Don’t Start (Too Late) - Black Sabbath - Guitar Cover

Don’t Start too Late is a thing of wonder. This 50 second piece penned by Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi is squeezed in between 2 super loud tracks Hole in the Sky and Symptom of the Universe. Because of its low volume it makes the next song that much louder. There are 3 different guitars at work I believe, the main guitar which starts the song, then a second harmony in fifths and finally a solo acoustic line in the upper register. It took me a while to find the parts and there could be some more details I haven’t caught, but I think this is mostly it.

The second time you hear the low register part (guitar 1) he switches his rhythm picking pattern, which I forgot here. So the first time round he hits the low E string twice and the A string once, and the second time he hits the low E string once and the A string twice.

Btw if you are wondering about tuning, I’ve gone for a regular tuning with a capo on the first fret, sounding like F. On the record however, it sounds a quarter note flat. To play along with the record you would need to tune down just a bit. And finally, I did try to record this part with the guitar tuned down 3 steps like his electrics but I don’t think it’s correct this way.

I play mostly with hammer-ons and pull-offs but I think Tony has picked most notes.