Johnny’s style was characteristic of the DIY punk aesthetic and went on to inspire countless young guitarists. The resulting sound, as you can hear in this clip, is primordial and motoric in quality. Johnny relies on a very simple chord progression, which is played using only downstrokes. It is written in 4/4 and in the key of A. The song is about as simple and elemental as they come.
This was Johnny Ramone’s genius and, in this isolated recording of his guitar part for ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’, that genius is abundantly clear. It was also Dee Dee who changed the line “shouting in the back now”, to “shoot ’em in the back now.” Dee Dee Ramone, however, felt that the alternative title better captured the visceral energy the group were going for. The name itself is taken from a form of warfare adopted by the German military in the second world war, although it was originally called ‘Animal Bop’. It is the violence contained within ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ that has made it so appealing to angsty teenagers for such a long time. It said that all you needed to write a great song was “three chords and the truth.” With ‘Blitzkreig Bop,’ The Ramones pushed that notion to its logical extreme. Rather, The Ramones adopted a musical philosophy advocated by the likes of Woody Guthrie. The track, which comes from the band’s self-titled debut album, proved that you didn’t need to be a virtuoso to be a pioneer.
This article is only an introduction in the punk rock style for guitarists, and there are of course lots of other things to explore in this musical genre.Released in 1976, The Ramones’ ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ is one of the defining songs of the punk era, exploding onto the scene in a way that completely refreshed America’s attitude to guitar music. California SunĬomment: Power chords or barre combi open chords without highest strings with lots of gain and distortion are recommended. Basket CaseĮ5 - B5 - C#5 - G#5 - A - E5 - B5 (verse)Ĭomment: Power chords are best suited for the job. G#5 - C#5 - A5 - C5 - D5 - B5 - D5 - E5 Story of My LifeĬomment: Open chords works fine. If you have played the examples so far without big difficulties, this one will give you some more to handle. Nirvana songs make big use of power chords, and also some longer progressions, as in "Lithium". In the song “Should I Go or Should I Stay” by The Clash, you come across a famous riff consisting of open chords (D and G). We have mentioned power chords a lot but open chords are not banned in punk music. The Clash – a famous riff with open chords The Em chord should be played as a barre chord, but without the highest string in it. The riff in the tab below is taken from the Green Day song “When I Come Around”. The next example is almost similar in regards of scale degrees to the previous, but the order is changed a little and one chord is added, the vi. The Roman numerals are the same regardless of the key you playing in. The chords in “Blitzkrieg Bop” can also be written in scales degrees: I - IV - V.
The Ramones song “Blitzkrieg Bop” use three power chords (B5 – E5 – F#5) and this characteristic riff is easy to repeat:Ī common progression in this music style is three chords with a specific relation. The numbers indicate index finger (1), ring finger (3) and little finger (4). The power chord is movable so all you need is one shape, and here it's: You can find it in songs by Ramones, Nirvana and Green Day for sure. The most used chord type in punk rock is probably the power chord. Nonetheless, there are chords as well as chord progressions that are typical in punk songs. There is no group of chords that actually are called punk chords.
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