BEAT IT
As recorded by Michael Jackson
(From the 1983 Album THRILLER)
Words and Music by Michael Jackson
E5 D5 C5
x 7 9 9 x x x 5 7 7 x x x 3 5 5 x x
Gtr I (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb) - '(elec. w/dist.)'
Gtr II (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb) - '(elec. w/dist.)'
Gtr III (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb) - '(Eddie Van Halen)'
Gtr IV (Eb Ab Db Gb Bb Eb) - 'Gtr. 2 (dist. off)'
Intro
Moderately Q=132
N.C.(Em) (D)
4/4
Gtr I
1/2 step down
~~
Wx13 H Q E E +E E E E Q. a E
|-------------|-------------|--------------------||-------------|-------------|--------------------||-------------|-------------|--------------------||-------------|-------------|---------5-2----2h4-||-------------|-------------|-------2------------||-------------|-----------0-|-(0)-3--------------|
(Em) (D) (Em) Gtrs I, II ~~ +E E q q E E +E E E E Q. a E H Q E S S|-----------------|--------------------|-------------------||-----------------|--------------------|-------------------||-----------------|--------------------|---------------x-x-||-(4)-2-0--0------|---------5-2----2h4-|-(4)-2-0-------x-x-||-----------------|-------2------------|-------------------||---------------0-|-(0)-3--------------|---------------0---| +E E q Q E E
(D) (Em)
Gtr II
PM-----| PM| ~ PM| PM|
S S S S E S S E Q S S E S S E E +Q +E E|-------------------------------|------------------------||-------------------------------|--7------7--------------||--x--x-x-x-12-x-x-12--9----x-x-|--7--x-x-7-7-(7)--(7)s3s||--x--x-x-x-12-x-x-12--9----x-x-|-----x-x---7-(7)--(7)S3S||-------------------------------|------------------------||-------------------------------|------------------------|
|
| Gtr I| ~~~| +E E E E Q. a E +E E q q E E|-------------------------------|------------------------||-------------------------------|------------------------||-------------------------------|------------------------||--------------5----2-----2h4---|-(4)-2---0----0---------||------------2------------------|------------------------||-(0)---3-----------------------|----------------------0-|
(D) PM| PM| ~ PM| PM| ~~~~~~ e S S E S S E Q S S E S S E E +Q. +E|-----------------------------|------------------------|||-----------------------------|--7------7--------------|||-12--x-x-12-x-x-12--9----x-x-|--7--x-x-7-7-(7)---(7)\-|||-12--x-x-12-x-x-12--9----x-x-|-----x-x---7-(7)---(7)\-|||-----------------------------|------------------------|||-----------------------------|------------------------||
|
| ~~~| +E E E E Q. a E +E E q H|-----------------------------|------------------------|||-----------------------------|------------------------|||-----------------------------|------------------------|||------------5----2-----2h4---|-(4)-2---0--------------|||----------2------------------|------------------------|||-(0)-3-----------------------|------------------------||
Verses $ E5 D5 E5 D5 Gtr I E E q q E E q q H E E q q E E q q H|---------------|------------|---------------|------------||---------------|------------|---------------|------------||---9-9--9----7-|-7--7-------|---9-9--9----7-|-7--7-------||---9-9--9----7-|-7--7-------|---9-9--9----7-|-7--7-------||---7-7--7----5-|-5--5-------|---7-7--7----5-|-5--5-------||---------------|------------|---------------|------------|
C5 D5 E5 D5 E E q q E E q q H E E q q E E q q H|---------------|------------|---------------|------------||---------------|------------|---------------|------------||---5-5--5----7-|-7--7-------|---9-9--9----7-|-7--7-------||---5-5--5----7-|-7--7-------|---9-9--9----7-|-7--7-------||---3-3--3----5-|-5--5-------|---7-7--7----5-|-5--5-------||---------------|------------|---------------|------------|
E5 D5 E5 D5
Gtr IV
PM----------------------------------------------------------------|
E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------||-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------||-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------||---2-0-2-0-2---2-|-4-2-0-2-4-2-0-2-|---2-0-2-0-2---2-|-4-2-0-2-4-2-0-2--||-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------||-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------|
|
| Gtr I| E E q q E E q q H E E q q E E q q H|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------||-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------||---9-9---9-----7-|-7---7-----------|---9-9---9-----7-|-7---7------------||---9-9---9-----7-|-7---7-----------|---9-9---9-----7-|-7---7------------||---7-7---7-----5-|-5---5-----------|---7-7---7-----5-|-5---5------------||-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------|
C5 D5 E5 D5 (Em)
Gtr I
PM--------------------------------------------------------|
E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E E Q E E|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|||-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|||-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|||---2-0-2-0-2---2-|-4-2-0-2-4-2-0-2-|---2-0-2-0-2---2-|-4-2-0-2---------|||-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|||-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|--------------0--||
|
| E E q q E E q q H E E q q E E q q H|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|||-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|||---5-5---5-----7-|-7---7-----------|---9-9---9-----7-|-7---7-----------|||---5-5---5-----7-|-7---7-----------|---9-9---9-----7-|-7---7-----------|||---3-3---3-----5-|-5---5-----------|---7-7---7-----5-|-5---5-----------|||-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------||
Chorus (D) (Em) Gtr I ~~ +E E E E Q. a E +E E q q E E||---------------------|-----------------|||o--------------------|-----------------|||---------------------|-----------------|||----------5-2----2h4-|-(4)-2-0--0------|||o-------2------------|-----------------|||--(0)-3--------------|---------------0-|
(D) (Em) ~~ +E E E E Q. a E +E E q Q E E|--------------------|-----------------||--------------------|-----------------||--------------------|-----------------||---------5-2----2h4-|-(4)-2-0---------||-------2------------|-----------------||-(0)-3--------------|---------------0-|
(D) (Em) ~~~ +E E E E Q. a E +E E q q E E|------------------------|--------------------||------------------------|--------------------||------------------------|--------------------||----------5--2------2h4-|-(4)-2--0---0-------||--------2---------------|--------------------||-(0)-3------------------|------------------0-|
|
| Gtr IV| q q q q q q q q|------------------------|--------------------||-12----12---12---12-----|-12----12--12--12---||--x-----x----x----x-----|--x-----x---x---x---||--9-----9----9----9-----|--9-----9---9---9---||------------------------|--------------------||------------------------|--------------------|
To Coda (D) (Em) ~~~ +E E E E Q. a E +E E q Q E E|------------------------|----------------------|||------------------------|---------------------o|||------------------------|----------------------|||----------5--2------2h4-|-(4)-2--0-------------|||--------2---------------|---------------------o|||-(0)-3------------------|------------------0---||
|
| q q q q q q q q|------------------------|----------------------|||-12----12---12---12-----|-12----12--12--12----o|||--x-----x----x----x-----|--x-----x---x---x-----|||--9-----9----9----9-----|--9-----9---9---9-----|||------------------------|---------------------o|||------------------------|----------------------||
D.S. al Coda (D) (Em) (D) Gtr I ~~ ~~ +E E E E Q. a E +E E q q E E +E E E E Q. a E +E E q H|--------------------|-----------------|--------------------|----------------|||--------------------|-----------------|--------------------|----------------|||--------------------|-----------------|--------------------|----------------|||---------5-2----2h4-|-(4)-2-0--0------|---------5-2----2h4-|-(4)-2-0--------|||-------2------------|-----------------|-------2------------|----------------|||-(0)-3--------------|---------------0-|-(0)-3--------------|----------------||
Interlude & (E5) E E q q E E q q H E E q q E E q q H||----------------|------------|---------------|-------------||||o---------------|------------|---------------|------------o||||----------------|------------|---------------|-------------||||----------------|------------|---------------|-------------||||o---------------|------------|---------------|------------o||||----0-0--0----0-|-0--0-------|---0-0--0----0-|-0--0--------||
Gtr III W W||--------------------------|---------------------|||o-------------------------|---------------------|||--------------------------|---------------------|||--------------------------|---------------------|||o-------------------------|---------------------|||--------------------------|---------------------|
|
| Gtr II| PM| PM| ~ PM| PM| ~~~~~~| E S S E S S E Q S S E S S E E +Q Q||--------------------------|---------------------|||o-------------------------|---------------------|||----x-x-12-x-x-12-9---x-x-|-12-x-x-12-9-(9)-----|||----x-x-12-x-x-12-9---x-x-|-12-x-x-12-9-(9)-----|||o-------------------------|---------------------|||--------------------------|---------------------|
|
| Gtr I| E E q q E E q q H||--------------------------|---------------------|||o-------------------------|---------------------|||--------------------------|---------------------|||--------------------------|---------------------|||o-------------------------|---------------------|||----0----0------0-----0---|--0------0-----------|
\3___\7____/0___________ W H E +Q S S|-------------------------|------------------------------------|||-------------------------|-----------------------------------o|||-------------------------|--------------0---(0)----0h==2b3====|||-------------------------|------------------------------------|||-------------------------|-----------------------------------o|||-------------------------|------------------------------------||
|
| PM| PM| ~ PM| PM| ~~~~~~~| E S S E S S E Q S S E S S E E +Q Q|-------------------------|------------------------------------|||-------------------------|-----------------------------------o|||---x-x-12-x-x-12-9---x-x-|-12-x-x-12-9-(9)--------------------|||---x-x-12-x-x-12-9---x-x-|-12-x-x-12-9-(9)--------------------|||-------------------------|-----------------------------------o|||-------------------------|------------------------------------||
|
| E E q q E E q q H|-------------------------|------------------------------------|||-------------------------|-----------------------------------o|||-------------------------|------------------------------------|||-------------------------|------------------------------------|||-------------------------|-----------------------------------o|||---0----0------0-----0---|--0------0--------------------------||
Guitar Solo E5 D5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ +E +Q. +E +E Q +E Q. +E E Q|---------------------------|---------------------------||---------------------------|---------------------------||-(2)b4==(2)----(2)r(2)s7---|-(7)-7(14)----(7)s9-9(14)--||---------------------------|---------------------------||---------------------------|---------------------------||---------------------------|---------------------------|
|
| Gtr I| E E q q E E q q H|---------------------------|---------------------------||---------------------------|---------------------------||---------9--9---9--------7-|--7--------7---------------||---------9--9---9--------7-|--7--------7---------------||---------7--7---7--------5-|--5--------5---------------||---------------------------|---------------------------|
E5 D5
~~~~ T T T T
|-----5-----| |------6-------|
+E. S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S|------------15p10h14-15p14p12p10h14-15p14p12p10h14-15p||------------------------------------------------------||-(9)s==12---------------------------------------------||------------------------------------------------------||------------------------------------------------------||------------------------------------------------------|
|
| E E q q E E|------------------------------------------------------||------------------------------------------------------||-----9----9-----------9-----------------------7-------||-----9----9-----------9-----------------------7-------||-----7----7-----------7-----------------------5-------||------------------------------------------------------|
T T
|--------7--------| |--------7---------|
S S S S S S S S S S S S S +S E E E. +S|-14p12p10-----------------------------------------------------||----------14-15p14p12p10h14-15p14p12p10-(10)-12h13p12--(12)s==||--------------------------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------------------|
|
| q q H|--------------------------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------------------||--7--------------------7--------------------------------------||--7--------------------7--------------------------------------||--5--------------------5--------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------------------------|
C5 D5
|--3--| |--3--| |--3--| |--3--|
E E S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S|---------------12h19p15p12----12-------------12-------||-20---12h15h19-------------19----19p15p12h15----19p15p||------------------------------------------------------||------------------------------------------------------||------------------------------------------------------||------------------------------------------------------|
|
| E E q q E E|------------------------------------------------------||------------------------------------------------------||----5--5--------------5-----------------------7-------||----5--5--------------5-----------------------7-------||----3--3--------------3-----------------------5-------||------------------------------------------------------|
\1/
|--3--| |--3--| |--3---|
S S S S S S S S E +S S E +E +S S S|-------12----------12-------------------------------------------||-12h15----19p15p12----12----------------15b17==(15)r(15)p12h15--||-------------------------14b15r(14)--12-------------------------||----------------------------------------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------------------|
|
| q q H|----------------------------------------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------------------||--7-----------------7-------------------------------------------||--7-----------------7-------------------------------------------||--5-----------------5-------------------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------------------|
E5 D5 \2.5___ T T a E T T T T S S E +S +S S S +E +E|----------------------------------------------------------||-19s22p15p12-19s22p15p12----------------------------------||-------------------------14b16==(14)r(14)p12p0-(0)-(0)----||----------------------------------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------------|
|
| E E q q E E|----------------------------------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------------||--------9-----------9-------------9-----------------7-----||--------9-----------9-------------9-----------------7-----||--------7-----------7-------------7-----------------5-----||----------------------------------------------------------|
/0______________________\1/ ~~~ +E +E E +S S E +S S +Q|-------------------------------------||-------------------------------------||-(0)--(0)-[9]b11r(9)p7h9-(9)--7-(7)--||-------------------------------------||-------------------------------------||-------------------------------------|
|
| q q H|-------------------------------------||-------------------------------------||--7--------7-------------------------||--7--------7-------------------------||--5--------5-------------------------||-------------------------------------|
E5 D5 \1 /0_____\1___/0_________ +E a E +S S S S +S S S S +E. +S|--------------------------------------------||------3s5-(5)p3p0h5--(5)p3p0h5---(5)----(5)p||-(7)\---------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------|
|
| E E q q E E|--------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------------||--------9--9----------9---------------7-----||--------9--9----------9---------------7-----||--------7--7----------7---------------5-----||--------------------------------------------|
E5 D5
\1___/0________________________________________________________________________
~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~
|-3--|
S S E +E E E a a Q +E. +S e E E E S S E +E. T T|--------------------------------------|--------12-------12----15b17-(15)---12------||-3p0h5---(5)p3p0----------------------|-----------15b17----12-----------------12---||---------------------[2]b4===(2)-(2)rs|=16-/13-------------------------------------||-------------------x------------------|--------------------------------------------||-----------------x--------------------|--------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
|
| q q H E E q q E E|--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------||--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------||-7--------7---------------------------|------9--9--------9---------------7---------||-7--------7---------------------------|------9--9--------9---------------7---------||-5--------5---------------------------|------7--7--------7---------------5---------||--------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------|
~~~~~~~~ T E +S S Q +E. +S S S S S|----------------------------------------||--------------------------------15p8h13-||-14b15r(14)p12-14--(14)-(14)\-----------||----------------------------------------||----------------------------------------||----------------------------------------|
|
| q q H|----------------------------------------||----------------------------------------||--7-------------7-----------------------||--7-------------7-----------------------||--5-------------5-----------------------||----------------------------------------|
C5 D5
T T T T T T T T T
|-----5-----| |-----6------| |-------7-------| |--------7---------|
S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S S|-15p8h12-----------15p8h12---------15p8h12---------15p8h12---------14h17p===||-----------15p8h12---------15p8h12---------15p8h12---------15p==12----------||----------------------------------------------------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|
| E E q q E E|----------------------------------------------------------------------------||----------------------------------------------------------------------------||---------5-------5---------------5----------------------------7-------------||---------5-------5---------------5----------------------------7-------------||---------3-------3---------------3----------------------------5-------------||----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
T T ~~~~~~~~ |3-| |3-| E S E S E.S E E Q|-h10-17p10-17p10s8-----0-12------||-------------------h9/-0-15b17===||-------------------h9/-----------||---------------------------------||---------------------------------||---------------------------------|
|
| q q H|---------------------------------||---------------------------------||---7-----------7-----------------||---7-----------7-----------------||---5-----------5-----------------||---------------------------------|
E5 D5 (Em) ~~~~~~~ TP TP TP TP TP TP TP TP +E E Q Q. E +Q Q +E Q.|-(12)--12-14--15-----17-|-(17)--19--(19)-21b24======||-(15)r------------------|---------------------------||------------------------|---------------------------||------------------------|---------------------------||------------------------|---------------------------||------------------------|---------------------------|
|
| E E q q E E q q Q E E|------------------------|---------------------------||------------------------|---------------------------||--------9--9---9------7-|---7----7------------------||--------9--9---9------7-|---7----7------------------||--------7--7---7------5-|---5----5------------------||------------------------|-------------------------0-|
Out-Chorus (D) (Em) TP TP~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ +H +E +Q. +E E H.||--(21)-------(21)-(21)------|-(21)r----------------|||o---------------------------|----------------------|||----------------------------|-------x\-------------|||----------------------------|----------19\---------|||o---------------------------|----------------------|||----------------------------|----------------------|
|
| ~~~~| +E E E E Q. a E +E E q q E E||----------------------------|----------------------|||o---------------------------|----------------------|||----------------------------|----------------------|||-----------5---2--------2h4-|--(4)--2---0---0------|||o--------2------------------|----------------------|||---(0)-3--------------------|--------------------0-|
(D) (Em) W W|--------------------|-----------------||--------------------|-----------------||--------------------|-----------------||--------------------|-----------------||--------------------|-----------------||--------------------|-----------------|
|
| ~~| +E E E E Q. a E +E E q Q E E|--------------------|-----------------||--------------------|-----------------||--------------------|-----------------||---------5-2----2h4-|-(4)-2-0---------||-------2------------|-----------------||-(0)-3--------------|---------------0-|
(D) (Em) Gtr IV q q q q q q q q|------------------------|--------------------||-12----12---12---12-----|-12----12--12--12---||--x-----x----x----x-----|--x-----x---x---x---||--9-----9----9----9-----|--9-----9---9---9---||------------------------|--------------------||------------------------|--------------------|
|
| ~~~| +E E E E Q. a E +E E q q E E|------------------------|--------------------||------------------------|--------------------||------------------------|--------------------||----------5--2------2h4-|-(4)-2--0---0-------||--------2---------------|--------------------||-(0)-3------------------|------------------0-|
(D) (Em) q q q q q q q q 4x|------------------------|----------------------|||-12----12---12---12-----|-12----12--12--12----o|||--x-----x----x----x-----|--x-----x---x---x-----|||--9-----9----9----9-----|--9-----9---9---9-----|||------------------------|---------------------o|||------------------------|----------------------||
|
| ~~~| +E E E E Q. a E +E E q Q E E 4x|------------------------|----------------------|||------------------------|---------------------o|||------------------------|----------------------|||----------5--2------2h4-|-(4)-2--0-------------|||--------2---------------|---------------------o|||-(0)-3------------------|------------------0---||
Duration Legend
---------------
W - whole; H - half; Q - quarter; E - 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
