Creeping Death
View chords used in this chart
Intro
(Ryth Fig 1) (end Ryth Fig 1)
&-#---||----------------|---|-----------------|----||
&-----||----------------|---|-----------------|----||
&---4-||o-----------%---|---|-----------%-----|---o||
&---4-||o-----------%-9-|-9-|-----------%-9-7-|-7-o||
&-----||--------------9-|-9-|-------------9-7-|-7--||
&-----||--0-0-0-0-0---7-|-7-|-0-0-0-0-0---7-5-|-5--||
~~~~~ ~~~~~
w/Ryth Fig 1 (once)
||-------------------|-----------|------------------|----------||---------|
||-------------------|-----------|------------------|----------||---------|
||o-------------%----|-------%-}-|------------------|-----%-}-o||-}-------|
||o-------------%-9--|-9--9--%-}-|-----------%-9--7-|-7-7-%-}-o||-}-------|
||----------------10-|-10-10-----|-----------%-10-9-|-9-9------||---7-5-5-|
||--0-0-0-0-0-0------|-----------|-0-0-0-0-0--------|----------||---5-3-2-|
~~~~~~~ ~~~~~
(Ryth Fig 3) (end Ryt Fig 3)(Ryth Fig 4) (end Ryth Fig 4)
x8 x4
||------------------|----------------------||-------------|------------------||
||------------------|----------------------||-------------|------------------||
||o-----------------|---------------------o||o------------|-----------------o||
||o-----2-----2---2-|-----2---------------o||o------------|-----------------o||
||------2-----2---2-|-----2---2-3-2-3-2-0--||-----5-----5-|------------------||
||--0-0---0-0---0---|-0-0---0--------------||-0-0-3-0-0-3-|-0-0-2-2-2-2-2-2--||
H P P
You then play Ryth Fig 3 four times, and then continue.
|---|---|---|---------|
|---|---|---|---------| The singing starts. Keep playing Ryth Fig 3
|---|---|---|---4-6---| until the singing stops (16 bars later) then
|-2-|-2-|-2-|-2-4-6-4-| start playing Ryth Fig 4 four times.
|-2-|-2-|-2-|-2-2-4-4-|
|-0-|-0-|-0-|-0-----2-|
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chorus
E5 C5 D5 F5 G5 @
||---|-------------|---|------|---|-------------|---------|---|-------------|
||---|-------------|---|------|---|-------------|---------|---|-------------|
||-9-|-9-------5-7-|-7-|-7/10-|-9-|-9-------5-7-|-/10-12\-|-7-|-7-------5-7-|
||-9-|-9-------5-7-|-7-|-7/10-|-9-|-9-------5-7-|-/10-12\-|-7-|-7-------5-7-|
||-7-|-7-------3-5-|-5-|-5/8--|-7-|-7-------3-5-|-/8--10\-|-5-|-9-------3-5-|
||---|---0-0-0-----|---|------|---|---0-0-0-----|---------|---|---0-0-0-----|
~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
w/Ryth Fig 3 (twice)
---|------|---|-------------|---|---------|---||
---|------|---|-------------|---|---------|---|| Go back up to the part where
-7-|-7/10-|-9-|-9-------5-7-|-7-|-7-4-6-4-|-4-|| the singing starts
-7-|-7/10-|-9-|-9-------5-7-|-7-|-7-4-6-4-|-4-||
-5-|-5/8--|-7-|-7-------3-5-|-5-|-5-2-4-2-|-2-||
---|------|---|---0-0-0-----|---|---------|---||
~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~
Lotsa solo stuff. Damned fast, but not hard. Usual pentatonic minor soloing.
Bridge
(Half Time Feel)
(This is the "Die, by my hands..." part)
Each chord is a half note, except the E which is 4 quarter notes using only
the bottom string. The progression is like this:
E5 E E E E F5 D5 E5 E E E E G5 F5 (x3)
Then it's Ryth Fig 3 for 6 bars. On the sixth bar, another gutair plays the
following:
|-----------|
|-----------| Go back to where the singing originally started. Play it
|-[~3~]-7\--| through with the third verse, and when you hit the @ sign,
|-2-3-5-7\\-| go to this next part.
|-2-3-5-5\\-|
|-0-1-3---\-|
Ryth Fig 9
-----------------|-------|-------------------|-------||
-----------------|-------|-------------------|-------||
-----------------|-------|-------------------|-------||
-----2-----2---2-|-2-2-2-|-----2-----2-----3-|-3-0-0-||
-----2-----2---2-|-2-2-2-|-----2-----2-----3-|-3-0-0-||
-0-0---0-0---0---|-------|-0-0---0-0---0-0---|-------||
~~~~~ ~~~~~
(Following Can be played by 2 guitars, one high, one low, but one can do it)
w/Ryth Fig 9
/\ x3
||---/--\--------|----|------/\---------|------||
||--15--15-13-12-|-12-|-12-12--12----13-|-13---||
||o-14--14-12-11-|-11-|-11-11--11-14-12-|-12--o||
||o--------------|----|-----------14----|-----o||
||---------------|----|-----------------|------||
||---------------|----|-----------------|------||
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~
x3
--------------|---|-----------|---||------------|---|-----------|----||
--------------|---|-----------|---||------------|---|-----------|----||
-----9--7-5-4-|-4-|-4-5-4---5-|-5-||o-5-9-5-7-4-|-4-|-4-5-4---4-|-4-o||
-----9--7-5-4-|-4-|-4-5-4---5-|-5-||o-5-9-5-7-4-|-4-|-4-5-4---4-|-4-o||
-----7--5-3-2-|-2-|-2-3-2-0-3-|-3-||--3-7-3-5-2-|-2-|-2-3-2-0-2-|-2--||
-0-0----------|---|-----------|---||------------|---|-----------|----||
~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~
Something for 4 bars... Probably one of the above riffs.
Ryth Fig 2 (twice) Then it's free time.
Then it's 4 chords, with a slight retard:
-----|-----|---|
-----|-----|---|
-*---|-----|---|
-*---|-----|-2-|
---7-|-5-5-|-2-|
---5-|-3-2-|-0-|
Trill
Now, in the Exact same bar where the E5 Trill starts, this scale starts, with
two guitars.
|-------------|-------------|-14-15--14----|-------------|----------|----|
|-------------|-------16-17-|--7--8---7-17-|-16----------|----------|----|
|----------14-|-16-17--8--9-|------------9-|--8-17-16-14-|----------|----|
|-14-16-17--7-|--9-10-------|--------------|----10--9--7-|-17-16-14-|-14-|
|--7--9-10----|-------------|--------------|-------------|-10--9--7-|--7-|
|-------------|-------------|--------------|-------------|----------|----|
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~
H H P P
And of course, it ends with 2 hard E5 chords, and a slide to nothing.
How to play Creeping Death
Use the controls above to change the key and text size. Follow the highlighted chords while listening, then practice each section slowly before playing at the original tempo.
What is the starting chord?
The first identified chord is E5. You can transpose without leaving the page.
Can I play it on guitar or keyboard?
Yes. The chord progression works on acoustic guitar, electric guitar and keyboard. Adapt the voicings to your instrument and level.