In this Iron Man guitar lesson, we’re going to be learning how to play the different parts of this legendary Black Sabbath song. Time to learn one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time!
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Franco Lacan
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This early 70s classic is a beautiful example how you can compose a legendary song by being creative with the use of powerchords and blues scales, let’s dive in!
Intro Riff
The song starts with the bass drum hitting each beat, followed by the guitar coming in with a very unique sound. A bend, but played behind the nut!
To play this intro, pluck the low E string, push down on the E string behind the nut to raise the pitch (up a tone), and slowly release the pressure to go back to E.
We’re going to do that three times, where we let the note ring out for 8 beats on the first two runs, but we only let it ring for 6 beats on the third run!
The Main Riff
The good news on this main riff is that we’re only going to need one chord shape, the E shape powerchord.
Even though powerchords can be played with the octave of the root note on the D string, we’re only targeting the top two strings of the shape here. It’s also worth noting that you have a bit of freedom when it comes to the fingering of that shape, as you could use the index and ring finger, or the index and pinky!
The best thing to do is see what feels comfortable and experiment with these options.
Let’s now look at the chords we’ll need, we’re going to play B5, D5, E5, G5 and F#5. Again, all played with the same shape we’ve seen just above. All you have to do is shift where that shape is played on the fretboard, keeping in mind that your index finger will always be the root note of your powerchord.
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When learning this riff, just try to focus on where your index finger lands, as this note dictates what powerchord you’re playing.
Franco Lacan
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We start with B5 on fret 7, and we then move up to the 10th fret (D5) and play hit twice. After that, we slide up to the 12th fret (E5) and hit it once.
Jump up to the 15th fret (G5), play that chord and slide down to the 14th fret (F#5). We then repeat fret 15 and 14 the same way again. After that last slide, play G5 again (but don’t slide down to F#5 this time!).
To finish, play D5 on the 10th fret, lift your fingers to mute the chord, play it again, then slide up to 12th fret and play it twice.
Try to pay attention to the details Jed’s demonstrating, such as the slides that connect the chords! It’s a subtle balance between playing “dry” and sliding between chords. Of course, the best thing to do is to play along with the song as soon as you can!
It’s also worth noting that when the singing starts, the riff stays the same, but instead of playing powerchords, we’ll just play their root note on the low E string. Great news if your fretting hand’s getting tired of holding on to the same powerchord shape!
Riff number 2
Let’s move on to the second riff of the song, this time, we’re not playing any chords. It’s the same melody that repeats three times, but the third time, the ending’s different.
We start on the note B, on fret 7, that we play twice. We then jump to fret 10 on the same string, where we play a cool quarter tone bend before going back to fret 7.
Want to learn more about Blues and 1/4 bends?
Then, move down to the 6th fret, followed by the 5th fret that we play three times. After that we’re going to hit the open E string once, and move to the 4th fret once, the 5th fret twice, the 6th fret and we repeat the riff a second time!
On the third run of this riff, we stop right before jumping to the open E string, and leave that space for the drums to play a fill.
Riff number 3: The Chorus
Let’s now dive into the chorus of the song, where we’re going to play three chords: E5, D5 and B5.
To play E5 and D5 we’re also going to need a new powerchord position, the A position!
The first chord we’re going to play is E5 on fret 7, just play it once and let it ring for a bar. After that, move down to D5 on fret 5 and play it exactly the same way!
The last chord we’re going to play is B5, the same B5 we’ve played on the main riff of the song, on fret 7 with an E shape powerchord. Just play that B5 twice, and we can now move on to the rest of the chorus!
After the chords comes an awesome run up the blues scale, with the added major 7th for some extra colour.
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If you struggle with the timing of the little run up in the chorus, try to think of it as a grouping of three notes.
Franco Lacan
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Riff number 4
Next, we move on to riff 4, where there’s a steep key and tempo change! We’re now in the key of C#, and we’re going to descend the blues scale with a very staccato feel, meaning the notes will be dry and not sustained.
Riff number 5: The Outro
We’re now back in the key of E minor (the key of our intro!), we’re playing over a section of shape 3 of the pentatonic scale, with an extra note that comes from the natural minor scale!
On this outro, we’re only playing on the A and D strings of the shape. Try to add some vibratos on the two notes you’re playing on the A string if you can.
The Structure:
The structure of Iron Man can be a bit confusing, so let’s put everything together! Try and learn each individual part and use our little plan of action below to play along with the track:
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