Your first rock riff

The tone

Set your amp to crunch, as in The amp lesson: gain around 4 to 6, mids pushed up a little. No more gain than that: the palm muting has to stay tight.

The verse riff

Four muted E5s, then G5 and A5 ringing out; four muted E5s, then G5 and D5. Everything is played in eighth notes, all downstrokes, like palm-muted rock.

   PM------    PM------
e|-------------------------|
B|-----------------------3-|
G|-----------------------2-|
D|-2-2-2-2-5-7-2-2-2-2-5-0-|
A|-2-2-2-2-5-7-2-2-2-2-5---|
E|-0-0-0-0-3-5-0-0-0-0-3---|

The secret, as always: your palm lifts for the open chords and comes right back. And your picking hand never stops.

The chorus

In the chorus, it opens up: no more palm muting, just eighth-note downstrokes on ringing power chords, one bar each.

Play this pattern palm-muted first, as written, then lift your palm: the chorus explodes. The contrast between a muted verse and an open chorus is what rock dynamics are all about.

The song

Two verses, two choruses, then start again; to finish, one last E5 left to ring out. Each box in the verse lasts one bar: two boxes make one time through the riff, which lasts two bars.

1. The riff on its own, on a loop, up to 90.
2. The chorus on its own, lifting your palm.
3. The verse → chorus switch: that’s where it all happens. Lift your palm right on the 1 of the chorus.
4. The whole song, without stopping, then while recording yourself.

You’ve got it when…

• Your verse riff holds up at 90 with a real muted / open contrast
• You go from verse to chorus without a gap or speeding up
• You play the whole song, ending on E5