Killers Chords
by Iron Maiden
Killers by Iron Maiden is a more advanced guitar song played in the key of E. It uses the chords E5, C5, G, G5, A5, D5, F5 and B5. Use the transpose and diagram tools on this page to change the key, see each shape, or simplify the chords.
Disco: Killers (1981)
Legend:
/ - slide up to
\ - slide down to
h - hammer on
p - pull off
<> - natural harmonic
ph - pinch harmonic
b - bend
r - release bend
~ - vibrato
() - ghost note, sustained note
Tuning: E
Bass Intro
G|----------|----------|----------|
D|----------|----------|----------|
A|-7-7-7-7--|-7-7-7-7--|-5-5-3-2/-|
E|--0-0-0-0-|--0-0-0-0-|--0-0-0---|
(Dave) (Adrian)
e|---------------||-<12>------|------<7>-----|
B|---------------||-----<12>--|---------<7>--|
G|---------------||-----------|--------------|
D|---------------||-----------|--------------|
A|-5h7p5h7 trill-||-----------|--------------|
E|---------------||-----------|--------------|
Oh...
Dave
E5 E5
e|--------------------------------||
B|--------------------------------||
G|---9\--------9\-----------------||
D|---9\--------9\-----------------||
A|---7\--------7\-----------------||
E|--------------------------------||
| Adrian
e|---0---0---0---0---0---0---0----||
B|-----8-------8-------8-------8--||
G|-9-------9-------9-------9------||
D|--------------------------------||
A|--------------------------------||
E|--------------------------------||
Yeah! Yeah!
e||------------------------------------||
B||------------------------------------||
G||------------------------------------||
D||---5/7------7/9/10----7\5---5/7-----||
A||------------------------------------||
E||---3/5------5/7//8----5\3---3/5-----||
Verse Intro
Dave plays it by gently touching the strings to allow the harmonics to sound
and slowly sliding up to the 12th fret while gallopping with the right hand.
When vocals start he plays E5's like Adrian.
e||--///////////////--------------------|---------------------------------||
B||--/////////////////////////----------|---------------------------------||
G||-1/////////////////////////12--12\---|---------------------------------||
D||-1/////////////////////////12--12\---|-0-5-4-0-5-4-0-5-4-0-5-0-5-0-5---||
A||-1/////////////////////////12--12\---|---------------------------------||
E||---------------////////////----------|---------------------------------||
|Adrian E5
e||-------------------------------------|---------------------------------||
B||-------------------------------------|---------------------------------||
G||-------------------------------------|---------------------------------||
D||---9---9---9---9---9---9---9---9---9-|-0-9-7-0-9-7-0-9-7-0-9-7-9-7-9---||
A||---7-777-777-777-777-777-777-777-777-|---------------------------------||
E||-------------------------------------|---------------------------------||
Chorus
C5 E5 G
e|--------------------------------------------------------|
B|--------------------------------------------------------|
G|----------9--------------------12-----------------------|
D|--10------9---9---9---9-10-----12-----12-----12-----12--|
A|--10------7-777-777-777-10-----10-101010-101010-101010--|
E|---8---------------------8------------------------------|
C5 E5 C5
e|---------------------------|
B|---------------------------|
G|----------9----------------|
D|--10------9---9---9---9-10-|
A|--10------7-777-777-777-10-|
E|---8---------------------8-|
e|---------------------------------------------------------------||
b|---------------------------------------------------------------||
g|---------------------------------------------------------------||
D|-----9-9-9p7------9-9-9p7------10-10-10p8-------12-12-12p10----||
A|-------------9------------9---------------10---------------12--||
E|---7------------7------------8---------------10----------------||
Harmony
(this is only one of the guitars)
e||------------------------------------------------------------------------||
b||-11b(13)-11~-9-9-9h11p9-8h9p8----------11b(13)~-11-9-9-9h11p9-8h9p8-----||
g||-----------------------------10h12p10-8----------------------------10-8-||
D||------------------------------------------------------------------------||
A||------------------------------------------------------------------------||
E||------------------------------------------------------------------------||
Bridge
G5 A5 E5 D5 D5 E5 G5 A5 E5 D5 E5
e||---------------------------|-----------------------|
B||*--------------------------|-----------------------|
G||*--------------------------|-----------------------|
D||-----------999-777-777-999-|----------9-9-7-7-7-9--|
A||---5--777--777-555-555-777-|--5--777--7-7-5-5-5-7--|
E||---3--555------------------|--3--555---------------|
G5 A5 E5 D5 D5 E5
e||---------------------------|
B||*--------------------------|
G||*--------------------------|
D||-----------999-777-777-999-|
A||---5--777--777-555-555-777-|
E||---3--555------------------|
(x2 times)
G5 A5 F5 G5
e||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
B||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
G||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
D||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
A||-5--777----3-333-333-333-333-333-|-555-555-555-555-555-555-555-555-|
E||-3--555----1-111-111-111-111-111-|-333-333-333-333-333-333-333-333-|
C5 D5 (omit 2nd time, skip to solo)
e||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
B||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
G||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
D||-555-555-555-555-555-555-555-555-|-777-777-777-777-777-777-777-777-|
A||-333-333-333-333-333-333-333-333-|-555-555-555-555-555-555-555-555-|
E||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
Rhythm for first solo:
D5
e||---------------------|
B||---------------------|
G||-7-------7-------7---|
D||-7-------7-------7---|
A||-5-------5-------5---|
E||---------------------|
see! see! see!
(x2 times)
E5 C5 D5 E5
e||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
B||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
G||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
A||-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-|-5-5-5-5-7-7-7-7-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-|
D||-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-|-3-3-3-3-5-5-5-5-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-|
E||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
(x2 times)
G5 A5 B5 C5 G5 B5 A5
e||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
B||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
G||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
A||---------------------------------|---------------------------------|
D||-5-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7/9101010101010-|-5-5-5-5-9-9-9-9-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-|
E||-3-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5/7-8-8-8-8-8-8-|-3-3-3-3-7-7-7-7-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-5-|
Rhythm for 2nd solo is same as bridge.
Ending (both guitars) this is probably wrong
e|----------------------------------------------||
B|--------------------------10-8----------------||
G|---9-7---9-7---9-7---9-7---7-5-9-7-----9--9---||
D|-0-5-4-0-5-4-0-5-4-0-5-4-------5-4-7---9--9---||
A|-----------------------------------7---7--7---||
E|----------------------------------------------||
Solos courtesy of Eddie Breslin ([email protected])
It's impossible to be 100% accurate tabbing a solo like this (so I
didn't, I edited somebody elses) so concentrate on isolating the
individual phrases and how they link together.
Dave's Solo:
(see) (see) (see)
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--13b(15)----13b(15)----13b(15)-------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------14b(16)-(16)-(15)-14--12--14b(16)-|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-----------12-15-12---12-----------12-----------------------------------|
|--15b(17)-----------x------15b(17)----15-12-15p12-----------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------14b(16)-14-12---12h14-|
|----------------------------------------------------------------14------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
The open B is hardly heard as the high notes should be
hammered very quickly.
|----------------------------------------12------------------------------|
|----------------0h15h17--0h15h17--14p12-----0h15h17--0h15h17--14p12-----|
|-14b(16)-(16)\------------------------------------------------------14~-|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------14h15p14h15p14h15p14h17p15p14h15p14----------14p12-------|
|---------14h16h17--------------------------------------17p15----------15p14-|
|--14/16------------------------------------------------------15-------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
Concentrate on strumming 16th notes on the
open E string and quickly dart in and out with
the high notes.
|---------------0-0---12-0-0-14-14-0-15--17-15-14--0-0--12---|
|--12--(12)\--0----------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------|
|--12-0-0-14-0-0-15-15-0-0-17-15-14-0-0-12--12-12-0-0-14-14-0-0--|
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------------|
|--15-15-17-17-15-14-0-0--12-12-0-0-14-14-0-0-15-15-17-15-14-14-0-0--|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--12-0-0-14-0-0-15-15-0-0-17-14-15p14--17p14--17p14--17p14--17p14--|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--17p14--17p14--17p14--14--17b(19)r17--17b(19)--17b(19)--17b(19)--|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------------------|
Adrian's solo:
|-----------------------------------------------------|
|--15-------15----------------------------------------|
|--14b(16)--14--12-----12--14b(16)--14p12--14b(16)~~--|
|------------------14---------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------|
|----------12-----------------12-----------------12---------|
|--------------15p12--------------15p12--------------15p12--|
|--14b(16)------------14b(16)------------14b(16)------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|----------12--15b(18)r15-----------------------12-----|
|--------------------------------------------------12--|
|--14b(16)--------------------12h14--14b(16)-14--------|
|------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------|
|------------------------------------------------------|
Hold the bends on the 3rd string to get the unison bend sound.
|----------14-------------15-------------------------------|
|-------------14-------------15----------17------17--------|
|--16b(18)--------17b(19)--------19b(21)----(21)----(21)~--|
|----------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------|
|----------------------------------------------------------|
|--0--0--20b(22)--------r20-----------------7---------------|
|----------------------------17\---10b(12)----7--10------7--|
|---------------------------------------------------9-------|
|------------------------------------------------------9----|
|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|-----------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|--10p9--7---9b(11)--7-7~------------------2--4--5--4h5p4----7b(9)~-|
|----------9----------------------2--4--5------------------5--------|
|----------------------------3--5-----------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
Overdub:
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|---------------------------------------------3--5--3h5p3----7b(8)~-|
|------------------------------------2--4--5---------------4--------|
|----------------------------2--4-5---------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|