In this lesson, I show you how to play All the Small Things by Blink 182. This song is great for practicing power chords, downstroke chord strumming, and octave riffs. The focus of the power chord performance is on clean/clear tone and fret-hand dampening, as well as pick-hand follow through. Here are a few tips:
- The fret-hand index finger should lay flat across the strings like a bar (but don’t press hard) to keep the strings muted. You’ll use the side of the finger tip to press down the string – NOT the direct tip of the finger. So, your tip-joint should be slightly curved but NOT curled and standing up straight.
- Practice rest strokes with the pick. When playing a power chord, the pick should cut into the strings in a downward motion and land on the next silent string. For example, when playing a power chord on the low E and A strings (strings 6 and 5), the pick should cut through and land on the D string (4th string). When strumming fast chords, this might not happen exactly every time, but training the follow through in that manner will result in full, powerful-sounding chords.
- When playing octaves, be sure to dampen the string in between. Since you skip a string when playing an octave, make sure the pad of the index finger dampens the string in between, but also check if there is too much pressure and a note is sounding.
Nate from Richards Guitar Studio and Richards Rock Academy shows you how to play All the Small Things on guitar by Blink 182. Learn the power chords, strumming, and octave riffs using the guitar tabs and the video.
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