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“Blitzkrieg Bop” by the Ramones

    Riff Rundown

    Difficulty: Easy

    Composer – The Ramones

    Where to find this song – The Ramones track #1

    Release Date – May 1976

    The Band :

    Joey Ramone – vocals

    Dee Dee Ramone -bass

    Johnny Ramone – guitar

    Tommy Ramone – drums

    Most people know that The Ramones were the first punk rock band. Some
    of the other bands such as The Stooges and The New York Dolls actually
    came before them, and set the atmosphere for bands like The Sex Pistols
    to make the violence in “punk rock” become more controversial.
    The Ramones, however, set in stone what most people consider true punk
    rock. By cutting rock & roll down to its bare essentials — four
    chords; a simple, catchy melody, and unintelligable lyrics — and
    speeding up the tempo considerably, the Ramones created something that
    was rooted in early ’60s, pre-rock & roll and pop but sounded so
    revolutionary and honest…..even if they never cared about fame…..they
    got it.

    The entire song “Blitzkrieg Bop” is made up of what we like
    to call power chords.

    Power chords can be fun and easy to play. You can hear them in all
    types of music, but most people associate them with hard rock styles
    of music.

    Power chords are not really chords. Chords are 3 notes or more, whereas
    power chords only have 2 different notes. A more correct name would
    be “power intervals” because they only contain two different
    notes. Usually power chords are composed of the root, a perfect 5th
    interval, and the root note doubled at a higher pitch (called an octave).
    Basically they are just like playing perfect 5th intervals and doubling
    up a note or two.

    Power chords are easy to play just about anywhere on the neck, but
    lend very little harmonic texture to a song. They do not have a major
    or minor third interval. A chord needs this interval in order to make
    it a major or minor chord.

    If you’re playing a song with a lot of distortion, strumming a full
    chord might create too much dissonance. Plus if you have a fast chord
    change, it’s often easier to use power chords for the really fast part.

    There are two basic power chord patterns in this song:

    6th String Root

    5th String Root

    Intro/Verse



    Begin the riff by placing your 1st finger on the fifth fret on the “low
    E” string. Place your 3rd finger on the seventh fret on the “A” string.
    Play that eight times, and then move to the “A” string with
    your 1st finger on the fifth fret. Place your 3rd and 4th fingers on
    the seventh frets on the “D” and “G” strings. Play
    that once, and then just move to the seventh and ninth frets with your
    fingers still in the same arrangement. Remember that a power chord
    leaves a space ( one fret width) in between your finger arrangement.
    Play that about four times.

    The fourth measure is the only place you will see a bit of a difference
    in the intro/verse. Play this measure by combining what you have learned
    in the first, second, and third measures. Notice that the power chord
    didn’t change from the first notes that you were playing. Just look
    at the tablature and play what is shown, and then move accordingly
    to the “A” string.

    Riff Resources

    Complete Transcription To “Blitzkrieg
    Bop” (PDF)

    Complete Transcription To “Blitzkrieg
    Bop” (Power Tab)