Tom Petty

American Girl Bass Tab

American Girl – Tom Petty
Tabbed by R. Detwiler (RLShadow@aol.com)

Previous versions of this tab were very helpful, but I think this is more accurate in a
number of places.

A key to this song is the groove in the first 2 beats of most measures. See the first
measure of the verse as an example. The second note (being a sixteenth note before the
second downbeat) is a ghost note or muted note. I didn't indicate the muted/ghost aspect 
of this note in the tab because it would have made the tab too cluttered. The third 
note (on
the second downbeat) is staccato. The fourth note is held.

Intro: Rest for 7 measures, then:

 |   |   |   |  h |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
|--------------9-|11--------------|9---------------|7---------------|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|

 |   |   |   |  h |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
|9-------------9-|11--------------|9---------------|----------------|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|3---3-3---------|

 |   |   |   |
|----------------|
|----------------|
|----------------|
|5---5-5---------|

First Verse:
 D                Em               G                A
 |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|----------------|----------------|5---5-5-----5---|7---7-7---------|
|5---5-5---------|7---7-7-----5-7-|---5------7---7-|---7------0-2-4-|
|---5------------|---7------7-----|----------------|----------------|

 D                Em               G                A
 |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|----------------|----------------|5---5-5-----5---|7---7-7---------|
|5---5-5-----5---|7---7-7-----5-7-|---5------7---7-|---7------------|
|---5------5---5-|---7------7-----|----------------|----------0-2-4-|

                  “ great big world ...�           “run to�
 A                D                G                Em
 |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|----------------|----------------|----------0-----|----------------|
|--------------4-|5---5-5---------|--------------0-|----------------|
|5--05-5---5-7---|---5------0-1-2-|3--33-3-----2---|0--00-0---0-2-3-|


“And if she had to die ...�
 A                A                A                A
 |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|------------4---|------------4---|------------4---|------------4-5-|
|5--05-5---0---5-|5--05-5---0---5-|5--05-5---0---5-|5--05-5---5-----|


“Oh yeah          All right ...�
 G                A               D                 Bm
 |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|------------2-3-|--------------4-|5---5-5-----4-5-|2---2-2---------|
|3--33-3---3-----|5--05-5---5-7---|---5------5-----|---2------0-1-2-|

“She was            an American    Girl�
G                 A                D
 |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
|----------------|----------------|----------------|------------7-9-|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|------------2-5-|--------------4-|5---5-5---------|5---5-5---57----|
|3--33-3---3-----|5--05-5---5-7---|---5------7-5-7-|---5------------|

Second verse and chorus: For all practical purposes, the same as the first verse and
chorus. Some very small differences but not significant enough to warrant re-writing the
tab, or even learning the differences for that matter.

Outtro:


 G                A      D         G                A
 |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|----------------|-------5--------|----------------|----------------|
|3--3---3------34|5--5------------|3--3---3------34|5--5---5--------|

 D
 |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|5---------------|----rest--------|5---5-5---------|5---5-5---------|
|----------------|----------------|---5------------|---5------------|


 D                Em               G                A
 |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
|----------------|----------------|----------------|------7---------|
|----------------|--------------4-|5---5-5-----5---|7---7-----797---|
|5---5-5-----5-6-|7---7-7-----7---|---5----------7-|---7---------97-|
|---5------------|---7------------|----------------|----------------|

Then repeat the bass pattern used in the first part of the verse, multiple times.
There are a few variations that I didn't transcribe.

 D                Em               G                A
 |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |    |   |   |   |
|----------------|----------------|----------------|----------------|
|----------------|----------------|5---5-5-----5---|7---7-7---------|
|5---5-5---------|7---7-7-----5-7-|---5------7---7-|---7------0-2-4-|
|---5------------|---7------7-----|----------------|----------------|