I Won’t Back Down | TAB
In I Won’t Back Down we have no extensions, instead, we go the other way, to the power chord (5 chord).
For the chords and lyrics, I put in fewer and fewer power chords as the song progresses, this helps with building dynamics. In the original recording, they add more layers of guitars, playing the full triad.
As you are going to play this live as the only guitarist, you need to dynamically evolve during the song somehow, hence the move from power chords to triads.
The verse is just power chords pumping, here’s one way you could do this:
We switch to the second bar an 8th note early. The weight of the power chord falls on the same beat as the snare.
Here’s another way, can you tell the difference?
The difference is the passing note is now an open string. Perhaps you could blend the concepts for some nice, subtle variation.
Here’s a third way you could play I Won’t Back Down’s verse.
Now we use open-position chords, the early G chord is open strings from a G chord, and when we go to C, we use the same notes.
Here’s the fourth and final idea for the verse, now we blend the concepts.
Let’s look at the chorus next. Starting on chord IV makes us feel as if we “take off”.
The progression is IV – V, then back to the verse VI – IV – V. That quick passing chord is pure genius. Here’s TAB that describes how to strum I Won’t Back Down’s chorus chords.
This is arranged as if you are the only guitarist in the band or play I Won’t Back Down on your own.
I Won’t Back Down TAB | Related Pages
I Won’t Back Down | Chords + Lyrics
You can learn how to play I Won’t Back Down by Tom Petty using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| E5 D5 | G5 |
Well I, won’t back down…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
- Free Fallin’ chords by Tom Petty
- The Joker chords by the Steve Miller Band
- Learning To Fly chords by Tom Petty
- Mary Jane’s Last Dance chords by Tom Petty
- Stuck In The Middle With You chords by Stealers Wheel
Tom Petty tunes
Tom Petty released most of his albums with his band The Heartbreakers although some solo material appeared as well.
His best-known tunes include American Girl, Free Fallin’, Learning To Fly, Into The Great Wide Open, Don’t Come Around Here No More, and I Won’t Back Down.
Tom Petty on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This guitar lesson by Dan Lundholm features TAB and covers I Won’t Back Down. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.