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Afraid to Shoot Strangers by Iron Maiden
From the album Fear of the Dark (1992)
Written by Steve Harris
All rights belong to their respective owners
Tabbed by Jaakko Karppinen
Though this song has a very simple structure, it is one of the most difficult Maiden songs. Lets just say that
if you're not familiar with playing power chords on bass, this song isn't the best one to start with. You
pretty much have to be able to hold and move a power chord for seven painful minutes.
Let all the notes ring until the first Chorus. I recommend playing those arpeggios with a thumb and an index
finger. Let all the chords and root notes ring on the fast paced section. I tried to listen to the basic rhythm/
pattern for the root notes, but it isn't very prominent, so the patterns I've marked are only to give you
some direction. Otherwise the tab should be 100% correct. I had to watch quite a lot of live footage to get
everything correct. Hope you enjoy it, up the Irons, and fuck cancer!
Intro
||-------9---9-------9---9-------9---9-------9---9----|
||-o---9---9---9---9---9---9---9---9---9---9---9---9--|
||-o-7-----------7-----------7-----------7------------|
||----------------------------------------------------|
|-----12--12------12--12------12--12------12--12---|
|---12--12--12--12--12--12--12--12--12--12--12--12-|
|-10----------10----------10----------10-----------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|-----6---6-------6---6-------6---6-------6---6----|
|---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6--|
|-4-----------4-----------4-----------4------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
First time
|-----4---4-------4---4-------4---4-------4---4------||
|---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4--o-||
|-2-----------2-----------2-----------2------------o-||
|----------------------------------------------------||
||
Second time ||
|-----4---4-------4---4------------------------------||
|---4---4---4---4---4---4-----6---6-------6---6----o-||
|-2-----------2-------------6---6---6---6---6---6--o-||
|-------------------------4-----------4--------------||
Verse A
||-------9---9-------9---9-------9---9-------9---9----|
||-o---9---9---9---9---9---9---9---9---9---9---9---9--|
||-o-7-----------7-----------7-----------7------------|
||----------------------------------------------------|
|-----6---6-------6---6-------6---6-------6---6----|
|---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6---6--|
|-4-----------4-----------4-----------4------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|-----7---7-------7---7-------7---7-------7---7----|
|---7---7---7---7---7---7---7---7---7---7---7---7--|
|-5-----------5-----------5-----------5------------|
|--------------------------------------------------|
|-----4---4-------4---4-------4---4-------4---4------||
|---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4---4--o-||
|-2-----------2-----------2-----------2------------o-||
|----------------------------------------------------||
Verse B
||-------5---5-------6---6-------3---3----|
||-o---5---5---5---6---6---6---3---3---3--|
||-o-3-----------4-----------1------------|
||----------------------------------------|
|-----5---5-------5---5-------5---5-------5---5------||
|---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5--o-||
|-3-----------3-----------3-----------3------------o-||
|----------------------------------------------------||
Verse A
Verse C
||-------5---5-------5---5-------6---6-------3---3----|
||-o---5---5---5---5---5---5---6---6---6---3---3---3--|
||-o-3-----------3-----------4-----------1------------|
||----------------------------------------------------|
|-----5---5-------5---5-------5---5-------5---5------||
|---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5--o-||
|-3-----------3-----------3-----------3------------o-|| 4x
|----------------------------------------------------||
Chorus (I marked the strumming pattern on the first bar: ˅=downstroke ˄=upstroke)
˅ ˅ ˅ ˅ ˅ ˅ ˅ ˅ ˅ ˅ ˄ ˅ ˅ ˄ ˅
||---11--11--11------7---7---7-------9---9---9-------7-7-7---9-9-9----|
||-o-11--11--11------7---7---7-------9---9---9-------7-7-7---9-9-9----|
||-o-9---9---9-------5---5---5-------7---7---7-------5-5-5---7-7-7----|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-11--11--11------7---7---7-------9---9---9-------4-4-4---6-6-6----|
|-11--11--11------7---7---7-------9---9---9-------4-4-4---6-6-6----|
|-9---9---9-------5---5---5-------7---7---7-------2-2-2---4-4-4----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-11--11--11------7---7---7-------9---9---9-------7-7-7---9-9-9----|
|-11--11--11------7---7---7-------9---9---9-------7-7-7---9-9-9----|
|-9---9---9-------5---5---5-------7---7---7-------5-5-5---7-7-7----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-11--11--11------7---7---7-------9---9---9-------4---4---6-6-6------||
|-11--11--11------7---7---7-------9---9---9-------4---4---6-6-6----o-||
|-9---9---9-------5---5---5-------7---7---7-------2---2---4-4-4----o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
|-11--11--11------7---7---7-------9---9---9-------7-7-7---9-9-9----|
|-11--11--11------7---7---7-------9---9---9-------7-7-7---9-9-9----|
|-9---9---9-------5---5---5-------7---7---7-------5-5-5---7-7-7----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-11--11--11------7---7---7-------9---9---9-------4-4-4---6-6-6----|
|-11--11--11------7---7---7-------9---9---9-------4-4-4---6-6-6----|
|-9---9---9-------5---5---5-------7---7---7-------2-2-2---4-4-4----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
Guitar Solo 1
||---9-----------------------------------------------7---7---5---5----|
||-o-9-----------------------------------------------7---7---5---5----|
||-o-7---7-7---7-7---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7---7-7---7-7--------------------|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-9-----------------------------------------------7---7---5---5----|
|-9-----------------------------------------------7---7---5---5----|
|-7---7-7---7-7---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7---7-7---7-7--------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7-----------------------------------------------2---2---4---4----|
|-7-----------------------------------------------2---2---4---4----|
|-5---5-5---5-5---5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5---5-5---5-5---0---0---2---2----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-9-----------------------------------------------7---7---5---5------||
|-9-----------------------------------------------7---7---5---5----o-||
|-7---7-7---7-7---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7---7-7---7-7--------------------o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
Instrumental (10's and 12's, not 0's, 1's or 2's)
||---9-------------------------------5---------------7----------------|
||-o-9-------------------------------5---------------7----------------|
||-o-7---7-7---7-7---7-7-7---7-7-7---3---3-3---3-3---5---5-5---5-5----|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-9------------------------------------------------------------------||
|-9----------------------------------------------------------------o-||
|-7---7-7---7-7---7-7-7---7-7-7---7---7-7---7-7---7-7-7---7-7-7----o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
|-14------------------------------10--------------12---------------|
|-14------------------------------10--------------12---------------|
|-12--1212--1212--121212--121212--8---8-8---8-8---10--1010--1010---|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-14---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-14---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-12--1212--1212--121212--121212--12--1212--1212--121212--121212---|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-9-------------------------------5---------------7----------------|
|-9-------------------------------5---------------7----------------|
|-7---7-7---7-7---7-7-7---7-7-7---3---3-3---3-3---5---5-5---5-5----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-9----------------------------------------------------------------|
|-9----------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7---7-7---7-7---7-7-7---7-7-7---7---7-7---7-7---7-7-7---7-7-7----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
"Verse"
||---7-----9-------------------------7-----9-----9-----7--------------|
||-o-7-----9-------------------------7-----9-----7-----5-----5-5-5----|
||-o-5-----7---7-7---7-7-7---7-7-7---5-----7--------------------------|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7-----9-------------------------7-----9-----9-----7--------------|
|-7-----9-------------------------7-----9-----7-----5-----5-5-5----|
|-5-----7---7-7---7-7-7---7-7-7---5-----7--------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5-----7-------------------------5-----7-----9-----7--------------|
|-5-----7-------------------------5-----7-----7-----5-----5-5-5----|
|-3-----5---5-5---5-5-5---5-5-5---3-----5--------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7-----9-------------------------7-----9-----9-----7----------------||
|-7-----9-------------------------7-----9-----7-----5-----5-5-5----o-||
|-5-----7---7-7---7-7-7---7-7-7---5-----7--------------------------o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
Guitar Solo 2
|-9-----------------------------------------------7---7---5---5----|
|-9-----------------------------------------------7---7---5---5----|
|-7---7-7---7-7---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7---7-7---7-7--------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-9-----------------------------------------------7---7---5---5----|
|-9-----------------------------------------------7---7---5---5----|
|-7---7-7---7-7---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7---7-7---7-7--------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7-----------------------------------------------2---2---4---4----|
|-7-----------------------------------------------2---2---4---4----|
|-5---5-5---5-5---5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5---5-5---5-5---0---0---2---2----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-9-----------------------------------------------7---7---5---5----|
|-9-----------------------------------------------7---7---5---5----|
|-7---7-7---7-7---7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7---7-7---7-7--------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
Chorus (listen to the slowing tempo at the very end)
Ending (swipe with a thumb)
|-----11---|
|---11-----|
|-9--------|
|----------|