• Song:

    Blitzkrieg Bop

  • Artist:

    Ramones

  • Album:

    Anthology: Hey Ho, Let'...

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Artist: The Ramones
Title: Blitzkrieg Bop
Transcribed by: Me
Tuning: Standard Tuning

I couldn't find a single tab on this website that explained how to play this song 
the way Johnny Ramone played it, so I made this. I'll just leave it floating here in 
the endless sea of incorrect tabs, and maybe someone will find it. I promise my tabs 
are accurate, but you don't have to believe me. I mean, anyone can say that, right?
____________________________________________________________________________________

This is the famous main guitar part. It is used for the intro and all the verses.
I have added some of the lyrics below the tabs. These are technically major barre 
chord shapes, though all six strings are not played in this particular song.

    A major                    D major  E major
E|--------------------------|--------------------------|
B|--------------------------|--7--7--7--9--9--9--9--9--|
G|--6--6--6--6--6--6--6--6--|--7--7--7--9--9--9--9--9--|
D|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--9--9--9--9--9--|
A|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|--5--5--5--7--7--7--7--7--|
E|--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--7--7--7--7--7--|
  Forming in a straight line                    They're

    A major                    D major  E major
E|--------------------------|--------------------------|
B|--------------------------|--7--7--7--9--9--9--9--9--|
G|--6--6--6--6--6--6--6--6--|--7--7--7--9--9--9--9--9--|
D|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--9--9--9--9--9--|
A|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|--5--5--5--7--7--7--7--7--|
E|--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--7--7--7--7--7--|
  going through a tight wind                        The

    A major                    D major  E major
E|--------------------------|--------------------------|
B|--------------------------|--7--7--7--9--9--9--9--9--|
G|--6--6--6--6--6--6--6--6--|--7--7--7--9--9--9--9--9--|
D|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--9--9--9--9--9--|
A|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|--5--5--5--7--7--7--7--7--|
E|--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--7--7--7--7--7--|
  kids are losing their minds            The Blitzkrieg


    A major     D major        A major
E|--------------------------|--------------------------|
B|--------------7--7--7--7--|--------------------------|
G|--6--6--6--6--7--7--7--7--|--6--6--6--6--6--6--6--6--|
D|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|
A|--7--7--7--7--5--5--5--5--|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|
E|--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--|
  Bop
____________________________________________________________________________________

This is the "change" that appears twice in the song. It uses the previous three 
chords and a B minor chord. Most people seem to assume Johnny played a B major chord 
but he didn't. Tommy wrote the music for this song, and he used a B minor because it 
was the right chord for the key of A, or something like that. Johnny didn't really
care for minor chords, but he used them sometimes, when they were called for.

    D major
E|--------------------------|--------------------------|
B|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|
G|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|
D|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|
A|--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--|
E|--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--|
  Hey, ho, let's go
    
    A major                    D major  A major
E|--------------------------|--------------------------|
B|--------------------------|--7--7--7-----------------|
G|--6--6--6--6--6--6--6--6--|--7--7--7--6--6--6--6--6--|
D|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|
A|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|--5--5--5--7--7--7--7--7--|
E|--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--|
  Shoot 'im in the back now

    D major
E|--------------------------|--------------------------|
B|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|
G|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|
D|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--|
A|--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--|
E|--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--|--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--5--|
  What they want, I don't know                  They're

    B minor                    D major  E major
E|--------------------------|--------------------------|
B|--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--|--7--7--7--9--9--9--9--9--|
G|--4--4--4--4--4--4--4--4--|--7--7--7--9--9--9--9--9--|
D|--4--4--4--4--4--4--4--4--|--7--7--7--9--9--9--9--9--|
A|--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--|--5--5--5--7--7--7--7--7--|
E|--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--2--|--5--5--5--7--7--7--7--7--|
  all revved up and            ready to go
____________________________________________________________________________________

TIPS:

*Since you are going to the trouble of fretting these barre chords, I would also 
recommend playing this song using only downstroke strumming, like Johnny did. You 
don't really have to strum on every single eighth note like the tabs show. Watch
Johnny in live videos to get a good idea of his strumming patterns for this song.

*If you learn to play everything shown in the tabs above, you'll probably be able 
to figure out the whole song arrangement easily by playing along with the original 
track by The Ramones. It's a very simple song to figure out, but you might find it 
difficult to play if you aren't used to barre chords and fast down strumming.

*Normally when playing barre chord shapes, you would fret all six strings with your 
index finger. While Johnny did do that, he didn't use all six strings when he played 
this song. Because of that, the tabs only show four to five strings being played. 
He did use full six string barre chords in some songs, but not Blitzkrieg Bop.

*For a good tone I recommend using a guitar with a single coil bridge pickup. 
Switch any neck and/or middle pickups off if you can, you don't need them. Avoid 
using a modern super high gain amp setting, or the barre chords might sound a bit
nasty due to overtones from the major and minor 3rd intervals.
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