Heaven & Hell
by Tony Iommi
from the pages of Guitar World Online
"Riffs of Confusion" (Sept. 1997)
Doom-laden power chords and classic Sabbath riffs
Hello again and welcome to my second "Heaven & Hell" column for Guitar World.
I'm writing this one just before going on stage at Giants Stadium, in New
Jersey, for the thirteenth date of the Ozzfest tour. I must say, I've been
overwhelmed by the marvellous crowd reaction to the Black Sabbath section of the
show. It's great fun playing with Ozzy and Geezer again after all these years,
and the fact that all the audiences we've performed for have been so
enthusiastic has made each gig even more memorable. So, if you've been to any of
the shows, thanks for your support!
GETTING THE RIFF RIGHT
Last month's column ended with me showing you the right way to play the intro
riff to "Paranoid." This month we're going to look at a couple more riffs which
have been transcribed incorrectly for years. Take a look at FIGURE 8; what do
you hear when you play it? Yep, it's the main riff to "Iron Man"...or is it? The
correct answer to that question is "yes and no!" You're probably thinking, "Hang
on a second, it sounds exactly like 'Iron Man' when I play it. What on earth are
you talking about, Tony?" Let me explain.
As you'll hear when you play FIGURE 1, the notes, the timing and the slides
between chords are 100 percent correct. But to my mind (and ears), the strings
you use to play the B, D, E, G and F# power chords make a big difference. Like
almost every single transcription I've ever seen of "Iron Man" (and there have
been an awful lot of them over the years!), FIGURE 1 has all the power chords
being played on the A and D strings. The trouble is, that's NOT where I play
them - I've always played them on the low E and A strings as shown in FIGURE 8
a.
You might think I'm being a little nit-picky by zoning in on such a seemingly
small point, but when you compare the two versions of the riff you'll hear
exactly what I'm talking about. As was the case with "Paranoid," when the riff
is played on the low E and A strings as opposed to the A and D, it definitely
sounds darker and gloomier, which is the vibe I was after. You also get more of
a "chunk" when you play it on the lower strings.
Another riff that has suffered from the same exact misinterpretation at the
hands of transcribers is the main one from "N.I.B." on the Black Sabbath album.
It always appears in magazines written out as in FIGURE 8 b, but I play it as
shown in FIGURE 8 c. Once again, when you compare the two versions you'll hear
the difference-it's subtle, but to my way of thinking, little nuances like that
make all the difference.
THE STORY BEHIND "N.I.B."
People often ask me what "N.I.B." stands for. The most common belief seems to be
"Nativity In Black," especially since that was the title of the tribute album
that came out a few years back. The real story behind "N.I.B" is that the name
came about as a bit of a joke! In fact, it was named after Bill Ward. Bill used
to have this beard that came to a point. After we'd had a few beers one day,
Ozzy said to him that it looked like an ink pen nib. So, as a result of that
remark, we started calling Bill "Nib." Then, for some reason, the track in
question got given that name too. To make the name more cryptic, just for the
hell of it, we put periods after each letter. Consequently, people have been
coming up with explanations like "Nativity In Black" ever since. Actually, I
must admit, "Nativity In Black" sounds far better than our original name, "nib"!
LET YOUR EARS DECIDE...
Please don't think that I'm totally against playing power chords on the D and A
strings; I'm not! It just so happens that I play the three riffs we've looked at
so far on the low E and A strings because that's where they sounded right to me.
That's not always the case, though. Take the intro riff to "Heaven & Hell" for
example FIGURE 8 d. This riff is mainly played with power chords on the A and D
strings, as are quite a few of our other songs, too. When writing a riff, let
your ears decide where on the neck the notes sound best. See you next month.
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