presley's most popular songs from the 50s and early 60s. There are also songs that can be opened in Power Tab, which is a program that tabs songs and plays Midi versions so practicing guitarists can follow along by ear.

911 Tabs houses over three thousand Elvis Presley songs in varying formats. The songs are listed alphabetically and come in standard text, Power Tab, and Guitar Pro. There are also tabs available for bass guitar and piano.

Fret Play offers a similar, albeit much smaller, selection than the websites above. The website also offers articles on how to read and play tabs as well as a link to guitar lessons which may be useful for beginners. For newer Presley fans, also included is a discography and CD review - a helpful link for those who want to explore Presley's music further.

Once Elvis came out of the Army, there was eager anticipation for what he would do next. The music of this period was more complex that the earlier years and relied more on musical sophistication rather than the high energy rock and roll he had previously been famous for. There are many tabs available for music from this period as well, and they can be found at such sites as:

• Guitar Music Tabs - This site has a decent selection of songs from this era including hits such as "In The Ghetto", "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" and "It's Now or Never".
• Tab Heaven – Tab Heaven is not a tab site so much as it is a list of other tab sites. This is helpful for guitar players looking for Elvis Presley tabs because they may be able to find songs listed here at smaller websites that aren't available at the bigger, more prominent ones.
• AZChords - This website presents its entire collection of Presley songs on one page, in one list. Some of the songs have several versions which is helpful in terms of learning how to play songs accurately; some tabbers pick things up in songs that other tabbers might miss.

The 1970s saw Presley move further away from his rockabilly roots towards a big band sound which produced mellower music. These years are sometimes known as the “Vegas Years”. The guitar playing in this period became funkier, and songs from the 1970s Presley catalog include:

• Suspicious Minds
• Always on my Mind
• The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face

There are several websites that have tabs for this era such as Guitarboard.com, which offers a rating system to some of the tabs in terms of how accurate they are; The Tab World which is a site that separates its list of Elvis Presley tabs into the latest tabs posted, as well as the most popular tabs visited; and lastly, E-Chords, a website that offers both guitar and piano tabs for various Elvis Presley songs.

There are many other places to go to find Elvis tabs online, as well as a wealth of music books availabe in stores with chords and tablature for the most popular songs in his discography. Generally, Presley Songbooks can be purchased from most reputable music shops and online at Amazon and Musicians Friend. Songbooks include such titles as Elvis Presley 25th Anniversary Songbook, Elvis Presley Guitar Chord Songbook, and Elvis Presley Anthology. There are plenty of resources available for all types of guitar players, from the beginner to the more advanced Elvis enthusiast..

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