Children of the Grave by Black Sabbath
From the album Master of Reality (1971)
Written by Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward
All rights belong to their respective owners
Tabbed by Jaakko Karppinen
READ FIRST:
I know there are already good tabs of this song on this site, but this tab is based on the original
Master Track, so it should be 100% correct. I've listened every single part of the Master Track multiple times
with half speed and some equalization to really get every single note right, though I've left out couple tiny
mistakes Geezer does.
I also know that this song is originally played with C# (C#F#BE) tuning, but since it can be played just as
well with standard tuning, I've tabbed it with standard tuning. It is much easier for more advanced players to
convert it in to C# tuning if they want to, than for beginners to convert it from C# to standard. The
conversion from standard to C# is super easy; just tune your bass to C# and play everything 3 frets down
the neck, so for example, the main riff is played at the 7th fret. There are no open notes or anything like
that to worry about.
Playing in C# tuning with a pick is the best choice if you want to sound more like Geezer. You can hear yourself
on the Master Track how the combination of sloppy strings, a pick and a cranked up amp sound like. Enjoy!
Bass Master Track: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zw3Y-FDSFCE
Intro
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|-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4--|
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|-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4--|
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Riff A
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||-o-------------------------------------7-----6------o-||
||-o-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4--------------o-||
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Riff B
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|-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-7---7-7-7-7--|
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|-------------------------7---7-7---7-7------------|
|-----------------4-5-6-7-----------------4-5-6-7--|
|-5---5-5---5-5------------------------------------|
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|-9---9-9---9-9------------------------------------|
|-----------------6-7-8-9-----------------6-7-8-9--|
|-------------------------7---7-7---7-7------------|
Riff A Variation
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|-------------------------------------7-----6------|
|-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4--------------|
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|-------------------------------------9-----8------|
|-------------------------------------7-----6------|
|-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4--------------|
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Riff B
Riff A Variation
Verse
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||-o-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---7--------o-|| 7X
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|-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4--|
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Riff B
Riff A Variation
Verse Variation
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||-o-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---7--------o-|| 7X
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|-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4--|
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Riff B
Instrumental .
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||-o-----4-4-5-5-6---------------4-5-6---5---4--------o-||
||-o-4-7---------------------4-7----------------------o-|| 4X
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|-------------------------------------------6------|
|-4-----4-4-4-4-----4-4-4-7-----4-----4------------|
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|-5-----5-----5-----5-----5-----6-----8-----9------|
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|-4-----4-----4-----4-----7-----4-----4------------|
|-------------------------------------------7------|
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|-6-----6-----6-----6-----6-----6-----7-----7------|
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|-------------------------------------------6------|
|-4-----4-----4-----4-----7-----4-----4------------|
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|-5-----5-----5-----5-----5-----6-----8-----9------|
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|-4-----4-----4-----4-----7-----4-----4------------|
|-------------------------------------------7------|
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|-6-----6-----6-----6-----6-----6-----7-----7------|
Riff A Variation
Riff B
Riff A Variation
Verse Variation
Riff B
Guitar Solo
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|-4---4-4---4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-2-3--|
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|-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4-/-6-6-6-6--|
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|-4-4-4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4-4-3-2-2-3--|
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|-2-3-4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4-4-3-2-2-3--|
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|-4---4---4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4-3-2-2-2-3--|
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|-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4-4-3-2-2-3--|
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|-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4-4-3-2-2-3--|
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|-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4---4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4-4--|
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Riff B
Outro
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|----------------------------4--4-----5-----6------|
|-4-4-4----6--6-----7--7---------------------------|
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End on
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||-o----------------------------4--4-----5-----6------o-|| |------|
||-o-4--4-----6--6-----7--7---------------------------o-|| |-4----|
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