Hi readers!  Just another tab to tide you over while I work on a very looooooong upcoming post, featuring the most relevant group in k-pop – T-ara, and the music for their Ennio Morricone-esque anthem, Day By Day!

T-ara – Day By Day

Unfortunately I’ve had to use the attractive but horribly seizure-inducing dance video for this post as it’s the one that has the song on it all the way through without interruption, unlike the far superior drama version.  Try to avert your eyes to the below text while playing the song so you don’t give yourself a fucking migraine.

Structure and timestamps

Intro x 2 – 0:53
Intro x 2 (rap) – 1:09
Verse x 2 – 1:26
Chorus x 2 – 1:58
Bridge – 2:14
Verse x 2 – 2:31
Chorus x 2 – 2:47
Bridge – 3:03
Breakdown – 3:20
Intro x 2 (rap) – 3:38
Chorus x 2 – 3:54
Outro x 1 – 4:10

Key and time signatures

F# Minor – 4/4

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The following is the harmony only, in the original key.

Intro/Outro/Rap

| F#m – – – | B – – – | D – E – | F#m – – –

Verse

| F#m – – – | C#m – – – | E – – – | Bm – – – | F#m – – – | C#m – – – | E – – – | F#m – – –

Chorus

| F#m – – – | B – – – | D – E – | F#m – – –

Bridge

| F#m – – – | E – – – | – – – – | F#m – – – | – – – – | E – – – | – – – – | F#m – – –

The blank bars don’t mean silence, they mean that the chords continue on for two bars instead of one.

Breakdown

| D – – – | A – – – | C#7 – – – | F#m – – – | D – – – | A – – – | C#7 – – – | – – – –

So that’s the original key.  However, to be completely honest it’s stupid to play it in this key if you don’t have to.  The key of F# minor has obviously been selected to suit Soyeon’s voice so the high note in the breakdown is sitting right at the top of her range, because there’s no other reason why anyone would write a song in such a stupid key.  It’s a pain in the ass to play in F# minor on literally every single instrument in existence ever, so unless you’ve got or are working with someone who has the exact same vocal range as Soyeon, it makes a lot more sense to transpose the song into a sensible key.

The following is every chord written out again in the much more realistic key of A minor.

Intro/Outro/Rap

| Am – – – | D – – – | F – G – | Am – – –

Verse

| Am – – – | Em – – – | G – – – | Dm – – – | Am – – – | Em – – – | G – – – | Am – – –

Chorus

| Am – – – | D – – – | F – G – | Am – – –

Bridge

| Am – – – | G – – – | – – – – | Am – – – | – – – – | G – – – | – – – – | Am – – –

Breakdown

| F – – – | C – – – | E7 – – – | Am – – – | F – – – | C – – – | E7 – – – | – – – –

You can do other transpositions if you like, but this is the one that I find works the best for my main instrument which is guitar, it allows me to do an arrangement of the chords AND the melody in the one song, Sungha Jung-style.  My guitar tabs are below as well as a video of me demonstrating how I play it.

 

The song can be played with fingerstyle or a pick, I’ve used a pick here.  I’ve also cut the rap parts and the third chorus from the original arrangement, because on a solo instrument and with a slower tempo I just felt that the extra repetitions dragged on a bit too long.  This arrangement isn’t particularly easy for a beginner player because of some of the chord shapes and the fact that it combines harmony and melody on the one instrument.  The breakdown section is particularly tough, however it’s all certainly doable for an intermediate-level player with a bit of practice.

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this post, but if not, below is another picture of T-ara that you can rest your eyes with after watching an Australian scumbag play guitar on a crusty webcam.  Let me know what songs you’d like to see figured out next!