Fade To Black Bass Tab by Metallica

Fade To Black bass tab by Metallica

Bass Tab

Fade To Black by Metallica: Guitar, Bass & Songwriting Insights

"Fad to Black" by Metallica is a standout track from their 1984 album "Ride the Lightning." The song showcases the band's shift towards more complex song structures and introspective lyrics. The haunting acoustic intro, played by Kirk Hammett, gives way to powerful riffs and solos, with James Hetfield's emotive vocals adding to the song's dark atmosphere. Cliff Burton's melodic bass lines shine throughout the track, adding depth to the overall sound.

’’’’’’Fade to Black
from Ride the Lightning
by Metallica

In this song bass line #1 is repeated a number of times
Since Cliff Burton was such a badass he played something
different each time.  I didn’t bother transcribing out each
variation of bass line #1, because you really can’t tell the
difference and it sounds fine.


The beginning of this song is just the guitar solo that
I have marked as intro.  Basically you just play along with the
bass drum.

🎸

Accuracy Rating: - Votes: -

   Intro (keep repeating)
|---------|--------|--------|
|---------|--------|--------|
|---------|--------|--------|
|---5--7--|--------|--------|


After playing that a couple of times you play this fill
--------------------|-----------------|-----|------
--------------------|-----------2-----|-----|------
--------------------|--2-----2--------|-----|------
--1-----1--4-----4--|-----------------|--5--|------



|--|----------|--------------|-----|-----|-----|
|--|----------|--------------|-----|-----|-----|
|--|----------|--------------|-----|-----|-----|
|--|-----3/7--|--5-----5-----|-----|-----|-----|


Drums enter (Bass Line #1)
---------------|------------|----------------
---------------|------------|----------------
------------2--|3-----5--2--|----------------
---5-----5-----|------------|----------------



--------------|------------|--------------|-----------------|------
--------------|------------|--------------|-----------------|------
--------3--2--|--------7/7|-----------2--|--3-----3--3--5--|------
--3-----------|--0---------|--5-----5-----|-----------------|------



------------|---------|-
------------|---------|-
------------|------/7|-
3-----5--3--|--0------|-

(end Bass Line #1)

For the 1st verse play the Bass Line #1 two and a half times
which then leads into the bridge part

--------------|-
--------------|-
-----------2--|-
--5-----5-----|-


-------------------------|----------------------------|-
-------------------------|----------------------------|-
3--------10--12--10------|--10-------------10h12--10--|-
----/12--------------12--|---------10--12-------------|-


                           (Bridge)
------------------------||---------------------------|-
------------------------||*--------------------5-----|-
7--7--7--7--7--7--7--7--||*--------------7--7-----5--|-
------------------------||---5-----5--5--------------|-



------------------------|-----------------|--------------------------|-
------------------5-----|-----------------|--------------------------|-
------------7--7-----5--|--------------5--|--7-----7--7--------------|-
8-----8--8--------------|--5-----5--5-----|--------------0--0--8--7--|-



------------------------|------------------------||-
------------------5-----|-----------------------*||-
------------7--7-----5--|-----------------------*||-
5-----5--5--------------|--5-----5--5--3--2--0---||-



----------------|----------------------------------------------
----------9--9--|-9-----7--7--7-----5--5--5-----4--4--4-----5--
----------------|----------------------------------------------
-0--------------|----------------------------------------------

Then go back to bass line #1 for the interlude and 2nd verse


3rd and 4th verse
||---------------|----------------|-----------------------------|-
||*--------------|----------5--4--|-----------------------9--9--|-
||*--5--7-----7--|-5--7-----------|--5--5--5-----5--5-----------|-
||---------0-----|-------0--------|-----------------------------|-



------------------------------4--|-----------------|-----------------|-
9--7--7--7--5--5--5--4--4--4-----|-----------------|-----------5--4--|-
---------------------------------|--5--7-----7-----|--5--7--7--------|-
---------------------------------|--------0-----0--|-----------------|-


                                                       (repeat 3 times)
------------------------|---------------------------------------||-
------------------9--9--|--9--7--7--7--5--5--5--4--4--4--4--5--*||-
0--5-----5--5-----------|--------------------------------------*||-
------------------------|---------------------------------------||-



||---------------------|-----------------------|--------------------------|-
||*--------------2-----|-----------------------|--------------------9--9--|-
||*--------------------|-----------------------|--------------5-----------|-
||---0--0--0--0--------|--0--0--0--0--3--2-----|--0--0--0--0--------------|-



-------------------------------------||------------------|-
9--7--7--7--5--5--5--4--4--4--4--5--*||*-----------------|-
------------------------------------*||*--2-----2-----2--|-
-------------------------------------||------------------|-



------------------|-----------------|-----------------------|-
------------------|-----------------|-----------------------|-
2-----4--2--------|-----------------|-----------------------|-
------------5--2--|--5-----5-----5--|--5--5-----5--5--5--5--|-



------------------|--------------------------|-----------------|-
------------------|--------------------------|-----------------|-
------------------|--------------------------|-----------------|-
3-----3-----3--3--|--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--3--|--5-----5-----5--|-



----------------------||
---------------2--2--*||
---------------------*||
5--5-----5--5---------||

Just keep repeating until the song fades out

Last updated: July 2, 2025

Your last visited songs

Metallica bass tabs for Fade to black

Who Is This Page For?

This bass tabs tutorial for "Fade To Black" by Metallica is crafted for all musicians players ready to learn and grow. Whether you're just starting or refining your skills, this guide meets you where you are.

Why This Page Is Perfect for You

No matter your skill level, this page is a valuable resource for improving your guitar bass tab playing.

What You Will Gain

By using our bass tabs, you’ll not only learn to play "Fade To Black" by Metallica with accuracy and style, but you'll also elevate your overall musicianship. Explore our full archive of bass tabs for more songs, skills, and inspiration.

Other versions of Fade To Black by Metallica

Fade to black (Ver. 2) Bass tabs

Find guitar tabs and chords

[ Privacy | About us ]

×