Rock guitar for beginners

Palm muting

One vital technique for every rock guitarist is palm muting. This is when you mute the strings with your picking hand as you strike the strings. 

• Choking the sound in this way gives a thicker, staccato quality commonly referred to as “chugging”.
• To do this, lightly rest the outermost part of your palm on the strings as you're playing the note or chord. 
• Exactly where on the strings you place your palm will differ depending on the type of bridge, your tuning, and string gauges. 

Listen to the main riff of Led Zeppelin’s “Whole Lotta Love”. 

• Notice the “chugging” sound on the low E string.
• The power chord briefly rings out. 
• Followed by three palm-muted notes on the open string.

Now compare this to Black Sabbath's “Iron Man” riff. 

• Long chords ringing out
• No muting at all even between chord changes

It’s important to get comfortable with applying and releasing a palm mute. 

If it seems tricky at first, don’t worry – it will soon become second nature.

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Try practicing over this simple progression:

• Play through while palm muting and then without. 
• This will help you familiarize yourself with the feel and sound of both. 
• The chord progression here is G, C, D, C – based on the lowest note of each chord. 

If you’re unsure how to identify the notes on the fretboard by name, we’d recommend you read our article about the CAGED system – you won’t regret it.

Now that palm muting is part of your musical vocabulary, you’ll be able to identify that sound whenever it’s used in a song.

Pentatonic scale

Rock rhythm guitar isn’t only bashing power chords. You’ll also play riffs – and riffs are based on scales. The most common scale in rock music is the pentatonic scale.

• Diatonic scales like major and minor are made up of seven notes whereas the pentatonic scale is made up of only five.
• In greek “Penta” means five, and “tonic” means tone.
• You can view it as a simplified version of the major or minor scale (by removing the 2nd and 7th degrees).

The pentatonic scale is a great way to practice “singing” through your guitar. Try improvising melodic lines over a simple chord. If you need something to play over you can use one of our Jam Tracks.

Lead guitar for rock

Our beginner's guide to rock guitar wouldn’t be complete without some lead guitar techniques. We’d bet it was a lead guitarist that first inspired you to pick up a guitar, so let’s fuel that inspiration!

Here are some fundamental techniques all rock guitarists use when playing melodies or solos.

String Bending

Bending the string to hit a desired pitch or note is the most common way to add some flavor and emotion to a melody. 

• When you bend the string you’re generally aiming for the pitch a half or a whole step up. 
• For example, if you bend the B string on the 13th fret, the pitch you want to reach is either on the 14th or 15th fret.

• To bend the string you must develop a good sense of pitch accuracy. You’ll learn that simply by playing and practicing.

Bending is a big part of making the guitar “sing” and an essential skill for expressive rock playing.

• Most players use their third finger to bend the strings. 
• Keep the second finger on the same string as you’re bending it for strength, support, and more accurate bending.
• If you’re totally new to this technique it will be tough on your fingertips – but that will pass quickly. 

Hammer-ons and Pull-offs

Not every note needs to be played and plucked with the pick. Sometimes it’s more useful to play a note once with your picking hand, then continue to fret the next set of notes on the same string using only your fretting hand.

• In this example, pluck the 7th fret with the pick.
• While it’s ringing, quickly “hammer on” your second finger on the 8th fret without using your picking hand. 
• The “h” in guitar tabs refers to this hammer-on technique.

Do this a few times to get used to the feeling.

Next, you want to learn how to pull off, which means playing descending notes without plucking them. 

• When you’ve hammered on the 8th fret, lift the finger again to go back to the 7th fret. 
• If done correctly there will be no interruption in sound while you go between frets.

You may need to pull your finger down and away from the string slightly instead of just lifting it straight up. Almost like plucking the string with your fretting hand.

Practice this on any strings and on any frets. 

• Pluck only the first note, then use hammer-on and pull-off to alternate between the two notes. 
• The faster you go, the more synchronized you’ll have to be with your left and right hand.

Again, the metronome is your friend.

Arpeggios

To make a power chord more interesting and create some movement, you can arpeggiate the chord. This means that you play the notes of the chord individually, rather than as one. 

The G power chord we looked at earlier can also be played like this. Arpeggiating distorted power chords sound fantastic when you palm-mute them.

Take a simple chord progression, like the one we used earlier, and try to arpeggiate each chord.

Tapping

Tapping is perhaps a little advanced for a new rock guitarist, but it’s fun to practice and sounds impressive immediately once you get a hang of it. 

You’ll be playing “Eruption” before you know it!

Tapping is a technique where you use both hands on the fretboard - you don’t use your pick to hit the strings at all.

• On the 5th and 8th fret, you hammer on using your index finger and ring or pinky finger. 
• For the 13th note, you use the middle finger of your right hand to hammer on the note.
• You can play it in reverse by using pull-offs too. 

What makes a great rock guitarist?

There’s a huge diversity of styles within rock music, so what’s “great” often comes down to personal opinion. 

There are however some common factors that make an awesome rock guitarist.

• Creative riffs
• Expressive playing
• Powerful tone 
• Unique stage presence

Combine all of those, add your own style, and you’ll be a rock god in no time!

Rock the foundations!

The absolute best advice for any budding rock guitarist is to take it slowly, to begin with.

Of course, we want to jump straight into face-melting solos and crazy riffs, but you’ve got to start with a solid foundation. 

• Don’t try to run before you can walk – it’ll just lead to frustration.
• You can play some great rock music without getting too complicated. 
• Many of the greatest classic rock riffs are pretty simple to learn and will help you build up those key skills.

Active listening

Understanding and analyzing what you’re listening to may be one of the most important things you can do as a guitarist.

Rather than just hearing a song, try to listen to what the guitar is doing.

• Are they bending strings?
• What scale are they using?
• How do they play that riff? 
• What technique is that?

What are my next steps?

Practice, practice, practice! 

Unfortunately, there are no shortcuts. Putting the work in early on will pay off in the long run – guaranteed!

• The main focus is to build a rock-solid technique. 
• Refer back to this blog post as many times as you need until you’ve understood the basics and feel comfortable with them.
• Listen to music you enjoy and try to figure out what they’re doing.

At Pickup Music, we offer a wide range of courses for guitar players of every level. Check out our membership page to learn more basic guitar techniques or music theory for beginners.

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