How to Play Beat It by Michael Jackson on Guitar

Beat It is one of the most iconic songs by Michael Jackson, the King of Pop. It was released in 1982 as the third single from his album Thriller, and became a worldwide hit. The song features a catchy melody, a powerful chorus, and a legendary guitar solo by Eddie Van Halen.

If you want to learn how to play Beat It on guitar, you will need to know some basic chords, a few techniques, and the song structure. In this article, we will show you how to play the main riff, the verse, the chorus, and the solo of Beat It. We will also give you some tips on how to practice and improve your skills.

Chords

Intro:
E-----------3--0----2--0-------------------3--0----2--0-----
B--------0----------------3--3----------0----------------3--
G-----0------------------------------0----------------------
D--2------------------------------2-------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------------


Verse:
  E minorEm               D MajorD                      E minorEm        D MajorD
022000           xx0232                 022000    xx0232
They told him... come around here, don’t wanna... disappear

   C majorC               D MajorD             E minorEm             D MajorD
x32010           xx0232         022000        xx0232
The fire’s in... words are... so beat it, just beat it

(same chords for all verses)


Chorus:
       E minorEm                D MajorD
     022000            xx0232
Just beat it, beat it, beat it, beat it

  E minorEm              D MajorD
022000         xx0232
No-one wants... be defeated

  E minorEm                   D MajorD         E minorEm                D MajorD
022000               xx0232     022000           xx0232
Showin how funky and strong.... it doesn’t matter who’s wrong or right

       E minorEm           D MajorD
     022000       xx0232
Just beat it, just beat it

       E minorEm           D MajorD
     022000       xx0232
Just beat it, just beat it

The Verse

The verse of Beat It follows the same chord progression as the main riff: Em and D. However, instead of playing the chords as power chords or open chords, you can play them as barre chords on the seventh fret. This will give you a fuller sound and allow you to add some embellishments.

To play an Em barre chord on the seventh fret, you need to barre all six strings with your index finger on the seventh fret, and place your ring finger on the ninth fret of the A string, and your pinky finger on the ninth fret of the D string. To play a D barre chord on the seventh fret, you need to barre all six strings with your index finger on the fifth fret, and place your ring finger on the seventh fret of the A string, your pinky finger on the seventh fret of the D string, and your middle finger on the sixth fret of the G string.

To add some embellishments, you can lift your pinky finger on the Em chord to create an Em7 chord, and lift your middle finger on the D chord to create a Dsus2 chord. You can also slide your index finger up and down on the E string to create some vibrato.

The Chorus

The chorus of Beat It is based on four chords: C, G, Am, and B. You can play them as open chords or as barre chords. The chorus consists of eight bars, each with four beats. The first four bars are C, G, Am, and B, played once each. The second four bars are C, G, Am, and B, played twice each