Mr. Brightside | TAB
The main riff which opens up the tune and then makes up the verse is what everyone knows and that is played in a specific way. Here’s TAB for how to play Mr. Brightside’s main riff.
A static Dbadd9 chord is played in a strange hybrid shape covering both the C and A-shaped chords.
This is then varied by changing the bass line from Db – C – Gb. I don’t know about you but I feel this must have been used as a reference track (industry speak for stealing) when Walk The Moon put together their hit Shut Up and Dance.
Anyway, here are the bridge chords, play VI – V – I/IV twice (it’s the intro chord at the end):
| Bbm | Bbm | Ab | Ab ||: Dbadd9/Gb | Dbadd9/Gb :||
The chorus, instrumental, and outro chords are just: I – IV – VI – V. In the key of Db, that becomes this:
||: Db5 | Gb | Bbm | Ab :||
It would be a good idea to play the melody for the instrumental using more than just one single line. Here’s an idea you could try:
In hindsight (after writing this TAB) I thought that this should probably be written as chords so I wrote the chord chart using extensions, check the chords lesson to find out more.
Mr. Brightside TAB | Related Pages
Mr. Brightside | Chords + Lyrics
You can learn how to play Mr. Brightside by The Killers using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, a chord chart, and the original recording.
| Dbadd9 | Dbadd9/C |
Coming out of my cage. and I’ve been doing just fine…
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
The Killers tunes
Formed in Las Vegas in early 2001, The Killers released a debut single that would become every cover band’s encore for years to come.
The band is best known for the tunes Mr. Brightside, Somebody Told Me, When You Were Young, Bones, and Human.
The Killers on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This guitar lesson by Dan Lundholm features TAB and covers Mr. Brightside. 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.