Skip to main content
Music Radar MusicRadar The No.1 website for musicians
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Artist news
  • Guitar Amps
  • Guitar Pedals
  • Synths
  • Guitars
  • Drums
  • Keyboards & Pianos
  • Controllers
  • Software & Apps
  • More
    • Recording
    • DJ Gear
    • Acoustic Guitars
    • Bass Guitars
    • Tech
    • Tutorials
    • Reviews
    • Buying Guides
    • About Us
More
  • EVH trance state
  • Antonoff on Please Please Please
  • “Mick looked peeved. The Beatles had upstaged him”
  • 95k+ free music samples

Recommended reading

Mark Knopfler of Dire Straights performs onstage in 1985 with his red Fender Stratocaster. He wears a dark suit and a burgundy shirt with an open collar.
Artists How Mark Knopfler grew up wanting to be Jimi Hendrix until he ditched the pick and went fingerstyle
George Harrison
Guitar Lessons & Tutorials How to play like George Harrison on The Beatles' Abbey Road
David Gilmour
Guitar Lessons & Tutorials How to play guitar like David Gilmour: Bluesy diads, slides, quarter-tone blues curls and more
Woman playing on a digital piano with headphones on
Music Theory And Songwriting Technically capable, but struggle to make your tunes sound musical? 5 simple music theory hacks to make your tracks stand out
Ian "Shiner" Thomas of Those Damn Crows onstage playing to a festival crowd with his Gibson Les Paul. He wears a baseball cap and sunglasses.
Artists Shiner from Those Damn Crows on how to write a No.1 album and the Slipknot riff he wish he wrote
Guitar chords
Acoustic Guitars 30 essential acoustic guitar chords, with charts
Bonnie Raitt
Artists “That feel is something you can’t teach": Bonnie Raitt on how she developed her slide guitar style
  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
Mark Knopfler of Dire Straights performs onstage in 1985 with his red Fender Stratocaster. He wears a dark suit and a burgundy shirt with an open collar.
How Mark Knopfler grew up wanting to be Jimi Hendrix until he ditched the pick and went fingerstyle
George Harrison
How to play like George Harrison on The Beatles' Abbey Road
David Gilmour
How to play guitar like David Gilmour: Bluesy diads, slides, quarter-tone blues curls and more
Woman playing on a digital piano with headphones on
Technically capable, but struggle to make your tunes sound musical? 5 simple music theory hacks to make your tracks stand out
Ian "Shiner" Thomas of Those Damn Crows onstage playing to a festival crowd with his Gibson Les Paul. He wears a baseball cap and sunglasses.
Shiner from Those Damn Crows on how to write a No.1 album and the Slipknot riff he wish he wrote
Guitar chords
30 essential acoustic guitar chords, with charts
Latest in Guitar Lessons & Tutorials
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
Pentatonic Scale
Proggy pentatonic! How to use the good ol’ pentatonic scale in cool new ways
Latest in News
Home studio
You don't need to be a music theory expert to make electronic music, but it helps - here's our guide to the basics
Ed Sheeran, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix
How Ed Sheeran generated royalties for Bob Dylan by borrowing from Jimi Hendrix
Richie Hawtin
“All my equipment kind of glowed and then shut down”: The weather event that shaped a Richie Hawtin classic
Bono black and white in glasses
“Our band is...three musicians. And a salesman”: Bono suggests next U2 album will have a looser feel
Apple's new Automix
Sack The DJ: Apple launches its new feature that can mix tracks using AI
Deals of the week
MusicRadar deals of the week: My pick of Father's Day deals for musicians include $400 off the Polyend Play+, $200 off a Martin acoustic and so much more

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

  • 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...