Tabs
I NEED TO KNOW
As recorded by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
(From the 1978 Album YOU'RE GONNA GET IT!)
Words and Music by Tom Petty
Gtr I (
E MajorE 
A augmentedA 
D MajorD 
G+G 
BB E MajorE) - 'Tom Petty - Electric Guitar w/ light dist.'
Gtr II (E MajorE A augmentedA D MajorD G+G BB E MajorE) - 'Mike Campbell - Electric Guitar w/ light dist.'
Gtr III (E MajorE A augmentedA D MajorD G+G BB E MajorE) - 'Mike Campbell - Electric Guitar w/ dist.'
Intro
Q=154
E5E5 
E minorEm
4/4
Gtr I
H Q E MajorE S S +W +H +Q. S S
|---------------|------------|----------------------|
|-----------0-0-|-(0)--------|-(0)------(0)-----8-8-|
|-----------9-9-|-(9)--------|-(9)------(9)-----9-9-|
|-----------9-9-|-(9)--------|-(9)------(9)-----9-9-|
|-----------7-7-|-(7)--------|-(7)------(7)-----7-7-|
|-----------0-0-|-(0)--------|-(0)------(0)-----0-0-|
|
| Gtr II
| H Q E MajorE S S W +Q E MajorE E E MajorE E MajorE Q
|---------------|------------|----------------------|
|---------------|------------|----------------------|
|-----------9-9-|--9---------|-(9)--9----7--9-------|
|-----------9-9-|--9---------|-(9)--9----7--9-------|
|-----------7-7-|--7---------|-(7)------------------|
|---------------|------------|----------------------|
E5E5 
D5D5 E5E5
W E MajorE E Q Q. S S
|---------------|--------------------|
|-0-------------|-x-x----------0-0---|
|-9-------------|-x-x-7---7----9-9---|
|-9-------------|-x-x-7---7----9-9---|
|-7-------------|-x-x-5---5----7-7---|
|-0-------------|-x-x----------0-0---|
|
| Q E MajorE E E MajorE E Q Q E MajorE E Q. S S
|---------------|--------------------|
|---------------|-----8---7----------|
|----9---7-9----|-----9---7----9-9---|
|----9---7-9----|-----7---7----9-9---|
|---------------|--------------7-7---|
|---------------|--------------------|
D5D5
W +W W E MajorE E Q Q. E MajorE
|---------------|-----------------|---------------|----------------||
|-0-------------|-(0)-------------|-0-------------|-x-x------------||
|-9-------------|-(9)-------------|-9-------------|-x-x-7---7----7-||
|-9-------------|-(9)-------------|-9-------------|-x-x-7---7----7-||
|-7-------------|-(7)-------------|-7-------------|-x-x-5---5----5-||
|-0-------------|-(0)-------------|-0-------------|-x-x------------||
|
| Q E MajorE E E MajorE E Q Q E MajorE E E MajorE E Q Q E MajorE E E MajorE E Q Q E MajorE E H
|---------------|-----------------|---------------|----------------||
|---------------|-----------------|---------------|---------7------||
|-9--9---7-9----|------9---7-9----|----9---7-9----|-----9---7------||
|-9--9---7-9----|------9---7-9----|----9---7-9----|-----7---7------||
|-7-------------|-----------------|---------------|----------------||
|---------------|-----------------|---------------|----------------||
1st & 2nd Verses
D MajorD E5E5 D5D5
PM------------------------------|
W +H Q Q E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E
||-----------|----------------|-----------------|------------------|
||o----------|----------------|-----------------|------------------|
||--7--------|-(7)-----7--7---|-9---9---9---9---|-7---7---7-7-7----|
||--7--------|-(7)-----7--7---|-9---9---9---9---|-7---7---7-7-7----|
||o-5--------|-(5)-----5--5---|-7---7---7---7---|-5---5---5-5-5-0--|
||-----------|----------------|---------------0-|------------------|
|
| W +Q Q Q E MajorE E Q E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E Q Q
||-----------|----------------|-----------------|------------------|
||o-7--------|-(7)-----7------|-----------------|-x-x-8---7---7----|
||--7--------|-(7)--7-----7---|-9---9---7-9-x-x-|-x-x-9---7---7----|
||--7--------|-(7)------------|-9---9---7-9-x-x-|-x-x-7---7---7----|
||o-5--------|-(5)----------0-|-7---------------|---------5---5----|
||-----------|----------------|-----------------|------------------|
D MajorD E5E5 D5D5
PM------------------|
W +H Q Q E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E Q Q Q
|----------|--------------|-----------------|---------------||
|----------|--------------|-----------------|---------------||
|-7--------|-(7)----7--7--|-9---9---9---9---|-7-7-7---7--7--||
|-7--------|-(7)----7--7--|-9---9---9---9---|-7-7-7---7--7--||
|-5--------|-(5)----5--5--|-7---7---7---7---|-5-5-5---5--5--||
|----------|--------------|---------------0-|---------------||
|
| W +H Q Q Q E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E Q Q
|----------|--------------|-----------------|---------------||
|-7--------|-(7)----7--7--|-----------------|-x-x-8---7--7--||
|-7--------|-(7)----7--7--|-9---9---7-9-x-x-|-x-x-9---7--7--||
|-7--------|-(7)----7--7--|-9---9---7-9-x-x-|-x-x-7---7--7--||
|-5--------|-(5)----5--5--|-7---------------|---------5--5--||
|----------|--------------|-----------------|---------------||
Chorus
$
E5E5 D5D5 
Csus2Csus2 C5D5
Gtr I
W W W E MajorE Q. +H
|--------------|--------------|-3------------|------------------|
|-0------------|--------------|-3------------|------------------|
|-9------------|-7------------|-5------------|-5s7------(7)-----|
|-9------------|-7------------|-5------------|-5s7------(7)-----|
|-7------------|-5------------|-3------------|-3s5------(5)-----|
|-0------------|--------------|--------------|------------------|
|
| Gtr II
| Q E MajorE E Q Q Q E MajorE E Q Q Q E MajorE E Q Q Q E MajorE E Q Q
|--------0-----|--------0-----|--------0-----|-----------0------|
|-----------0--|-----------0--|-----------0--|---------------0--|
|----9---------|----7---------|----5---------|------7-----------|
|------9-------|------7-------|------5-------|--------7---------|
|--------------|--------------|--------------|------------------|
|--------------|--------------|--------------|------------------|
E5E5 D5D5 Csus2/G 
C5C5
W W W +H. E MajorE S S
|--------------|--------------|-3--------|-(3)------------|
|-0------------|--------------|-3--------|-(3)------------|
|-9------------|-7------------|-5--------|-(5)------5-5-5-|
|-9------------|-7------------|-5--------|-(5)------5-5-5-|
|-7------------|-5------------|-3--------|-(3)------3-3-3-|
|-0------------|--------------|-3--------|-(3)------------|
|
| Q E MajorE E Q Q Q E MajorE E Q Q W +W
|--------0-----|--------0-----|-3--------|-(3)------------|
|-----------0--|-----------0--|-3--------|-(3)------------|
|----9---------|----7---------|-5--------|-(5)------------|
|------9-------|------7-------|-5--------|-(5)------------|
|--------------|--------------|-3--------|-(3)------------|
|--------------|--------------|-3--------|-(3)------------|
D5D5 Csus2/G
W +W W +H. Q
|----------|------------|-3--------|-(3)---------|
|----------|------------|-3--------|-(3)---------|
|-7--------|-(7)--------|-5--------|-(5)---------|
|-7--------|-(7)--------|-5--------|-(5)---------|
|-5--------|-(5)--------|-3--------|-(3)---------|
|----------|------------|-3--------|-(3)---------|
|
| W +W W +W
|----------|------------|-3--------|-(3)---------|
|----------|------------|-3--------|-(3)---------|
|-7--------|-(7)--------|-5--------|-(5)---------|
|-7--------|-(7)--------|-5--------|-(5)---------|
|-5--------|-(5)--------|-3--------|-(3)---------|
|-5--------|-(5)--------|-3--------|-(3)---------|
To Coda
D5D5 E5E5 D5D5
PM----------| PM------|
W +E MajorE E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE Q E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E Q Q Q
|----------|------------------|-----------------|---------------|
|----------|------------------|-----------------|---------------|
|-7--------|-(7)-7-7-7-7-7-7--|-9---9---9-9-9---|-7-7-7---7--7--|
|-7--------|-(7)-7-7-7-7-7-7--|-9---9---9-9-9-0-|-7-7-7---7--7--|
|-5--------|-(5)-5-5-5-5-5-5--|-7---7---7-7-7---|-5-5-5---5--5--|
|----------|------------------|-----------------|---------------|
|
| W +E MajorE E MajorE Q Q Q Q E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E Q E MajorE E Q Q
|----------|------------------|-----------------|---------------|
|----------|------------------|-----------------|-----8---7-----|
|-7--------|-(7)-7-7---7---7--|-9---9---7-9-x-x-|-----9---7-----|
|-7--------|-(7)-7-7---7---7--|-9---9---7-9-x-x-|-----7---7-----|
|-5--------|-(5)-5-5---5---5--|-7---------------|---------------|
|-5--------|-(5)-5-5---5---5--|-----------------|---------------|
1. 2.
E5E5 D5D5 D5D5
PM----------| PM------------|
E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E q E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E Q E MajorE E Q
|-----------------|------------------||-------------------||
|-----------------|-----------------o||-------------------||
|-9---9---9-9-9---|-7-7-7---7-x-7-x--||-7-7-7---7-7--7----||
|-9---9---9-9-9---|-7-7-7---7-x-7-x--||-7-7-7---7-7--7----||
|-7---7---7-7-7---|-5-5-5---5-x-5-x-o||-5-5-5---5-5--5----||
|-----------------|------------------||-------------------||
|
| Q E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E Q E MajorE E H Q E MajorE E Q +Q
|-----------------|------------------||-------------------||
|-----------------|---------7-------o||-----8---7---(7)\--||
|-9---9---7-9-x-x-|-----9---7--------||-----9---7---(7)\--||
|-9---9---7-9-x-x-|-----7---7--------||-----7---7---(7)\--||
|-7---------------|-----------------o||-------------------||
|-----------------|------------------||-------------------||
Guitar Solo
A augmentedA 
D/F#D/F# A augmentedA 
A7A7 E5E5
Gtr III
E MajorE E a E MajorE E a E MajorE E E MajorE a E MajorE E MajorE E a E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE +E MajorE Q E MajorE +E MajorE E MajorE E MajorE
|-5-5-3s5-5-3s5-5-5-3s5-|-5-5-3s5-5-5-5-5-5-|--------------------------------|
|-5-5-3s5-5-3s5-5-5-3s5-|-5-5-3s5-5-5-5-5-5-|---------------------------5----|
|-----------------------|-------------------|-7b9==(7)-7r---7b9==(7)-7r-7b9==|
|-----------------------|-------------------|--------------------------------|
|-----------------------|-------------------|--------------------------------|
|-----------------------|-------------------|--------------------------------|
|
| Gtr I
| Q E MajorE E E MajorE E Q E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E Q E MajorE E MajorE E E MajorE E MajorE E MajorE
|-----------------------|-------------------|--------------------------------|
|-2-----3-----3-2-------|---8---8-8-8-8-8-x-|--------------------------------|
|-2-----2-----2-2-------|-------9-9-9-9-9-x-|----------9----9-----x--x--9----|
|-2-----4-----4-2-------|-------7-7-7-7-7-x-|-9--------9----9-----x--x--9----|
|-0---------------------|-------------------|-7--------7----7-----x--x--7----|
|-----------------------|-------------------|-0------------------------------|
A augmentedA D/F#D/F# A augmentedA A7A7
+E MajorE E MajorE Q E MajorE E E MajorE +E MajorE E MajorE E E MajorE E a E MajorE E E MajorE a E MajorE E MajorE E a E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E
|--------------------------|-5-5-5-5-3s5-5-5-3s5-|-5-5-3s5-5-5-5-5-5-|
|-(5)-5--5------5-5-5------|-5-5-5-5-3s5-5-5-3s5-|-5-5-3s5-5-5-5-5-5-|
|-(7)-7r-7b9====7-7-7r=(7)-|---------------------|-------------------|
|--------------------------|---------------------|-------------------|
|--------------------------|---------------------|-------------------|
|--------------------------|---------------------|-------------------|
|
| +Q E MajorE E MajorE E E MajorE Q Q E MajorE E E MajorE E Q E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E
|--------------------------|---------------------|-------------------|
|--------------------------|-2---3-----3-2-------|---8---8-8-8-8-8---|
|-(9)----9------9---9\-----|-2---2-----2-2-------|-------9-9-9-9-9---|
|-(9)----9------9---9\-----|-2---4-----4-2-------|-------7-7-7-7-7---|
|-(7)----7------7---7\-----|-0-------------------|-----------------0-|
|--------------------------|---------------------|-------------------|
D.S. al Coda
E5E5 BB
E MajorE +E MajorE Q E MajorE +E MajorE Q E MajorE +E MajorE Q Q E MajorE E E MajorE E h.
|----------------------0--|----------0--0---0-5-|-5s7-7------||
|----------5---5-------0--|----------0--0---0-0-|-0----------||
|-7b9==(7)-7---7r==(7)----|-2b4==(2)----2r----6-|-6s8-8------||
|-------------------------|---------------------|------------||
|-------------------------|---------------------|------------||
|-------------------------|---------------------|------------||
|
| H +Q Q W W
|-------------------------|-7-------------------|-7----------||
|-------------------------|-7-------------------|-7----------||
|-9-----------(9)\--------|-8-------------------|-8----------||
|-9-----------(9)\--------|-9-------------------|-9----------||
|-7-----------(7)\--------|-9-------------------|-9----------||
|-0-----------------------|-7-------------------|-7----------||
Outro
&
E5E5 D5D5 E5E5 D5D5
Gtr I
E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E Q Q E MajorE E
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----------------|
|-9---9---x-x-x-x-|-9s7-x-x-x-x-x-x-|-7s9-9---x-x-x-x-|-9s7-x---x--7-7-|
|-9---9---x-x-x-x-|-9s7-x-x-x-x-x-x-|-7s9-9---x-x-x-x-|-9s7-x---x--7-7-|
|-7---7---x-x-x-x-|-7s5-x-x-x-x-x-x-|-5s7-7---x-x-x-x-|-7s5-x---x--5-5-|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----------------|
|
| Gtr II
| Q E MajorE E E MajorE E Q Q E MajorE E Q Q Q E MajorE E E MajorE E Q Q E MajorE E Q Q
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----------------|
|-----------------|-----8---7-------|-----------------|-----8---7------|
|-9---9---7-9-----|-----9---7-------|-9---9---7-9-----|-----9---7------|
|-9---9---7-9-----|-----7---7-------|-9---9---7-9-----|-----7---7------|
|-7---------------|-----------------|-7---------------|----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----------------|
E5E5 D5D5 E5E5
E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E Q Q E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E q Q H
|-----------------|----------------|-----------------|------------*|
|-----------------|----------------|-----------------|------------*|
|-7s9-9---x-x-x-x-|-9s7-x---x--7-7-|-7s9-9-9-9-9-9-9-|-9----------*|
|-7s9-9---x-x-x-x-|-9s7-x---x--7-7-|-7s9-9-9-9-9-9-9-|-9----------*|
|-5s7-7---x-x-x-x-|-7s5-x---x--5-5-|-5s7-7-7-7-7-7-7-|-7----------*|
|-----------------|----------------|-----------------|------------*|
|
| Q E MajorE E E MajorE E Q Q E MajorE E Q Q E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E E MajorE E q Q H
|-----------------|----------------|-----------------|------------*|
|-----------------|-----8---7------|-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-|-9----------*|
|-9---9---7-9-----|-----9---7------|-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-|-9----------*|
|-9---9---7-9-----|-----7---7------|-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-9-|-9----------*|
|-7---------------|----------------|-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-7-|-7----------*|
|-----------------|----------------|-----------------|------------*|
Duration 🏷Legend
---------------
W - whole; H - half; Q - quarter; E MajorE - 8th; S - 16th; T - 32nd; X - 64th; a - acciaccatura
+ - note tied to previous; . - note dotted; .. - note double dotted
Uncapitalized letters represent notes that are staccato (1/2 duration)
Irregular groupings are notated above the duration line
Duration letters will always appear directly above the note/fret number it represents the
duration for. Duration letters with no fret number below them represent rests. Multi-
bar rests are notated in the form Wxn, where n is the number of bars to rest for. Low
melody durations appear below the staff
Tablature 🏷Legend
----------------
h - hammer-on
p - pull-off
b - bend
pb - pre-bend
r - bend release (if no number after the r, then release immediately)
/\ - slide into or out of (from/to "nowhere")
s - legato slide
S - shift slide
- natural harmonic
[n] - artificial harmonic
n(n) - tapped harmonic
~ - vibrato
tr - trill
T - tap
TP - trem. picking
PM - palm muting
\n/ - tremolo bar dip; n = amount to dip
\n - tremolo bar down
n/ - tremolo bar up
/n\ - tremolo bar inverted dip
= - hold bend; also acts as connecting device for hammers/pulls
- volume swell (louder/softer)
x - on rhythm slash represents muted slash
o - on rhythm slash represents single note slash
Misc 🏷Legend
-----------
| - bar
|| - double bar
||o - repeat start
o|| - repeat end
*| - double bar (ending)
: - bar (freetime)
$ - Segno
& - Coda
Tempo markers - = BPM(8/16=s8/s16), where s8 = swing 8ths, s16 = swing 16ths
Other versions of I Need To Know
Alternative guitar chords and tabs for I wont back down (Ver. 2) by Tom Petty
| Version | Type |
|---|
| I need to know | Chords |
