Skip to main content
MusicRadar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
UK EditionUK US EditionUS AU EditionAustralia SG EditionSingapore
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Black Friday
  • Artist news
  • Music Gear Reviews
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Controllers
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Guitar Amps
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About us
Don't miss these
Davey Johnstone and Elton John are back-to-back as they perform live, with Johnstone playing his Captain Fantastic Les Paul Custom
Artists Davey Johnstone on the making of Elton John’s 1975 masterpiece, Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy
Man presses acoustic bridge pin into an acoustic guitar
Guitar Strings Best acoustic guitar strings 2025: Find your favourite acoustic strings
Close up of a Taylor GS Mini acoustic guitar lying on a wooden floor
Acoustic Guitars Best acoustic guitars 2025: Super steel string acoustics for all players and budgets
Side profile of a person playing a drum kit
Drum Lessons & Tutorials 13 easy drum songs every beginner should learn
Greg Mackintosh of Paradise Lost plays his custom 7-string V live onstage with red and white stagelights behind him.
Artists Greg Mackintosh on the secrets behind the Paradise Lost sound and why he is still trying to learn Trouble’s tone tricks
David Gilmour plays a Black Stratocaster onstage in New York, on a moody stage lit in dark blue.
Artists David Gilmour shares an essential tone tip for guitarists using a whammy bar with a delay pedal
radiohead
Artists “If the point of Radiohead songs isn’t to make you feel good, what is their music for?”: A music professor breaks down the theory behind Radiohead's Let Down
Overhead shot of electronic drum set plugged into a laptop running a VST
Drum Lessons & Tutorials “At certain points in music history it became fashionable to place accents on certain beats”: How to score a drum part
Josh Homme in the No One Knows video
Artists “Of course it was gonna be a hit! This song really is original”: Inside the making of a Queens Of The Stone Age classic
Paul Gilbert
Recording Four big-name guitarists spill their recording secrets
Logic Drums
Music Production Tutorials How to think like a human drummer when building software beats
Music Production Tutorials How to program MIDI drums that sound like the real thing
Drummer
Drummers 10 tips to help drummers to develop better timing
A PRS McCarty 594 on a hard case
Electric Guitars Best electric guitars 2025: Our pick of guitars to suit all budgets
Drummers Listen to 11 isolated drum tracks from rock's drumming legends
More
  • Charlie XCX + John Cale
  • Lily Allen's songwriting camp
  • Fleetwood Mac for Glasto?
  • 95k+ free music samples
  • Simon Phillips
  1. Tutorials
  2. Guitar Lessons & Tutorials

Quick licks: easy #5

News
By Guitar Techniques ( Guitar Techniques ) published 28 August 2011

Radiohead rhythm playing and Nick Drake-style picking

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

Easy lick one: Radiohead rhythm

Easy lick one: Radiohead rhythm

Here's an open position chord example reminiscent of Radiohead that's a good exercise for maintaining the upper part of a chord whilst changing the bass notes to create new harmonies. Aim to make these chord changes as smooth as possible by keeping the fourth finger stationary for the first four chords.

Dial in a clean valve amp tone and observe the strumming patterns to make sure the rhythm is right.

Page 1 of 2
Page 1 of 2
Easy lick two: Nick Drake picking

Easy lick two: Nick Drake picking

This is a great introduction to fingerpicking and similar to a classic blues progression. Make sure you keep your picking hand relaxed as your third finger alternates between striking the first and second strings between chord changes, and remember to arch the fingertips of your fretting hand to ensure that the chords sound clearly without buzzing.

Page 2 of 2
Page 2 of 2
Guitar Techniques
The worlds best high-quality guitar tuition from the UKs foremost teachers and players image
The worlds best high-quality guitar tuition from the UKs foremost teachers and players
Subscribe and save today!
More Info
Read more
Side profile of a person playing a drum kit
13 easy drum songs every beginner should learn
 
 
Greg Mackintosh of Paradise Lost plays his custom 7-string V live onstage with red and white stagelights behind him.
Greg Mackintosh on the secrets behind the Paradise Lost sound and why he is still trying to learn Trouble’s tone tricks
 
 
David Gilmour plays a Black Stratocaster onstage in New York, on a moody stage lit in dark blue.
David Gilmour shares an essential tone tip for guitarists using a whammy bar with a delay pedal
 
 
radiohead
“If the point of Radiohead songs isn’t to make you feel good, what is their music for?”: A music professor breaks down the theory behind Radiohead's Let Down
 
 
Overhead shot of electronic drum set plugged into a laptop running a VST
“At certain points in music history it became fashionable to place accents on certain beats”: How to score a drum part
 
 
Josh Homme in the No One Knows video
“Of course it was gonna be a hit! This song really is original”: Inside the making of a Queens Of The Stone Age classic
 
 
Latest in Guitar Lessons & Tutorials
Close up of a person holding an acoustic guitar bathed sunlight
Ignite your inner guitar god for just 27 cents a day with TrueFire’s July 4th sale - save 60% on online lessons
 
 
MusicNomad fret tuition
Can you fix your guitar's frets yourself? We try three innovative approaches from MusicNomad to investigate how they might conquer a major cause of fret buzz
 
 
George Harrison
How to play like George Harrison on The Beatles' Abbey Road
 
 
MusicNomad guitar fret cleaning
"You owe your guitar the chance to be its best": How to clean and polish your guitar frets a better way
 
 
Jimmy Page
Play like Jimmy Page! Exclusive video lesson
 
 
Music Theory
How learning and understanding chord symbols can prove a major benefit for sharing your musical ideas
 
 
Latest in News
zenology
"Over 11,000 genre-defining Roland sounds in one powerful instrument": Roland brings Zen-Core to Galaxias with Zenology GX
 
 
Amy Allen and Sabrina Carpenter at the Billboard NMPA Grammy Week Songwriter Showcase held at Nightingale Plaza on February 1, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty Images)
The "hysterical" songwriting sessions with Sabrina Carpenter that propelled Amy Allen to four Grammy nominations
 
 
Jon Bon Jovi and Noel Gallagher composite image
“The guitar tones were alone the price of admission”: Jon Bon Jovi was impressed by Oasis live
 
 
PreSonus Studio 24c in a home studio
My go-to audio interface is now even better value at under £80 in Gear4Music's early Black Friday sale
 
 
Breaking Rust image - back of a man in a cowboy hat, in the rain
“The audio has this weird digital shimmer”: The biggest country song is the US right now is AI-generated
 
 
White PRS on a marble surface
The PRS Black Friday sale is already here and there's huge discounts on SE CE 24, SE Custom 24, SE Studio and other workhorse models – here's 5 deals I rate
 
 

MusicRadar is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

Add as a preferred source on Google
  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...