This classic Sabbath song is one of their easier ones. The main riffs for the song are straightforward and shouldn't be too much trouble to get right - as long as you are getting good at your hammer on / pull off combinations. Vibrato is often applied to notes throughout the riffs, however, don't worry about adding that until you've got the tune down first.

Song Parts - Quick Links:

Main Riff 1 and Main Riff 2 - Swap between these 2 riffs for the majority of the song. Notice Riff 2 uses some palm muting.

Interlude - nice and easy just repeat 3 chords along the Lowest 3 strings.

Bridge - the fastest, and accordingly, hardest part of the song. We've recorded this part slowed down for you. This part of the song is played very fast and the changes in hand positioning are quite difficult to get right at full speed. Break down the riffs into chunks and work through them individually before moving on to the next parts.

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Iommi actually used 2 guitar layers in the song. Both play the same thing, however, the second guitar uses a wah-wah pedal effect. We've recorded the first guitar (without the wah-wah) to keep things easier to follow.

There are a few lead licks which follow the vocal line. In the song, there are a couple of guitars playing here, so we've done the same to show you how it sounds. Both guitars are playing the same licks, and they are very straightforward E pentatonic minor licks (the song is in the key of E minor).

Towards the end of the Bridge there are some nice repeating bends. These aren't extremely hard, but watch out for the slide / pull off each time the lick is about to repeat. This is one fast action. As you play the last bend, slide your hand down until your 4th finger reaches the 5th fret, then release the string. Try and do this all in one fluid movement. Just remove your finger from the string as soon as you've done the slide. This will sound out the open B string, and return your hand straight back up the neck to repeat the bending lick again.

The Bridge ends on similar repeating bends licks, lower down the neck. Again, just watch out for the slides inbetween bends.

It's the slides in those last couple of licks that can be the hardest to get right. Just skip them if you find them very awkward. You can always work on them again later when you've got better finger control for the bends.

After the bridge, the song returns to the exact same Main Riffs (1 and 2) that began the song until it fades out. We also return to normal tempo for this part in the ActionTab.