Where Can I Turn for Peace?

As promised, here is the tab.  You’ll notice right away that it doesn’t resemble “Come Ye Disconsolate” nearly as much as you may have thought it would, even though both have been transposed into the key of C for easier playing.

That does not mean it is easy to play.  You really do need to play the FV chord to make the melody come out right. Substituting the more common FI chord just will not work, as the melody goes up very high, and the FI chord is very low-pitched.  There are no easy verses.  This is NOT a good song to learn barre chords. If you are not rather comfortable playing them, practice on other songs, until you are comfortable with them.

The Em in the next-to-last measure of the first verse has to be played with the index and middle fingers, as shown in the chord chart, even if you usually play it with the middle and ring finger, or you will never get a clean pull-off on the 4th string. In fact, I can only get it right by doing a “push-off” with the middle finger, pushing it toward me, rather than pulling it away from me, as is the usual practice.

In the last line of the first verse, there are two places where you have to hold a note with tremolo, then slide it to the next note without re-picking it. Your ear will tell you how long to hold the first note before beginning the slide.  If you hold it too long, the second note will be too soft, unless you are playing an electric guitar. This actually is not a bad idea. Try for a sound that rings clear and sweet, similar to the one the Beatles used in “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” The audience will be weeping too.

You may also find the finale a bit difficult, especially the second time around. There are no special techniques here. You are playing high up on the fretboard, where the frets are close together. It makes it easier to stretch to the 12th fret, but there’s not much room for error in those tiny spaces.  Good luck!