Iron Maiden - Fear of the dark
bassver. 3
chords ver. 1
chords ver. 2
chords ver. 3
chords ver. 4
tabs ver. 1
tabs ver. 2
tabs ver. 3
tabs ver. 4
tabs ver. 5
tabs ver. 6
tabs ver. 7
tabs ver. 8
tabs ver. 9
tabs ver. 10
tabs ver. 11
tabs ver. 12
tabs ver. 13
tabs ver. 14
tabs ver. 15
tabs ver. 16
bass ver. 1
bass ver. 2
bass ver. 4
bass ver. 5
bass ver. 6
bass ver. 7
bass ver. 8
drum ver. 1
drum ver. 2
drum ver. 3
drum ver. 4
drum ver. 5
ukulele ver. 1
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Fear of the Dark 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
I have to say that I'm really surprised that there wasn't any accurate bass tab of this song already,
because the bass is very clear in this, and almost every other Iron Maiden song. The two other tabs have
many things right, but in my opinion they lack a lot in accuracy and informativity. So here is my take on
this Maiden classic, I tried to make it as close to the studio version as possible, and it should be at
least close to 100% correct. Over the years, I have spent quite a lot of time studying Steve's style and
technique, so I should know what I'm doing. Please enjoy and up the Irons!
Intro (listen to the timing)
|-7~--------------5~--------------7~--------------5~---------------|
|-7~--------------5~--------------7~--------------5~---------------|
|-5~--------------3~--------------5~--------------3~---------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-14~-------------12~-------------14~-------------10~-------------12~-----------\---R----|
|-14~-------------12~-------------14~-------------10~-------------12~-----------\---R----|
|-12~-------------10~-------------12~-------------8~--------------10~-----------\---R----|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
(Let all the notes ring. When switching the hand position, you can drop the "last" note off (the note
on the brackets as an example). Steve does that occasionally on the studio recording).
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
||-o-----7-------7-------7------(7)------3-------3-------3-------3----|
||-o-5-------5-------5-------5-------1-------1-------1-------1--------|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----5-------5-------5-------5-------3-------3-------5-------5----|
|-3-------3-------3-------3-------1-------1-------3-------3--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----7-------7-------7-------7-------3-------3-------3-------3----|
|-5-------5-------5-------5-------1-------1-------1-------1--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
|-----5-------5-------5-------5-------5-------5-------5-------5----o-||
|-3-------3-------3-------3-------3-------3-------3-------3--------o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
w/vocals
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
||-o-----7-------7-------7-------7-------3-------3-------3-------3----|
||-o-5-------5-------5-------5-------1-------1-------1-------1--------|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
|-----5-------5-------5-------5-------3-------3-------5-------5----o-||
|-3-------3-------3-------3-------1-------1-------3-------3--------o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----7-------7-------7-------7-------3-------3-------3-------3----|
|-5-------5-------5-------5-------1-------1-------1-------1--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------5-------5-------7-------7----|
|-----5-------5-------5-------5---3-------3-------5-------5--------|
|-3-------3-------3-------3----------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----7-------7-------7-------7-------3-------3-------3-------3----|
|-5-------5-------5-------5-------1-------1-------1-------1--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----5-------5-------5-------5-------5-------5-------5-------5----|
|-3-------3-------3-------3-------3-------3-------3-------3--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----3-------3-------3-------3-------5-------5-------5-------5----|
|-1-------1-------1-------1-------3-------3-------3-------3--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----7-------7-------7-------7-------5-------5-------5-------5----|
|-5-------5-------5-------5-------3-------3-------3-------3--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------5-------5-------7-------7----|
|-----3-------3-------3-------3---3-------3-------5-------5--------|
|-1-------1-------1-------1----------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----7-------7-------7-------7-------7-------7-------7-------7----|
|-5-------5-------5-------5-------5-------5-------5-------5--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----3-------3-------3-------3-------5-------5-------5-------5----|
|-1-------1-------1-------1-------3-------3-------3-------3--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----7-------7-------7-------7-------5-------5-------5-------5----|
|-5-------5-------5-------5-------3-------3-------3-------3--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------5-------5-------7-------7----|
|-----3-------3-------3-------3---3-------3-------5-------5--------|
|-1-------1-------1-------1----------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----7-------7-------7-------7-------7-------7--------------------|
|-5-------5-------5-------5-------5-------5-------5----------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
Bridge (you could also use an open A on the first bar)
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
||-o------------------------------------------------------------------|
||-o-5-------5-----------5---5-----------5---5-----------5---5--------|
||---------------5---5-----------5---5-----------5---5-----------5----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-1-------1-----------1---1-----------1---1-----------1---1--------|
|-------------1---1-----------1---1-----------1---1-----------1----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3-------3-----------3---3-----------3---3-----------3---3--------|
|-------------3---3-----------3---3-----------3---3-----------3----|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
|---------------------------------------------5---5----------------o-||
|-5-------5---0---0---5---5---7---7---8---8-----------8---8---7----o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
Verse 1 (On a couple of bars, Steve plays a power chord just once when switching the note and plays
the root 'till the next bar. I didn't bother to transcribe those for clarity).
||---7~------------------------------7~-------------------------------|
||-o-7~------------------------------7~-------------------------------|
||-o-5-------5---5---5---5---5---5---5-------5---5---5---5---5---5----|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~------------------------------3~-------------------------------|
|-3~------------------------------3~-------------------------------|
|-1-------1---1---1---1---1---1---1-------1---1---1---1---1---1----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5~------------------------------5~-------------------------------|
|-5~------------------------------5~-------------------------------|
|-3-------3---3---3---3---3---3---3-------3---3---3---3---3---3----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7~------------------------------7~---------------------------------||
|-7~------------------------------7~-------------------------------o-||
|-5-------5---5---5---5---5---5---5-------5---5---5---5---5---5----o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
Chorus 1
||---3~------------------------------5~-------------------------------|
||-o-3~------------------------------5~-------------------------------|
||-o-1-------1---1---1---1---1---1---3-------3---3---3---3---3---3----|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7~------------------------------5~-------------------------------|
|-7~------------------------------5~-------------------------------|
|-5-------5---5---5---5---5---5---3-------3---3---3---3---3---3----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~------------------------------5---------------7----------------|
|-3~------------------------------3-------R-------5-------R--------|
|-1-------1---1---1---1---1---1------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
First time
|-7~-----------------------------------------------------------------||
|-7~---------------------------------------------------------------o-||
|-5-------5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5---5----o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
||
Second time ||
|-7~------------------------------7~---------------------------------||
|-7~------------------------------7~-------------------------------o-||
|-5-------5---5---5---5---5---5---5-------5---5---5---5---5---5----o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
Verse 2
||---7~------------------------------3~-------------------------------|
||-o-7~------------------------------3~-------------------------------|
||-o-5-------5---5---5---5---5---5---1-------1---1---1---1---1---1----|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
First time
|-5~------------------------------7---------------5----------------|
|-5~------------------------------7---------------5----------------|
|-3-------3---3---3---3---3---3---5-------R-------3-------R--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Second time |
|-5~------------------------------5---------------7----------------|
|-5~------------------------------3-------R-------5-------R--------|
|-3-------3---3---3---3---3---3------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7~------------------------------3~-------------------------------|
|-7~------------------------------3~-------------------------------|
|-5-------5---5---5---5---5---5---1-------1---1---1---1---1---1----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5~-----------------------------------------------------------------||
|-5~---------------------------------------------------------------o-||
|-3-------3---3---3---3---3---3---3---3---3---3---3---3---3---3----o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
Chorus 2
||---3~------------------------------5~-------------------------------|
||-o-3~------------------------------5~-------------------------------|
||-o-1-------1---1---1-------1---1---3-------3---3---3-------3---3----|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7~------------------------------5~-------------------------------|
|-7~------------------------------5~-------------------------------|
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---3-------3---3---3-------3---3----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~------------------------------5---------------7----------------|
|-3~------------------------------3-------R-------5-------R--------|
|-1-------1---1---1-------1---1------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7~-----------------------------------------------------------------||
|-7~---------------------------------------------------------------o-||
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5------(5)--5----o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
Bridge
Interlude
||---7~---------------------------------------------------------------|
||-o-7~---------------------------------------------------------------|
||-o-5---------------5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------0--------|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-1---------------1-------1---1---1-------1---1---1-------0--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------3---------------5----------------|
|---------------------------------3---------------5----------------|
|---------------------------------1-------R-------3-------R--------|
|-3-------3---3---3-------3----------------------------------------|
|-7~-----------------------------------------------------------------||
|-7~---------------------------------------------------------------o-||
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5----o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
||---7~---------------------------------------------------------------|
||-o-7~---------------------------------------------------------------|
||-o-5-------5-------5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------0--------|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-1-------1---1---1-------1---1---1-------1---1---1-------0--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------5----------------|
|-------------------------------------------------5----------------|
|-----------------------------------------.-------3-------R--------|
|-3-------3---3---3-------3---3---3-------3------------------------|
|-7~-----------------------------------------------------------------||
|-7~---------------------------------------------------------------o-||
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5----o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
Guitar Solo (can be played with all the notes ringing or with an light or heave accent)
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
||-o---------7---------------7---------------7---------------7--------|
||-o-5-----------5---5-----------5---5-----------5---5---5-------5----|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------7---------------7---------------7---------------7--------|
|-5-----------5---5-----------5---5-----------5---5---5-------5----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
First time
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------3---------------3---------------5---------------5--------|
|-1-----------1---1-----------1---3-----------3---3-----------3----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| |
| Second time |
|-----------------3~-----------------------------------------------|
|---------3---------------3---------------5---------------5--------|
|-1-------------------------------3-----------3---3-----------3----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
|---------7---------------7---------------7---------------7--------o-||
|-5-----------5---5-----------5---5-----------5---5---5-------5----o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
||-o---------11--------------11--------------11--------------11-------|
||-o-9-----------9---9-----------9---9-----------9---9---9-------9----|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------11--------------11--------------11--------------11-------|
|-9-----------9---9-----------9---9-----------9---9---9-------9----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------7---------------7---------------9---------------9--------|
|-5-----------5---5-----------5---7-----------7---7-----------7----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
|---------11--------------11--------------11--------------11-------o-||
|-9-----------9---9-----------9---9-----------9---9---9-------9----o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
Interlude 2
|-7~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------0--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------0--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-1-------1---1---1-------1---1---1-------1---1---1-------1---1----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-1-------1---1---1-------1---1---1-------1---1---1-------0--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3-------3---3---3-------3---3---3-------3---3---3-------0--------|
|---------------------------------------------------------7~-------|
|---------------------------------------------------------7~-------|
|---------------------------------------------------------5--------|
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5-------0----------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------5-------5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
w/vocals
|-7~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------0--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-1-------1---1---1-------1---1---1-------1---1---1-------1---1----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-1-------1---1---1-------1---1---1-------1---1---1-------0--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3-------3---3---3-------3---3---3-------3---3---3-------0--------|
|---------------------------------------------------------7~-------|
|---------------------------------------------------------7~-------|
|---------------------------------------------------------5--------|
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5-------0----------------|
|-------------------------7~---------------------------------------|
|-------------------------7~---------------------------------------|
|---------5-------5-------5---------------5-------5-------5---5----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------0--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~---------------------------------------------------------------|
|-1-------1---1---1-------1---1---1-------1---1---1-------1---1----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-1-------1---1---1-------1---1---1-------1---1---1-------0--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3-------3---3---3-------3---3---3-------3---3---3-------0--------|
|---------------------------------------------------------7~-------|
|---------------------------------------------------------7~-------|
|---------------------------------------------------------5--------|
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5-------0----------------|
|---------------------------------------------------------7~-------|
|---------------------------------------------------------7~-------|
|---------5-------5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
Bridge
Verse 3
||---7~------------------------------3~-------------------------------|
||-o-7~------------------------------3~-------------------------------|
||-o-5-------5---5---5---5---5---5---1-------1---1---1---1---1---1----|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-5~------------------------------5---------------7----------------|
|-5~------------------------------3-------R-------5-------R--------|
|-3-------3---3---3---3---3---3------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7~------------------------------3~-------------------------------|
|-7~------------------------------3~-------------------------------|
|-5-------5---5---5---5---5---5---1-------1---1---1---1---1---1----|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
First time
|-5~------------------------------5~---------------------------------||
|-5~------------------------------5~-------------------------------o-||
|-3-------3---3---3---3---3---3---3-------3---3---3---3---3---3----o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
||
Second Time ||
|-5~-----------------------------------------------------------------||
|-5~---------------------------------------------------------------o-||
|-3-------3---3---3---3---3---3---3---3---3---3---3---3---3---3----o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
Chorus 3 (Can be played with an accent. Listen carefully for the slowing pace on the fourth time)
||---3~------------------------------5~-------------------------------|
||-o-3~------------------------------5~-------------------------------|
||-o-1-------1---1---1-------0-------3-------3---3---3-------0--------|
||--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-7~------------------------------5~-------------------------------|
|-7~------------------------------5~-------------------------------|
|-5-------5---5---5-------0-------3-------3---3---3-------0--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-3~------------------------------5---------------7----------------|
|-3~------------------------------3-------R-------5-------R--------|
|-1-------1---1---1-------0----------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
1. 2. and 3. time
|-7~-----------------------------------------------------------------||
|-7~---------------------------------------------------------------o-||
|-5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------5---5---5-------0--------o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
||
Fourth time ||
|-7~-----------------------------------------------------------------||
|-7~---------------------------------------------------------------o-||
|-5~---------------------------------------------------------------o-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||
Outro (Same tips and instructions as in the Intro. Listen carefully for the timing).
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----7-------7-------7-------7-------3-------3-------3-------3----|
|-5-------5-------5-------5-------1-------1-------1-------1--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----5-------5-------5-------5-------3-------3-------5-------5----|
|-3-------3-------3-------3-------1-------1-------3-------3--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----7-------7-------7-------7-------3-------3-------3-------3----|
|-5-------5-------5-------5-------1-------1-------1-------1--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----5-------5-------5-------5-------5-------5-------5-------5----|
|-3-------3-------3-------3-------3-------3-------3-------3--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----7-------7-------7-------7-------3-------3-------3-------3----|
|-5-------5-------5-------5-------1-------1-------1-------1--------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------5-------5-------7-------7----|
|-----5-------5-------5-------5---3-------3-------5-------5--------|
|-3-------3-------3-------3----------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----7-------7----------------------------------------------------|
|-5-------5-------5------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|