This ActionTab contains all the essential riffs needed to play this classic Black Sabbath song. The riffs are based around the classic E and A shape powerchords.

This is a great tune for beginners to learn, and an essential tune for rockers to know!

Just a word about the start of the song / ActionTab....

The intro is an F note played by holding the whammy bar up, striking the open low E string, and then gently lowering the whammy bar back down to revert to the low E note. If you can sing "I Am Iron Man" whilst doing this then you're on the right lines to becoming a legend.

If you don't have a whammy bar (or locking system), you can bend the string (above the nut) instead to get the note bend.

After this part, the song is straightforward and simple - lots of nice powerchords and riffs to practice and enjoy:

Main Riff 1

Main Riff 2 - (similar to riff 1, just using single notes instead of powerchords)

Main Riff 3

Then repeat Main Riffs 1 and 2 again.

After that, time for Main Riff 4 (where Ozzy sings 'Nobody wants him...'). Great little ascending / descending licks to practice here. Good for the fingers :)

These riffs will get you through the entire song. We've also added the solo to the end (recently, hence the different guitar sound).

The solo is not easy...it's very fast and everyone will forgive you for leaving it until you've mastered other guitar parts first. Familiarity with ripping through your pentatonic scales will help....particularly the E minor shape pentatonic scale (see this jamzone article for more on this kind of soloing).

If you are determined to get it down (I'm looking at you mdp) don't worry about the speed, work it out in chunks first and get it right slowly...work on the speed last, and take confidence from the fact that the majority of it is played using only your 1st and 3rd fingers. Keep your 1st finger over the 9th fret, always ready for the fastest part of the solo. That will help you get more economy of movement for speed playing. And be patient...Your fingers will get faster and stronger with practice :)

Have Fun....