Sempurna Guitar Tutorial

I have received many requests for tabs since I published my cover of Sempurna on YouTube. Well, here they are, accompanied by some instructions, midi files and a video. The song Sempurna is by Andra and the Backbone. These tabs are my interpretation of the song, using my own playing technique.

Request

Can you post a video of yourself playing Sempurna on youtube, so I can see the result?
Please add it as a video response to my instruction video.

Get started

I have prepared some material for you. Before you start playing you should take a look at it, otherwise you might miss some important information (for example the tuning of the guitar)

16 tabs

Together the 16 tabs (below) cover the entire song. I added some lyrics so you know what part of the song a tab is about. The character Q means quarter (1/4) note. The E stands for 1/8 note.

2 midi files

By playing the midi files you can hear what the tabs should sound like. The midi files play the notes as shown in the tabs below, from tab 1 to 16, without any breaks. There is a slow version and a fast version. They are computer-generated from the tabs, so they sound a bit staccato.

Download sempurna slow

Download sempurna fast

Guitar tuning

The tuning of the guitar is D G D G B E. I tuned the 2 lowest sounding strings 1 tone (2 steps) down. This way it is easier to play the bass pattern, and the open lowest string (now sounding as D) gives more body to the sound.

Instruction video

In this video you can see how I hold my hands, and you can watch my fingerpicking style.
I will go through the tabs one by one, playing both fast and slow. One part of the video shows close-ups of my right hand, and another part shows close-ups of my left hand.

Tabs


  Tab 1
  Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q
|---------------|---------------|---------------|----------------|
|-3--------3----|-2--------2----|-0--------0----|-2--------2-----|
|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|------2---------|
|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0---|
|---------------|---------------|---------------|----------------|
|-0------0------|-0------0------|-0------0------|-0------0-------|
 (intro, play 2x)

  Tab 2
  Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q
|---------------|---------------|---------------|----------------|
|-3--------3----|-2--------2----|-0--------0----|-2--------2-----|
|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|------2---------|
|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0---|
|---------------|---------------|---------------|----------------|
|-0------0------|-0------0------|-0------0------|-0------0-------|
 Kau begitu sempurna

  Tab 3
  Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q
|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
|-3--------3----|-2--------2----|-0--------0----|-2--------2----|
|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|
|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|
|-4------4------|-4------4------|-4------4------|-4------4------|
|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
 Di mataku kau begitu indah

  Tab 4
  Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q
|-2--------2----|-0--------0----|-2--------2----|-0--------0----|
|------3--------|------3--------|------3--------|------3--------|
|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----2-------2--|----2-------2--|
|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
|-0------0------|-0------0------|-2------2------|-2------2------|
|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
 Kau membuat diriku, akan selalu memujamu

  Tab 5
  Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q
|---------------|---------------|---------------|----------------|
|-3--------3----|-2--------2----|-0--------0----|-2--------2-----|
|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|------2---------|
|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0---|
|---------------|---------------|---------------|----------------|
|-0------0------|-0------0------|-0------0------|-0------0-------|
  (no vocal)                                

  Tab 6
  Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q
|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
|-3--------3----|-3--------3----|-3--------3----|-3--------3----|
|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|
|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----2-------2--|----0-------0--|
|-0------0------|---------------|-2------2------|---------------|
|---------------|-4------4------|---------------|-0------0------|
 Janganlah kau tinggalkan diriku

  Tab 7
  Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q
|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
|-3--------3----|-3--------3----|-3--------3----|-3--------3----|
|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|
|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|
|-0------0------|-4------4------|-4------4------|-4------4------|
|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
 Takkan mampu menghadapi semua

  Tab 8
  Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    W
|---------------|---------------|---------------|------|
|-3--------3----|-3--------3----|-3--------3----|-3----|
|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|-2----|
|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----2-------2--|-2----|
|-0------0------|-0------0------|-2------2------|-2----|
|---------------|---------------|---------------|------|
 Hanya bersamamu ku akan bisa

  Tab 9
  Q  E E  E E Q    Q  E E E E Q   Q  E E E E Q   Q  E E E E Q
|----------------|--------------|-2------------|-2--------------|
|-3---------3----|-3--------3---|------3-------|------3---------|
|------2---------|------2-------|------------2-|------------2---|
|----0--------0--|----0-------0-|----0-----0---|----0-----0-----|
|----------------|--------------|-0------0-----|-0------0-------|
|-0-------0------|-4------4-----|--------------|----------------|
 Kau adalah darahku

  Tab 10
  Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q
|---------------|---------------|-2-------------|-2-------------|
|-3--------3----|-3--------3----|------3--------|------3--------|
|------2--------|------2--------|------------2--|------------2--|
|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-----0----|----0-----0----|
|---------------|---------------|-0------0------|-0------0------|
|-0------0------|-4------4------|---------------|---------------|
 Kau adalah jantungku

  Tab 11
  Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q
|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
|-3--------3----|-3--------3----|-3--------3----|-3--------3----|
|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|
|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|
|-4------4------|---------------|-0------0------|-0------0------|
|---------------|-4------4------|---------------|---------------|
 Kau adalah hidupku, lengkapi diriku

  Tab 12
  Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E E E   E E E E E E Q    +W
|---------------|---------------|----------------|---------2-0----|--------|
|-3--------3----|-3--------3----|-3----------3---|-----0-3-----3--|-(3)----|
|------2--------|------2--------|------2---------|---0------------|--------|
|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-----0---0-|-2--------------|--------|
|-4------4------|---------------|-0------0-------|----------------|--------|
|---------------|-4------4------|----------------|----------------|--------|
 O sayangku kau begitu

  Tab 13
  Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q
|---------------|---------------|---------------|----------------|
|-3--------3----|-2--------2----|-0--------0----|-2--------2-----|
|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|------2---------|
|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0---|
|---------------|---------------|---------------|----------------|
|-0------0------|-0------0------|-0------0------|-0------0-------|
 Sempurna                               

  Tab 14
  Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q
|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
|-3--------3----|-2--------2----|-0--------0----|-2--------2----|
|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|
|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|
|-4------4------|-4------4------|-4------4------|-4------4------|
|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
 Sempurna

 BELOW ARE THE TABS FOR THE END OF THE SONG

  Tab 15
  Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q
|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
|-3--------3----|-2--------2----|-3--------3----|-2--------2----|
|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|------2--------|
|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|
|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
|-0------0------|-0------0------|-0------0------|-0------0------|
 Sempurna

  Tab 16
  Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    Q  E E E E Q    W
|-2-------------|-0-------------|-2-------------|-0-------------|-2----|
|-3--------3----|-2--------2----|-3--------3----|-2--------2----|-3----|
|-2----2--------|-2----2--------|-2----2--------|-2----2--------|-2----|
|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|----0-------0--|------|
|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|------|
|-0------0------|-0------0------|-0------0------|-0------0------|-0----|
 Sempurna

Comments 87

bagus
March 13, 2011 at 6:07 am

thank you meneer,….i’ve been searching for it…. awesome…. 2 tumbs up

Oralee Savo
March 1, 2011 at 3:17 pm

Gold! you save my day 😉

Denny
December 12, 2010 at 5:32 pm

Thanks.I like it

Anonymous
September 14, 2010 at 5:59 am

😀 YOU ARE SO GOOD

budi
July 27, 2010 at 5:25 am

makasih bnyk om

How To Play Tabs
June 24, 2010 at 1:52 pm

Thank you for a thorough tutorial of such quality 🙂

pinchlocker
June 3, 2010 at 11:15 am

nice dude !
Andra And The Backbones…

guitar effect simulation software here : PiNchLocker.Co.CC

Post
Author

nlpeter
April 30, 2010 at 9:10 am

@Newbie: di situs ini diterangkan bagaimana baca tabs: http://guitar.about.com/od/tabchordslyrics/ss/read_guitar_tab.htm

Semoga sukses

Newbie
April 25, 2010 at 12:47 pm

ellow saya dari malaysia..

sir bagaimana hendak baca tab ye…

nombor-nombor tu tempat fret yang kite nak petik ke.macam solo tu.?atau nombor-nombor tu patten plucking ?
dan huruf tu mewakili apa ya?

boleh tolong explain skit kat saya x?

harap dapat membantu yark..:D 😀 😀

Post
Author

nlpeter
April 15, 2010 at 9:12 pm

@frans Je moet leren om guitar tab notatie te lezen, zie bijvoorbeeld http://guitar.about.com/od/tabchordslyrics/ss/read_guitar_tab.htm

frans
April 15, 2010 at 12:41 pm

cijfer, of kan worden vervangen door muzieknoten …?? het niet begrijpen als ik draag …. cijfer ❓ 🙄

indra
April 12, 2010 at 4:32 pm

wow 😀

dioni
November 20, 2009 at 6:29 am

peter, thank a lot for tab.. 😀 😀 😀

Luq
October 20, 2009 at 8:20 am

hey…. thanks.. u help me lot…. anyway.. i suggest u to play yakinlah aku menjemputmu song … it’s nice.. but there is not tab.. i hate song without tab… =(

waie
October 19, 2009 at 2:23 pm

i love you man.. thanks.. u help me alot.. hehe 😆