"Roots" - Guitar Tab - Alexandr Misko

“Roots” is a slow and contemplative ballad representing my Eastern European influence in music, and one of the most melodic and melancholic moments on the album.

The core idea behind this piece is the use of an EBow (an electromagnetic bow) to create sustained droning melodic lines that sound very unusual for a guitar.

These lines give the song a beautiful singing quality that would be impossible to achieve otherwise on the instrument.

Because of this setup, I hold the EBow in my hand throughout the entire piece. In the verses and other softer sections, I place it against the strings to create sustained, flute-like melodies.

In louder and more dramatic parts, such as the choruses, I take it away from the strings while still holding it in the palm of my hand, using only the remaining fingers to pluck notes, harmonics, and other details.

This creates a very unusual technical approach, but because the song is slow and spacious, it is not especially difficult to play once the movements feel natural.

I also found that performing the EBow parts while seated helps a lot, since it gives me a clearer view of the strings and allows for more precise control.

Technically speaking, this is one of the simpler pieces on the album because of the slower tempo and the physical limitations of the EBow itself, which naturally reduces how many strings can be played at once.

As a result, every bass note and melody becomes very intentional and expressive.

There are no detuning systems involved here and almost no drumming, apart from a few scratch effects here and there.

However, I strongly recommend using a lot of reverb, and potentially the EHX Mel9 flute effect as well, to recreate the wide sense of space and sustained atmosphere that gives this song its character.

All EBow positioning, melodies, switches, harmonics, and tapping parts are explained thoroughly throughout the tablature with detailed text notes.

This is one of the most precise and carefully notated tabs I’ve ever created. The tablature is provided in Guitar Pro 7 and PDF formats, and the package also includes the album version of the track in WAV format.