PERFORMANCE NOTES
“N.I.B.”
Black Sabbath
INCLUDED IN OUR transcription of “N.I.B.” is bassist Geezer Butler’s solo showcase, titled “Bassically” on the original U.S. version of the band’s self-titled debut album. (A later remastered version of the album includes this same track as the untitled outro to “Behind the Wall of Sleep.”)
Butler bases just about every phrase in this solo on an elongated, two-octave fretboard pattern of the E minor pentatonic scale (E, G, A, B, D), using finger slides to seamlessly shift positions. Notice how the bassist takes a very aggressive, guitaristic approach and employs bluesy string bends, which make his licks sing.
