Transcribing Notes From John Neil (Head Transcriber)
Don’t Bring Me Down – Electric Light Orchestra – Song Breakdown
Keyboard
There are a few keyboard parts I hear in this recording – at least 2 tracks of piano (higher octave chords come in on verse 2 while the normal octave chords/low bass continue etc), a synth on the last 4 bars of the verse/choruses & synth lines throughout, and a Farfisa type line in the bridges. There are also bursts of white noise before the bridges. So I had to pick my battles. I believe I got the main gist of it in this part. I also added in a “door closing sample” on the last bar, which is optional, of course.
Download the Keyboard Sheet Music Here
Lead/Rhythm Guitar
This is the guitar that plays around with the hook throughout the song. It’s kind of buried under the mix, so I got out of it what I could.
Download the Lead Guitar Tab Here
Strum Guitar
There is a steady strum going on from verse/chorus 3 on (and probably from the beginning too, but it’s mixed low). So this makes for a pretty easy strum part.
Download the Strum Tab Here
Bass
A nice bass part that sounds like it’s played with a pick. It picks up the hook, and also lays down repeated 8th notes with lots of hammer-on action. The bridges have more of a 16th note pattern going on. A part to keep you busy.
Download the Bass Tab Here
Drums
This is a great beginner’s drum part, as it’s all based on 1 beat repeated through the entire song (probably a tape loop). The variations on that are added shaker in parts, and added claps in parts. I didn’t tab out the shaker, because the driving force of the hi-hat beat seems more important. I did the claps as rims for the last bar of the 2nd bridge and part of verse/chorus 5, but went back to the driving force of the hi-hat beat after that. You can do variations on the beat to mix this up (maybe add a crash or 2!), but I’d keep it simple as it’s intended to be.
Download the Drum Music Here
Download the Lead Sheet Here
