Transcribing Notes From John Neil (Head Transcriber)
Hitchin’ a Ride – Green Day – Song Breakdown
Melody
From what I’ve read (and as the lyrics reveal), this song is about falling off the wagon – going back to drinking after stopping for a while. The vocal range is G3 to F#4, though Billy Joe Armstrong does lower note lead-ins at the beginning of some lines, as he seems to do a lot.
Download the Melody Music Here
Keyboard
There isn’t a keyboard part in this song, so I made up a part, and marked it as electric piano, though it can be played with any keyboard sound.
Download the Keyboard Sheet Music Here
Rhythm Guitar/Lead Guitar
Both guitars do roughly the same thing until the solo where the lead guitar takes on the solo. Live, it looks like Billy is doing lower octaves, but the recording sounds like higher octaves, so I went with that.
Download the Lead Guitar Tab Here
Download the Rhythm Guitar Tab Here
Strum/Ukulele
There isn’t a strum guitar nor ukulele in this recording, so a part was made up at capo 2.
Download the Strum Tab Here
Download the Ukulele Tab Here
Bass
A nice bass part, played with a pick. The tone is pretty dirty with a definite sound of the bass amp. It follows the riffs mainly, but gets more active during the solo section & outro.
Download the Bass Tab Here
Drums
More tight Tré Cool drums. Lots of snare and tom work, and a pretty fast shuffle beat with triplet fills. The sticking was taken from live videos.
Download the Drum Music Here
Download the Lead Sheet Here
