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Bars 13-16:
An alternate riff, taking inspiration from
“Iron Man.” It moves us momentarily to
the key of B, with a chromatic figure is
derived from the B blues scale (with the
addition of an A# note). Notice we have
another grace note hammer-on on the A
string.
Bars 17-24:
This cleaner section draws on Iommi’s
jazzier stylings in “Sabbath Bloody
Sabbath” and “Planet Caravan,” alter-
nating between strummed major and
minor 7th chords and melodic phrases.
If you’re using a guitar with an SG-style
control layout, flip to the neck pickup
with the volume rolled back to clean
up the tone - or just switch to a clean
sound.
The sliding octaves are a little tricky,
making use of the less common 3-fret
shape. The best way to deal with this
shape is to fix your hand into position
and focus on the positioning of either
the first or fourth finger - the other fin-
ger will take care of itself.
Bars 25-26:
Another Sabbath Bloody Sabbath-in-
spired riff here (I did say it’s one of my
favourites!), making use of low inverted
power chords for a dark and grinding
effect. There are a number of fingering
possibilities for this riff - I prefer to use
a first finger barre for the 2nd fret notes
and use both third and fourth fingers
together for the rest, but feel free to
experiment. Getting the palm mute just
right and releasing it at just the right
time is crucial to making this riff work.Bars 27-30:
This riff showcases a “parallel keys” ap-
proach used in tracks like War Pigs: tak-
ing a riff (in this case using the notes of
the minor pentatonic scale) and moving
it around the fretboard without making
changing the fingering pattern (or the
interval relationship) to match the origi-
nal key. The effect is a little jarring, and
very in keeping with the sinister vibe
we’re going for.Also, notice that the “hammer-on/grace
note” rudiment from bar 10 is back?
This is an example of how one musi-
cal phrase can be repurposed to create a
variety of interesting riffs and ideas.Bars 31-34:
An ascending lead line inspired by “War
Pigs” which is fairly simple to execute,
but requires a little attention to the finer
details. For maximum authenticity, your
vibrato should be shallow and fast »TONY IOMMI TECH SESSION