That was my thinking as well. People are like level 6, 7, over 9000. When in reality it was extra shot of vodka washed down with Jägermeister that shouldn't been there.
I don't want to confuse you... but if you need that long for fucking "Wonderall" you should practice a little more or maybe accept that you maybe (!) have no talent? :D
I don’t get why people always hate on Kurt Cobain as a guitarist. He’s a good and a adaptable one and he pulled off so much with the little he knew. I don’t see him as a “guitarist”, rather I see him as a great artist.
The main reason Nirvana got so much hatred was because of all those Glam Metal band who were destroyed by them. Metal Band worked more hard in guitar techniques and stuffs...but then came Nirvana with pure raw music with simple guitar technique and with nice poems and nice voice. Every artist was Jealous of Nirvana, because they stole their fans. And some glam fan boys picked up Nirvana's weakness in musical technicality and they did negative marketing, what you call pulling legs.
Lantern Well, you have to give credit to Kurt for being a good composer even though his guitar skills were limited musically speaking, still l think that the music industry used his early death to portrait him as a genius and as a guy who changed the late 90's rock sound, imo nirvana was one of the good grudge music's pioneers, but again bands like soundgarden, Alice in chains, and Pearl Jam were technically and musically superior, althought it is hard to deny that Kurt was a talented song writer and composer, and a great artist with lots of charisma.
Kurt plays punk music. He once even says that punk is a musical freedom. Playing saying and doing what you want. He plays music to have fun and entertain people and not to show off.
When it comes to artists, its not the technique. its the final product. I work in film, and you would be amazed how some of the best cinematographers barely know how to use the camera. BUT, when they coordinate the lighting, the framing, and the color pallette its magic. You hire technicians if you need perfect. Perfect is often boring.
I'm with you. I know how to play it, and i can play it, but getting it just right is something that involves more than just the right notes and strumming. This can be said for most songs. but this is one that people consider super easy, which i guess if you look note for note, sure, simple.. but in the end not really cut and dry.
Yeah, that drummer had some great hard drum licks. Its crazy how much he looks like the singer of Foo Fighters. If they ever do a tribute/reunion show they could totally get that guy.
The-Art-of-Guitar Level 8 lol, sometimes he will slide the power cords especially when he's going from the last power cord back to the first power cord.
Its really difficult to gauge weather he was a guitar genius or a slob from this. Definitely the king of subtlety in those techniques. Simple things like that upstroke add something to the music. Something in the way is another one of those great yet subtle songs. I guess grunge was meant to be trashy and unpolished anyway
Nah it was all intentional, it’s the whole point of “Grunge” it wasn’t supposed to be clean or perfect. It was break the norm and speak out. Breaking the mold did that. Needed to be around in that time to get how it was
The Cobain Chord is always me when I play anything on guitar. No idea it had a name. my friendo calls it "quit doing your stupid T-Rex thing". 5 years of playing and I can't fucking stop. it's just a bad habit man.
Wow, cobain really brings a lot of imperfect perfection into a song meant to vibe with people who feel imperfect. I would have never realized how homemade his playing is without this. Thanks dude!
it's like he shows how genius Kurt was adding those little details but in realuty Kurt was just sloppy punk player who did this naturally being stoned, reminds me of todays filters in console emulators to emulate TV scanlines and NTSC artifacts using complex shaders while CRT TVs did it by their nature naturally
I know! Or those jeans that are all torn up to look all grungy but they are crafted that way on purpose by textile workers at the factory, then they add an extra 50$ to the price. They do the same thing to guitars. It’s totally fake wear. Kurt would have hated it.
I started playing the guitar cuz of Nirvana. One cool thing that I learned about him was it was very VERY easy to play almost exactly like him as the chords were easy, but it was VERY hard to make it sound like him exactly. I have seen shredders who could play circles around me not play Nirvana songs right because Kurt's mind was so weird and he learned how to play the guitar on his own so he forged his own little tricks to get through the plateaus and sticking points.
In other words, play it kind of fast and kind of sloppy. But not too sloppy. Just sloppy enough. And btw the way, we need to get our terminology right. It's not clicky clickys. It's chicka chickas. Not to be confused with the chugga chuggas of heavy metal fame.
I just finished a lesson where I was figuring this out with a student, trying to determine whether this song uses 5th chords or barre chords. I heard the sus chords and thought, wtf? How many people noticed this? Then watch a live performance and noticed the two-finger barres. Then looked it up to see if anyone's teaching it that way, and of course you are. Always catching the details, great stuff as usual!
The point of his comment is that the opening chords for SLTS is the same as More Than A Feeling. Even Kurt acknowledged this and would troll the audience live by playing More Than A Feeling before transitioning into Teen Spirit
Do you think Kurt played 'level 7' live because he was bored of doing the same thing with that song all the time? He was a decent rythem guitarist but didn't care about playing tight, especially live, because he respected/wanted to be punk too much. I can almost imagine him just playing the upstroke out of boredom/slight hatred, it's a bit of an agressive move like you're pulling/scatching at the strings. But maybe I'm over analysing a bit lol. This is a really cool lesson, I've moved past SLTS at stage 4 I've just realised because I could play it at that level and wasn't too fussed about learning it better, but the barring of the 4th string on the lower strings is such an important detail that I never cared enough to explore. Genuinely opened my eyes!
These say it takes longer to form a habit then it does to break a habit. He probably played it one way in the studio, then started playing it another way live (in the studio he didn't play the rhythm guitar intro live, he dubbed it onto the recording later) when he was singing and maybe nervous in front of a crowd. I mean, he played Lithium differently live as well, so maybe there's something to that.
A hard down stroke is also a different kind of aggression than a hard upstroke.A hard upstroke just feels more destructive to me, more tension and more dissonant. A downstroke is hard but feels more controlled.
At last! I’ve been telling people since the 90’s that it’s an incredibly complex song to play faithfully. Most people don’t get much further than level 3, but they’ll look like you as if you’re an idiot if you tell them they’ve a long way to go still. That he used a leading upstroke on the intro shows he put a lot of thought into the tone and would deliberately perfect something that was more difficult to get the sound he wanted. That’s a conscious guitar player, not a sloppy player. You may not like the tone he put out or think it sounds amateurish, but it was a tone he was chasing. Another similar thing he often did was to alternate his strumming speed, even within a bar, where most others would instead alternate rhythm speed by filling constant stroking patterns with air strokes. He ability to step in and out of strumming patterns/speeds - or turn them upside down as in this video - was wonderful. A bit of that, fret hand muting and the same dissonant tones in the same places over and over again shows that he was either very deliberate from the get go or learned how to turn his natural mistakes into a technique very much his own. That’s what sets a guitar player apart from the rest.
Pretty sure it was just a result of him being a self-taught guitar player who developed a lot of bad habits. He was more a singer/songwriter than a "guitar player" as we usually think of them.
Such a good lesson!!! I normally cringe when technically perfect players play nirvana, a lot of people just don't get the fact that Kurt worked hard to be imperfect and he was a better player than he let on. Better rhythm chops than most too. Once again thanks for your superb lesson.
Are impressionists just bad painters? Technical proficiency does not equal artistic merit. Being 'skilled' or 'good' are not necessarily related either. One might be capable of playing any riff, no matter how intricate or difficult and yet still fail to write a moving piece of music.
Kirk Cobain didn't become who he was because of his skill, he created the grunge sound and his songs people could relate with. He was a smart guy smarter then most people give him credit for.. He remained himself he didn't let money or fame change him. It's ashame Courtney Love never faced charges for his death.
Likewise. It's sort of over-analyzing the chaos of one punk guitar player's natural messy style. Still nice that the uploader realizes there are many ways to play the same thing though.
Yeah, but at the same time I think he'd appreciate that at least someone is trying to put it out there that the songs aren't as black and white as they seem, and that this style of music has it's quirks that are more important than the notation itself.
Professor, just wanted you to know I am a beginner bass player, but after so many 'arrivals' in your channel I also bought an accustic guitar... after an hour or so with the guitar I played a good level of Smells Like Teen Spirit without ever touching a guitar to play, and I credit it to you and your videos/methods of teaching: there are lots of great guitar players all over, but only a few have the ART-OF-TEACHING! Thank you and cheers from Brazil! (Not stopping the groove btw)
in other words: play sloppy and you'll get the tone. he didn't miss anything on purpose, he just didn't really care about perfect precision that much :D
Good point about the upstroke. It was used because looks cooler on stage and we get a "brushy" sound which rocks a lot. Like the first chord on On a Plain.
when you made the upstroke the first stroke it suddenly clicked in my head how style seriously effects how a song sounds. Its just such a small and profound difference.
Nice! Loving level 7, the up stroke and the sus chords sound really cool. If you are a strong player with solid classical guitar technique, you CAN be creative and get different sounds by playing unconventionally, because your left hand strength will allow you to. Therefore, I wouldn't necessarily encourage bad or wrong technique for the purpose of discovering original chord voicings or strumming techniques, in most cases it will be limiting, rather than enabling
This is incredibly accurate, thank you for your due diligence to this legendary riff. A prime example of why Nirvana songs can be way harder than people think (to truly learn & try to capture the spirit of the song).
My advice to anyone beginning guitar and might be watching this video for a lesson on how to play SLTS... DO NOT try to emulate the “Cobain” chord with your ring finger barring the power chord. There really is no point. Its “wrong” technique and it wont sound any different than if you just use your pinky playing a power chord. There are some “wrong” techniques that work and open other paths to do different things, like the “Hendrix” claw hand thing using your thumb. The “Cobain” chord isnt like that.
I wish I had this lesson 10 years ago. I went absolutely crazy trying to get the exact rhythm down and figure out what he was doing. And it drives me absolutely insane when I hear someone cover this song, and they don't put the open string noise in, ahah
Yah. Even "good" guitarists seem to play it like it's Wild Thing or Louie Louie. At best they miss the skipped upstroke in the intro and the quick little upstroke before the open strings. I know it's pretty distorted but how can people not hear that? I'm sure I remember seeing Guthrie Govan and Steve Vai jamming it and not playing it properly
I love when people go “Well he just played it. He never thought about any of this” May be true, the fact it takes 7 steps to break down 4 chords shows the genius involved.
There's really no genius that he's analyzing here, not saying that Kurt wasn't good at what he did, but this guy is just showing people how to play it exactly as Kurt did on that specific day in the studio.
I really like these ... LEVELS of ... kinda videos, they are fun to watch and make me wanna relearn these riffs, so i can get them right. I actually really hope that you keep making them, because maybe i can learn some new riffs too. :)
Thank you, i was starting to think i must be going crazy thinking i'm the only one who hears the upstroke! It feels really weird to play at first but when you do it becomes obvious that its correct. Extra bonus props for getting the Fsus4 "Cobain chord "(instead of the F5 most covers use) and same for G#sus4 vs G#5)!
It gives me immense pleasure to let you know that I used to play at level 3.5 ✌❤✌🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 I.e. I always played with the up strokes included to play at level 4, bu I never realised that I could make a little noise using open strings to connect 2nd and 3rd chords as well as 4th and 1st. Now I do, so now I definitely play at level 4, and I'm fiddling with starting with an up stroke, so as to play at level 8. I'm also trying to use the Kobain chord.
You forgot that he hits a lot of accidental natural harmonics whilst left hand muting by slightly lifting the hand around the sweet spots here and there
its natural I dothat but cant teach it its like strokeing ur self you know how you not need be taght its natural you just go with the fealing at the time and then always remember how it works songs I can play with this same power chord using my own tecneek are heveans door rockinroll girls5 nirvana songs gliserin by bush when I come around green day courtiny hole elo reo speedwagon cars many pixies cheaptrick smashing pumkins inxs list gos on with out a lesson or vidio
Cobain I've noticed hammered on chords a lot, most likely unintentionally due to his left and right hand being syncopated in a way, listen to Nirvana and look for it, you'll hear it
I can play damn near anything on anything with six strings. Whether it’s full sweep picking scales to gnarly legatos. I’ve always had most trouble with like tremelo picking crazy patterns down the entire scale of the guitar. But I worked at it and handled my business! I watched your student levels. I was always a 4 but after about ten years of playing I got lazy and came to a plateau. I was so cocky and thought I was better than everyone else and after I got out of prison I realized this was not the case. Two years being away from guitar can make you pretty rusty. There’s so many limitless possibilities. I used to be so into metal and had a huge collection of 7 strings and Mesa and peavey amps. Now I’ve just got my American strat and a blues junior. I’m so much for the feel of the music now. I need True Tone. Anyways I’ve started to push myself to learn again and your videos helped inspire me a bit. Time and effort creates opportunity!
This is super interesting. As a bass player I did the same thing to the bassline because every tab every where just has the 4 notes but there are also the open notes like on the guitar and a small slide over C on the A string back up to F to restart the riff.
Your attention to detail and how he actually plays the song is great. A lot of people don't notice that upstroke and "cobain" chord. Also people can miss where he plays the solo and even the verse. Those little quirks and technical "flaws" are why I love KC's guitar playing.
Makes me think of the joke where the band leader gives a load of strange instructions to the drummer and guitarist, how to skip that beat, go a tone and half down on the last bar of the chorus etc. The singer then asks what she should do. "Do exactly like you did it the last time, it's perfect!". I'm ok with level4, maybe level5 since it adds a nice color to the sound.
This is brilliant. First timer guitarists who tries to cover easy songs should learn this. I have nothing against them but its a good practice to pay attention to detail and understanding what a chord is and how it sounds and also how else it can sound. These are vital in learning the gutiar as you develop your understanding on how a song flows and how chords relate to one another. Actually I do have something against beginner guitar players and its just that when they're covering a song, I hate the "look at me I can play" vibe. Like understand the song you're trying to cover and come back to us.
I just noticed that when I turn my built in overdrive on and bring my phone so it’s touching the strings of the guitar it amplifies you voice out of the amp wow!!!!!!
So if someones talking and you put it by the strings you can hear them? Wow😯 Edit: 2 year old comment, you've probably long since died but your descendants are making the world a better place. We have horseless carriages and moving pictures and flameless lights.
Dr. Edge Lord But still you're on a video of someone explaining the most overrated riff according to you being played in 7 different ways. Grow up kiddo, you close minded people are just simply idiots.
Dual Helix This right here. Overrated as shit. Don't get me wrong, not terrible, even interesting, and I would even say an archetype of the 90s, but definitely overrated.
Awesome video. Iam very impressed that you have noticed those extra tips of Kurt good job. What about making a video to show us the levels on can't stop by red hot chili peppers? It would be awesome! I also subscribed keep the good job .
If you want to learn how to play guitar from me, be sure to check out my entire lessons program at www.the-art-of-guitar.com. 👍🎸🎸
You could add a level 8 to this video. He hammers on the 2nd and 4th power chord.
You know how Hendrix said: "I've been imitated so well I've heard people copy my mistakes.
" Well this has kind of the same vibes.
@Mike everyone praises him with likes because he was about to do somethin lol
Now ... this is what I call good commenting.
I,m not the guy to like everything but this comment deserves it.
I dont get it😂
That was my thinking as well. People are like level 6, 7, over 9000. When in reality it was extra shot of vodka washed down with Jägermeister that shouldn't been there.
well after 23 years of practicing wonderwall i feel as if im finally ready to persue level 2 of smells like teen spirit's riff
I don't want to confuse you... but if you need that long for fucking "Wonderall" you should practice a little more or maybe accept that you maybe (!) have no talent? :D
Yes. It took me this long to realize that your comment was ironic.
r/whoosh
It surely does lol
Talent's just practicing the right way
you call it "scratchy", I call it "Waka Waka".
I call it chukachuka
Chicka chicka
tom morrelo style
Thank you sir it will now forever be stuck In my head
For me it's more of a "Chicky Chicky"
Level 8: Smash guitar after play it.
Level 9: jump into drums
Level 10 realise you now have to purchase a new guitar and drums
Level 11: Purchase a shotgun instead
Level 13: Point shotgun at head
Can't stand the darkness
He keeps talking about Kurt Cobain in the present tense. He either lives 27 years in the past or someone hasn't broken the news to him.
Leave me alone in my denial. 😂
As long as we all agree, Courtney killed Kurt.
Cleveland Rock one of the nice things about changing the world: you live forever
His music lives on thru time, therefore so does he
I see it as a respect thing
Level 8, play it on acoustic guitar
Sangeeta Devi I play it on acoustic anyways
Level 9 play it on ukulele
@@antonirachwa8687 actually i can
Yay im level 8 then
fully support this
I like how it starts to sound more like the actual song as it progresses
Joshua Jung this should have more likes than the original one
that's the point
I don’t get why people always hate on Kurt Cobain as a guitarist. He’s a good and a adaptable one and he pulled off so much with the little he knew. I don’t see him as a “guitarist”, rather I see him as a great artist.
The main reason Nirvana got so much hatred was because of all those Glam Metal band who were destroyed by them. Metal Band worked more hard in guitar techniques and stuffs...but then came Nirvana with pure raw music with simple guitar technique and with nice poems and nice voice. Every artist was Jealous of Nirvana, because they stole their fans. And some glam fan boys picked up Nirvana's weakness in musical technicality and they did negative marketing, what you call pulling legs.
Lantern Well, you have to give credit to Kurt for being a good composer even though his guitar skills were limited musically speaking, still l think that the music industry used his early death to portrait him as a genius and as a guy who changed the late 90's rock sound, imo nirvana was one of the good grudge music's pioneers, but again bands like soundgarden, Alice in chains, and Pearl Jam were technically and musically superior, althought it is hard to deny that Kurt was a talented song writer and composer, and a great artist with lots of charisma.
I once read that Cobain could only play 3 chords. I doubt that's true though.
Kurt plays punk music. He once even says that punk is a musical freedom. Playing saying and doing what you want. He plays music to have fun and entertain people and not to show off.
When it comes to artists, its not the technique. its the final product. I work in film, and you would be amazed how some of the best cinematographers barely know how to use the camera. BUT, when they coordinate the lighting, the framing, and the color pallette its magic. You hire technicians if you need perfect. Perfect is often boring.
Level 8: Become Kurt Cobain
Chilly Gallagher what if I don't want to shoot myself
Aqrun then just get your wife to hire someone instead 👍
uh oh
Um why
Ah yes, dead
You are the only person I’ve seen who truly nails Kurt’s technique and quirks for Teen Spirit in the detail it deserves. Really nice work.
Kept waiting for the distortion.
He liked your comment but didn't answered it
@@giovanidl9695 a
@@giovanidl9695 ayu
LowBlue music what is there to answer with
@@nengahguleh4267 b
Smells like teen spirit: easiest song to play but hard af tone to hit.
And lets be honest he nailed the tone here.
I'm with you. I know how to play it, and i can play it, but getting it just right is something that involves more than just the right notes and strumming. This can be said for most songs. but this is one that people consider super easy, which i guess if you look note for note, sure, simple.. but in the end not really cut and dry.
@@Acroanidd An amp might help or something
Let's be honest how the fuck do you pronounce your name?
@@livv212you need a twin reverb for the tone and a boss ds 1 and small clone chorus it’s not just a amp
@@aceconover1289 the more important thing is the guitar mics, if you have the right ones, any distortion and chorus should nail it
I play the flute, will all this apply to my instrument as well?🤔
7 Levels of Jethro Tull. haha
Cheesy Maccool depends on how good you are at flute.
Only if it's a meat flute.
This dude plays the skin flute!
OH HELL NAW
I can't not hear the booming drums every time you near the end of the riff.
Same.
Yeah, that drummer had some great hard drum licks. Its crazy how much he looks like the singer of Foo Fighters. If they ever do a tribute/reunion show they could totally get that guy.
I thought I was the only one who noticed that. We so need that drummer and the vocal of Foo Fighter to have a collab.
Nick Yates heheje
I wonder what happened to that guy? I heard some people say he *is* the guy from foo fighters but there's no way that could be true
7:00 the green light in the back just vibin'
aww lol
Kurt learned to play smells like teen Spirit by watching this
GAMOVA666 yeah facts
XDD
He tried but killed himself cuz couldn't figure out level 7
This guy watched his own video on how to play this song, to learn how to play this song.
@@john9409 FUCKING DUDE !! 😂😂😂😂
Crap I just realized I called it "Palm Muting'" on Level 2. I meant "Fretting-Hand Muting."
The-Art-of-Guitar they can also be called dead notes, right?
Sure.
I didn't even noticed xD
Do you even guitar brah?
The-Art-of-Guitar
Level 8 lol, sometimes he will slide the power cords especially when he's going from the last power cord back to the first power cord.
Its really difficult to gauge weather he was a guitar genius or a slob from this. Definitely the king of subtlety in those techniques. Simple things like that upstroke add something to the music. Something in the way is another one of those great yet subtle songs. I guess grunge was meant to be trashy and unpolished anyway
i think he was just a dude having fun with music. whether or not he's a "genius" or a "slob" is just overthinking things imo
Nah it was all intentional, it’s the whole point of “Grunge” it wasn’t supposed to be clean or perfect. It was break the norm and speak out. Breaking the mold did that. Needed to be around in that time to get how it was
Level 8: get completely stoned and try to play
Lorenzo Roman doubt Kurt just got stoned. He was a smack head at least
Level 420*
Lorenzo Roman nah inject a shot of smack then play it
It's damn hard to play when you're stoned, everything you do is a step behind what it should be, so you're constantly trying to correct.
Idk what you guys mean i play waaay better after a blunt or two
Kept waiting for the drums. I now have anxiety
They will never come... lol, 30 false starts right?
Yes, I keep waiting for the drums too!
Maybe xanax will help
You are literally the only person on TH-cam who dissects the riffs like these. Please do more.
He's actually sweep picking so fast that it sounds like a chord
Jordan Flowers 😂
lmao
It's a power arpeggio....not a power chord...haha
hahahahahh fuck i spat my drink
😂
The Cobain Chord is always me when I play anything on guitar. No idea it had a name. my friendo calls it "quit doing your stupid T-Rex thing". 5 years of playing and I can't fucking stop. it's just a bad habit man.
well embrace it and write fire grunge songs
this has been in my freaking recommended for like 7 months now
Lol same
Because they new we would click it eventually lol
Dude, you spent more effort analyzing it than Cobain did writing it.
That's a trend on TH-cam. I'm sure he knows that though. Still makes for an interesting video.
Generally how music works. It's hard to imitate well without analysis
@@The_SOB_IIyou spent more time replying than Nirvana’s entire recording career.
I read the title as "7 smells of teen spirit"
Wow, cobain really brings a lot of imperfect perfection into a song meant to vibe with people who feel imperfect. I would have never realized how homemade his playing is without this. Thanks dude!
Level 8, you actually play this a semi tone higher like the original single version and not the album version.
turb0m0nk3y Link? I never heard about this
it's like he shows how genius Kurt was adding those little details but in realuty Kurt was just sloppy punk player who did this naturally being stoned, reminds me of todays filters in console emulators to emulate TV scanlines and NTSC artifacts using complex shaders while CRT TVs did it by their nature naturally
Kaiki Deishu all this hi tech gear and I can't get the "hello I love you" doors tone ..
“punk”
Oh look another envious twat who doesn't understand style and has no individuality
I know! Or those jeans that are all torn up to look all grungy but they are crafted that way on purpose by textile workers at the factory, then they add an extra 50$ to the price. They do the same thing to guitars. It’s totally fake wear. Kurt would have hated it.
Kurt had alot of soul in his guitar playing u just have to feel it
I started playing the guitar cuz of Nirvana. One cool thing that I learned about him was it was very VERY easy to play almost exactly like him as the chords were easy, but it was VERY hard to make it sound like him exactly. I have seen shredders who could play circles around me not play Nirvana songs right because Kurt's mind was so weird and he learned how to play the guitar on his own so he forged his own little tricks to get through the plateaus and sticking points.
Your voice is so calming, how is this even humanly possible?!
In other words, play it kind of fast and kind of sloppy. But not too sloppy. Just sloppy enough. And btw the way, we need to get our terminology right. It's not clicky clickys. It's chicka chickas. Not to be confused with the chugga chuggas of heavy metal fame.
I thought chicka chickas were Tom Morello's sound?
bowl
Its chicky chicky
Paul TheSkeptic Also not to confuse with cheeky breekies of Russian fame
This comment is my first band
I just finished a lesson where I was figuring this out with a student, trying to determine whether this song uses 5th chords or barre chords. I heard the sus chords and thought, wtf? How many people noticed this? Then watch a live performance and noticed the two-finger barres. Then looked it up to see if anyone's teaching it that way, and of course you are. Always catching the details, great stuff as usual!
It's more than a feeling when I hear that old song...
It's smell like teen spirit, not more than a feeling. Read the title. GODAMNIT
@@rafamatavelli3399 You beat me to it! 👍
The point of his comment is that the opening chords for SLTS is the same as More Than A Feeling. Even Kurt acknowledged this and would troll the audience live by playing More Than A Feeling before transitioning into Teen Spirit
@@marcosflores8188 did he really? It's so that is freaking awesome! When he died I was 13 and I remember ditching school because I couldn't handle it
Wasn’t it reading where they did an absolutely awesome intro for it?
Great ear for the details. Once you added the Upstroking, it really catches the rhythm.
U didnt cover level 8. The way he played it live at top of the pops 😂
That's God level. Mere humans like us can't do such things.
as in not at all and deliberately miming it horribly?
His strumming pattern is crazy in that version
You mean he mimed it right?
Louis james the best version of all. And the best FUCK YOU to the management of the ‘music machine’
I kept mentally screaming for the drums to come on and I actually yelled "WHERE ARE THE FRICKIN DRUMS"
Oh, hello Ryan. You still wearing vanilla deodorant?
Ryan Ross no you didn’t
Mad lad
The re-release of Dumb with no cello hurts my brain so bad.
ME TOO
It's called the "chicka chicka" 🤣🤣🤣🤣
yk whats up
Todd Brown Slim Shady
Do you think Kurt played 'level 7' live because he was bored of doing the same thing with that song all the time? He was a decent rythem guitarist but didn't care about playing tight, especially live, because he respected/wanted to be punk too much. I can almost imagine him just playing the upstroke out of boredom/slight hatred, it's a bit of an agressive move like you're pulling/scatching at the strings. But maybe I'm over analysing a bit lol. This is a really cool lesson, I've moved past SLTS at stage 4 I've just realised because I could play it at that level and wasn't too fussed about learning it better, but the barring of the 4th string on the lower strings is such an important detail that I never cared enough to explore. Genuinely opened my eyes!
You could be onto something there with the boredom thing.
These say it takes longer to form a habit then it does to break a habit. He probably played it one way in the studio, then started playing it another way live (in the studio he didn't play the rhythm guitar intro live, he dubbed it onto the recording later) when he was singing and maybe nervous in front of a crowd. I mean, he played Lithium differently live as well, so maybe there's something to that.
With this song I won't be surprised at all.
Chris Franklyn he was happy when weird al made a parody because he was sick of hearing SLTS on the radio, so you might be onto something.
A hard down stroke is also a different kind of aggression than a hard upstroke.A hard upstroke just feels more destructive to me, more tension and more dissonant. A downstroke is hard but feels more controlled.
It's like Keanu Reeves and John Cusack had a baby.
Amanda Pike
& paul rudd!!
Accurate
At last! I’ve been telling people since the 90’s that it’s an incredibly complex song to play faithfully. Most people don’t get much further than level 3, but they’ll look like you as if you’re an idiot if you tell them they’ve a long way to go still.
That he used a leading upstroke on the intro shows he put a lot of thought into the tone and would deliberately perfect something that was more difficult to get the sound he wanted. That’s a conscious guitar player, not a sloppy player. You may not like the tone he put out or think it sounds amateurish, but it was a tone he was chasing.
Another similar thing he often did was to alternate his strumming speed, even within a bar, where most others would instead alternate rhythm speed by filling constant stroking patterns with air strokes. He ability to step in and out of strumming patterns/speeds - or turn them upside down as in this video - was wonderful. A bit of that, fret hand muting and the same dissonant tones in the same places over and over again shows that he was either very deliberate from the get go or learned how to turn his natural mistakes into a technique very much his own. That’s what sets a guitar player apart from the rest.
but the thing is, since its cobain, he wouldve never played it the exact same way every time. So just be sloppy af and crank the gain
I think he just didn't give a fuck.. For him it was all about not being a sheep and follow set patterns.
It's because he doesnt Care how it sounds he Cares about how he feels
This is all so presumptuous
Pretty sure it was just a result of him being a self-taught guitar player who developed a lot of bad habits. He was more a singer/songwriter than a "guitar player" as we usually think of them.
Just play it sloppy, that's the key
AnthonyWabo. You are so right..
The key is F :) :P
You know you’re right 😂
AnthonyWabo finally something i can do
nope, kurt played this way FOR YEARS, so if you are going to play an “easy” song you should play it the correct way not just mess it up.
Power chords 0:36
Scratchy Sound 1:12
Open Strumming 1:40
Adding the Upstroke 2:06
Cobain Chords 3:41
Little Details 4:26
Adding Initial Upstroke 6:16
Level 8 - Get drunk and high at the same time and play the riff
Dominik Trubačík flip out in the middle of the song and trash the whole set.
hail, to you
@@albertomaciasduran2212 this went from 0 to 100 real quick
Now there's a challenge
That's if you believe he did it himself. . . *cue X-Files theme *
Such a good lesson!!! I normally cringe when technically perfect players play nirvana, a lot of people just don't get the fact that Kurt worked hard to be imperfect and he was a better player than he let on. Better rhythm chops than most too.
Once again thanks for your superb lesson.
That's my goal, to walk the line between cringe and decent. :) Thanks for the comment TA!
IMHO, he was just a bad guitarist... He was creative, but didn't have much skill. That's part of the beauty of art, though.
yep
Are impressionists just bad painters? Technical proficiency does not equal artistic merit. Being 'skilled' or 'good' are not necessarily related either. One might be capable of playing any riff, no matter how intricate or difficult and yet still fail to write a moving piece of music.
Kirk Cobain didn't become who he was because of his skill, he created the grunge sound and his songs people could relate with.
He was a smart guy smarter then most people give him credit for..
He remained himself he didn't let money or fame change him.
It's ashame Courtney Love never faced charges for his death.
Nice 6-string bass!!
Besides that, amazing video. Thank you for illuminating us how much depth are just in the main riff. Fascinating!!
if cobain saw this analysis i think he would laugh.
Likewise. It's sort of over-analyzing the chaos of one punk guitar player's natural messy style. Still nice that the uploader realizes there are many ways to play the same thing though.
it's for people who wanna cover to the letter. it's more satisfying this way.
Yeah, but at the same time I think he'd appreciate that at least someone is trying to put it out there that the songs aren't as black and white as they seem, and that this style of music has it's quirks that are more important than the notation itself.
AfroNihongo yeahhhhh
Are you saying that because you knew him personally? Or are you basing that off his very manufactured public image?
sounds like you've reached Nirvana
*wink wink nudge nudge*
Kody Yardley WTF?
Kody Yardley food fighters? You mean foo fighters
This has 420 likes
Bobby Ratliff fvck me
Smells like he’s reached nirvana
Professor, just wanted you to know I am a beginner bass player, but after so many 'arrivals' in your channel I also bought an accustic guitar... after an hour or so with the guitar I played a good level of Smells Like Teen Spirit without ever touching a guitar to play, and I credit it to you and your videos/methods of teaching: there are lots of great guitar players all over, but only a few have the ART-OF-TEACHING! Thank you and cheers from Brazil! (Not stopping the groove btw)
That's awesome. Great to hear. Brazil is in my heart because I do Jiu Jitsu. :)
@@TheArtofGuitar wooow! What tesm are you on? Which belt??
So after watching this video, I've noticed Kurt starts other songs on upstrokes as well. What a fucking nuance that I've never noticed. Thank you!
That “Cobain Chord" is actually an Fsus4.
Nice observation :)
and it only belongs on the fourth chord.
Level 8: get stoned and play it left handed
Level 9: just become left handed
Lol
Level 8, switch to left-handed guitar
Level 9, now play drums, Bass, keyboard, and sing the damm song all at once .
@@owurakdanso keyboard?
False that is level 9. Level 8 is to perform this while wicked stoned
The fact you noticed he does the upstroke in the intro live earned you my sub!
The 6th lvl was the one I’ve been looking for thank you! You can’t help but notice it on the intro 4:25
Still can’t get it right it feels pretty unnatural
in other words: play sloppy and you'll get the tone. he didn't miss anything on purpose, he just didn't really care about perfect precision that much :D
he was a perfectionist... just not in the way most people define perfection.
This is what’s known as a myth
trefrog In that he was chasing the "perfect heroine" high?
Good point about the upstroke. It was used because looks cooler on stage and we get a "brushy" sound which rocks a lot. Like the first chord on On a Plain.
when you made the upstroke the first stroke it suddenly clicked in my head how style seriously effects how a song sounds.
Its just such a small and profound difference.
Please do more of these riff videos! Nuances make the difference)
Hi frrriend! Love your videos!
Nice! Loving level 7, the up stroke and the sus chords sound really cool.
If you are a strong player with solid classical guitar technique, you CAN be creative and get different sounds by playing unconventionally, because your left hand strength will allow you to. Therefore, I wouldn't necessarily encourage bad or wrong technique for the purpose of discovering original chord voicings or strumming techniques, in most cases it will be limiting, rather than enabling
This is incredibly accurate, thank you for your due diligence to this legendary riff. A prime example of why Nirvana songs can be way harder than people think (to truly learn & try to capture the spirit of the song).
7 levels of Iron Man next?
Ooooh fuck yes
yeah, that would be awesome
*I AM LENIN MAN , FROM THE MOTHERLAND I CAME !*
1.Tony Stark
2.Tony Stark
3.Tony Stark
4.Tony Stark
5.Tony Stark
6.Chuck Norris
7.Elon Musk
Sebastian Elytron Yes.
My advice to anyone beginning guitar and might be watching this video for a lesson on how to play SLTS... DO NOT try to emulate the “Cobain” chord with your ring finger barring the power chord. There really is no point. Its “wrong” technique and it wont sound any different than if you just use your pinky playing a power chord.
There are some “wrong” techniques that work and open other paths to do different things, like the “Hendrix” claw hand thing using your thumb.
The “Cobain” chord isnt like that.
true that I guess, its easy by just taking a normal power chord and muting the strings in next stroke
@@davidschlotterback8374 because Kurt wasnt just a junkie rockstar. He was an artist. That is how i remember him.
@guinness4life Hendrix was a sloppy guitar player. 😂😂😂 Dumbest comment ever.
good thing it wasn't called Smells Like Unagi Teen Spirits..
Kurt was a genius and an underrated guitar player.
I wish I had this lesson 10 years ago. I went absolutely crazy trying to get the exact rhythm down and figure out what he was doing.
And it drives me absolutely insane when I hear someone cover this song, and they don't put the open string noise in, ahah
Yah. Even "good" guitarists seem to play it like it's Wild Thing or Louie Louie. At best they miss the skipped upstroke in the intro and the quick little upstroke before the open strings. I know it's pretty distorted but how can people not hear that? I'm sure I remember seeing Guthrie Govan and Steve Vai jamming it and not playing it properly
Kurt was all about those open strings
The only correct way to play Nirvana is playing it in the way you fucking want
I love when people go “Well he just played it. He never thought about any of this” May be true, the fact it takes 7 steps to break down 4 chords shows the genius involved.
thetruth6872 no
There's really no genius that he's analyzing here, not saying that Kurt wasn't good at what he did, but this guy is just showing people how to play it exactly as Kurt did on that specific day in the studio.
I really like these ... LEVELS of ... kinda videos, they are fun to watch and make me wanna relearn these riffs, so i can get them right. I actually really hope that you keep making them, because maybe i can learn some new riffs too. :)
Is level 8 doing heroin so you have perfect no perfect technique?
Come on, man. Everyone knows that drugs are a prerequisite for making music. Narcotic are step zero.
@@Punkpsychobilly so that's why my career as an artist isnt picking up? Thanks guy!
Ringo said the music the Beatles made while high was absolutely awful and always had to be deleted and redone.
Thank you, i was starting to think i must be going crazy thinking i'm the only one who hears the upstroke!
It feels really weird to play at first but when you do it becomes obvious that its correct.
Extra bonus props for getting the Fsus4 "Cobain chord "(instead of the F5 most covers use) and same for G#sus4 vs G#5)!
I'm a pianist, what am i doing here?
@Music Fan276 I don't know about that, can you play 10 simultaneous notes on a guitar?
Me too but I feel like I'd learn from this on a subconscious level
Finding a reason why not to buy a guitar.
Ethan Wroblewski idk but I’m a bit looking through all your data.
@@SuperballsSupervidsOnYT do you think all guitars are 6 stringed?
It gives me immense pleasure to let you know that I used to play at level 3.5 ✌❤✌🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳
I.e. I always played with the up strokes included to play at level 4, bu I never realised that I could make a little noise using open strings to connect 2nd and 3rd chords as well as 4th and 1st. Now I do, so now I definitely play at level 4, and I'm fiddling with starting with an up stroke, so as to play at level 8. I'm also trying to use the Kobain chord.
What a cool way of teaching, This dude knows how to make learning fun and engaging.
That was really awesome analysis
Written by Kurt while he was trying to mess around with Boston riffs. It's a blend of Piece Of Mind and More Than a Feeling
It is so interesting to see these pieces taken apart and breaking down all the technique, keep it coming, Ciao
You forgot that he hits a lot of accidental natural harmonics whilst left hand muting by slightly lifting the hand around the sweet spots here and there
That was more in the distorted part
I knew this, yet somehow it didn't come to mind. ON TO LEVEL 8
I also would add that goes into more funky, very fast played rhythm pattern during the distortion part
its natural I dothat but cant teach it its like strokeing ur self you know how you not need be taght its natural you just go with the fealing at the time and then always remember how it works songs I can play with this same power chord using my own tecneek are heveans door rockinroll girls5 nirvana songs gliserin by bush when I come around green day courtiny hole elo reo speedwagon cars many pixies cheaptrick smashing pumkins inxs list gos on with out a lesson or vidio
Damon Briggs did you learn to read and write from an animal because you can't spell worth shit
Cobain I've noticed hammered on chords a lot, most likely unintentionally due to his left and right hand being syncopated in a way, listen to Nirvana and look for it, you'll hear it
TheAlienFromOuterEarth it derives from John Lennon, who is one of his main influences. If you listen to early Beatles recordings you can hear it
I can play damn near anything on anything with six strings. Whether it’s full sweep picking scales to gnarly legatos. I’ve always had most trouble with like tremelo picking crazy patterns down the entire scale of the guitar. But I worked at it and handled my business! I watched your student levels. I was always a 4 but after about ten years of playing I got lazy and came to a plateau. I was so cocky and thought I was better than everyone else and after I got out of prison I realized this was not the case. Two years being away from guitar can make you pretty rusty. There’s so many limitless possibilities. I used to be so into metal and had a huge collection of 7 strings and Mesa and peavey amps. Now I’ve just got my American strat and a blues junior. I’m so much for the feel of the music now. I need True Tone. Anyways I’ve started to push myself to learn again and your videos helped inspire me a bit. Time and effort creates opportunity!
Holy shit I've alwayls wondered where that final high pitched sound was at the end of the riff
I've always played it like level 5. Even for my first time, but never changed it till this day.
This is super interesting. As a bass player I did the same thing to the bassline because every tab every where just has the 4 notes but there are also the open notes like on the guitar and a small slide over C on the A string back up to F to restart the riff.
I keep having to play the drums in my head...
Level 8: the drums finally come in
This helped me learn 10x faster then any other channel or video. Thanks dude!
There’s something so calming about his voice
When he starts playing,
Me: load up on guns...
no
Currently trying level 7. Did not know about level 5. This was nice to learn!
Hey Mike can you do a lesson on come as you are or lithium or in bloom
Tfw it's not a phase.
Your attention to detail and how he actually plays the song is great. A lot of people don't notice that upstroke and "cobain" chord. Also people can miss where he plays the solo and even the verse. Those little quirks and technical "flaws" are why I love KC's guitar playing.
Makes me think of the joke where the band leader gives a load of strange instructions to the drummer and guitarist, how to skip that beat, go a tone and half down on the last bar of the chorus etc. The singer then asks what she should do. "Do exactly like you did it the last time, it's perfect!". I'm ok with level4, maybe level5 since it adds a nice color to the sound.
Indeed !! Kurt plays it exactly this way, with these 7 levels
This is brilliant. First timer guitarists who tries to cover easy songs should learn this. I have nothing against them but its a good practice to pay attention to detail and understanding what a chord is and how it sounds and also how else it can sound. These are vital in learning the gutiar as you develop your understanding on how a song flows and how chords relate to one another.
Actually I do have something against beginner guitar players and its just that when they're covering a song, I hate the "look at me I can play" vibe. Like understand the song you're trying to cover and come back to us.
I just noticed that when I turn my built in overdrive on and bring my phone so it’s touching the strings of the guitar it amplifies you voice out of the amp wow!!!!!!
^this is what playing guitar is all about
So if someones talking and you put it by the strings you can hear them? Wow😯
Edit: 2 year old comment, you've probably long since died but your descendants are making the world a better place. We have horseless carriages and moving pictures and flameless lights.
Can you do more videos about Cobain's technique?
the cobain technique is to just purposely mess up slightly and become overrated to shit because a few of your songs are catchy
Dr. Edge Lord But still you're on a video of someone explaining the most overrated riff according to you being played in 7 different ways. Grow up kiddo, you close minded people are just simply idiots.
you win
do a lot of heroin and don't practice. you'll be playing like cobian in no time!
Dual Helix This right here. Overrated as shit. Don't get me wrong, not terrible, even interesting, and I would even say an archetype of the 90s, but definitely overrated.
I’m a lifelong Nirvana fan and guitar player. I’ve never had this explained to me. Your eye (or ear) for detail is incredible.
Awesome video. Iam very impressed that you have noticed those extra tips of Kurt good job. What about making a video to show us the levels on can't stop by red hot chili peppers? It would be awesome! I also subscribed keep the good job .
Maria sigmaaa i like that your a great person
totally! everyone play that one wrong
My favorite riff by our Lord and Savior John Anthony Motherfuckin' Frusciante...
(Jesus)
+Maria sigmaaa
What took you so long? :P
Most of guitarist has great technique but Kurt has great trics to make a song