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. 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



Instrumental 1
||---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-||
|--------------------------------------------------------------------||



Instrumental 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------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|