How to play American Idiot by Green Day
American Idiot is one of Green Day’s biggest hits. The lead track from their 2004 album of the same name, American Idiot was one of five successful singles from the album and a hit in many countries. It’s high-energy rhythms and intense sing-along style make for an exciting track for electric guitarists.
Bar-chords / Power-chords: G#5 C#5 F#5 in the intro and verses; C# G# D# in the chorus.
Pick or Fingers? Pick, pick, pick! The strong, grungy rhythm tone of American Idiot needs to be played with a medium-hard pick to get the sound right. Hold the pick securely with your thumb-pad flat on 3/4 of the pick & include your forearm in the down-up action to create a strong and consistent strum attack. And do follow the down and up-stroke markings - they will work.
Acoustic or Electric? Electric guitar, for sure! The acoustic is just not going to get the right sound.
What are the crossed strums for? A rhythm slash with a cross-head is a ‘percussive strum’ - a muted effect made by relaxing the chord fingers just enough so you only hear the blunt, percussive sound of the pick striking the muted strings. Often this happens at the same time as a chord change ; it keeps the energy going in the rhythm while you move to the next chord.
What does ‘NC’ mean? In the verse of American Idiot there are two bars of just drums and vocal that is then answered by the power-chords riff. Those two bars are marked ‘NC‘ meaning ‘no chord’. Its easy but don’t forget to count so you know where to come in again!
Relevant pages in Modern Guitar Chord Styles 2 : to learn more about the power-chords, bar-chords and rhythms in American Idiot go to pages 4 - 5 for the full bar chords, page 7 for timing work, and p.8 - 9 for power-chords.
Need a bit of help?
Modern Guitar Chord Styles 2 is a must-have guide to Electric guitar chords and rhythm styles. It teaches you how to read the rhythm slash notation used in our charts (as used in professional theatre & studio charts) and is specially designed to build your strength and stamina with bar-chords, and extend your moveable chords vocabulary. An excellent tutor for the developing electric guitarist.
