August Burns Red - Composure TAB
The following is a basic guitar tab of August Burns Red's Composure. This is one of my favourite songs - the drumming is immense - and ABR riffs have often alluded me for their structural complexity and annoying rhythm. I haven't tabbed out the breakdowns--they're so ridiculous (almost as ridiculous as JB's picking technique) I can't be asked to try wrap my head around them at the moment. The last breakdown has elements of previous riffs in it, but you should be able to figure this out on your own. This isn't perfect, but you should be able to figure out the vast majority of the song through this. I haven't noted down the palm-mutes, they should be obvious. I'm pretty sure ABR play in drop C.
There are a few tabs of this online, but they don't make much sense at all. And even if you can make sense of them, they don't match how ABR actually play this. I figured this tab out by studying JB Brubaker's Playthrough. I'm sure there are a few mistakes, and I simply can't figure out one of the final riffs - it is a variation of stupid sick slidey, legato riff that accompanies the crushing double-bass section and outro. If anyone can figure this last riff out by watching the playthrough, please let me know.
Riff 1
1 ------------------------
2 ------------------------
3 -----------------7----- x4
4 --7h8-----------------
5 -------5h7-------------
6 -------------00-----0--
Riff 2
1 ------------------------
2 ------------------------
3 ------------------------ x4
4 ------------------------
5 --7h8-----------10----
6 -------7h8--88-----8--
Riff 1 (variation)
1 --------------------------------------------
2 --------------------------------------------
3 -----------------7------------------10----- x2
4 --7h8-----------------7h8----------------
5 -------5h7-----------------5h7------------
6 -------------00-----0-----------00-----0--
Riff 2 (variation)
1 -----------------------------------------------
2 -----------------------------------------------
3 ----------------------------------------------- x2
4 ------------------------------------------10-----
5 --7h8-----------10----7h8------------------
6 -------7h8--88-----8-------7h8--88------8--
Riff 3
1 ---------------------------
2 ---------------------------
3 --------------------14---- x4
4 --10h12 -----------------
5 ----------8h10------------
6 -----------------00----0--
Riff 4
1 -----------------------------
2 -----------------------------
3 ----------------------------- x4
4-----------------------------8-----
5 --10h12----------------------
6 -------------10h12--88------8--
REPEAT RIFF 3 & 4
Riff 5
1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
5--------7h8p7p0------55555--------7h8p7p0----------------7h8p7p0--
6 --000---------------0------------000------------------0--8888-------------
Riff 5 (cont'd)
1 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 --9--1010-99-77-99-77------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 ----------------------------------7h8p7p0--h8h10p8p0--h10h12p10p0--h12h14p12p0--
5 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LISTEN FOR VARIATION IN REPETITION
Riff 6 (variation of 5)
1 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 -------10h12p10p0---8888--------10h12p10p0---------------10h12p10p0--
6 --000--------------------0--------000---------------------0---8888------------------
Riff 6 (cont'd)
1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 -----1414-1212-1010-1212-1010---------------------------------------------------------------------
4 --12----------------------------------------10h12p10p0--12h14p12p0--14h15p14p0--15h17p15p0--
5 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BREAKDOWN 1
Riff 7
1 --5-------8--------8h10p8---------------------------------------
2 --6--x5--10--x3-----------10--11------------------------------
3 --7--------9------------------------------------------------------- x2
4 ----------------------------------------10-------8------8--7-----
5 -----------------------------------------8--x5--5--x3--------8--
6 -----------------------------------------8-------5-----------------
Riff 8
1---------------5~55--5h6p5-------8~--10~--15~--15^17--15--
2 ---------666-------------------6--8-----------------------------------
3 --7777------------------------------------------------------------- x3
4 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
6 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Riff 8 (variation)
1----------------5~55--5h6p5---------8~--10~--16~16161616--15~15151515--13~13131313--
2 ---------666--------------------6--8---------------------------------------------------------------------
3 --7777------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Riff 9
1 -------------------
2 --5-------6-------
3 --9--x4--9--x4--
4 -------------------
5 -------------------
6 -------------------
BREAKDOWN 2
Riff 10
1 ----------------------------------------------------
2 -----------------------------------------------------
3 ---------------------------------10-7-----------------
4 ------------------------7h8-8-------8--7h8p7p0--
5 ------------5h8-8-----------------------------------
6 --000--00----------0-------------------------------
Riff 10 (cont'd)
1 -------------------------------------------------
2 --------------------------------------------------
3 ---------------------------------7-----------------
4 ------------------------7h8-8--------------------
5 ------------5h8-8----------------8--10---------
6 --000--00----------0--------------------7--8--
BREAK
Riff 11
1 ----------------------
2 ----------------------
3 ----------------------
4 --8~--10~--0~--0--
5 --8~--10~--0~--0--
6 --8~--10~--0~--0--
Riff 12
1 --------------------------------------------------------------
2 --------------------------------------------------------------
3 -------------------------------------14-10---------------------
4 ----------------------10h12-12----------12-10h12p10p0--
5 -------------8h12-------------------------------------------
6 --0000-00--------0-----------------------------------------
Riff 12 (cont'd)
1 --------------------------------------------------------
2 --------------------------------------------------------
3 ------------------------------------10-------------------
4 ----------------------10h12-12----------------------
5 -------------8h12----------------------12--13---------
6 --0000-00--------0------------------------------8-10--
Riff 13
1 ---------8-5----------------------------------------------
2 --3/6-6-----6-5h6p5----------------------------------11---------
3 ----------------------------7------------------10--12------10------
4 ---------------------------------8/12-12-------------------------12--
5 -----------------------------------------------------------
6 -----------------------------------------------------------
BREAKDOWN 3
Riff 14 (variation of 13)
1 ?????????????????????????????????????????????
2 ?????????????????????????????????????????????
3 ?????????????????????????????????????????????
4 ?????????????????????????????????????????????
5 ?????????????????????????????????????????????
6 ?????????????????????????????????????????????
Comment below if you know this last riff.
