Katy Perry - Dark Horse - Guitar Cover

PRISM (Deluxe)

2013 3:36

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About Dark Horse

At 128 BPM in B minor, "Dark Horse" is built around a hypnotic, repeating synth bass figure that sits at the heart of the track. On guitar, your main job is translating that low, looping riff into something that locks in with the groove, which means keeping your picking hand steady and your note lengths consistent. The key of B minor and the relatively sparse harmonic movement make it approachable for intermediate players, but nailing the feel, that cool, slightly menacing pulse, takes more discipline than it first appears. Barre chords in the verse sections need to ring cleanly without cluttering the minimal texture. If the riff's rhythmic pattern is giving you trouble, use the Practice Toolbar to loop it slowed down until the pick-hand timing feels automatic. Katy Perry wrote the track with a deliberately dark, trap-influenced feel, and respecting that restraint is what makes a guitar arrangement of it work. This is a great exercise in serving a groove rather than overplaying, which is a skill worth building in any Pop Rock context.

• The signature riff is a short, looping low-register figure in B minor, best played on the lower strings with consistent picked articulation.
• Keeping a steady 128 BPM pulse with minimal fills is the real challenge here, making a metronome essential during early practice.
• E Standard tuning means no retuning is needed, so you can focus entirely on locking the riff into the groove from the start.