Twenty One Pilots - Heathens - Guitar Cover

About Heathens

"Heathens" by Twenty One Pilots sits in a deceptively simple pocket that rewards careful attention to dynamics and feel. The song's guitar work is built around a clean, restrained chord progression in E minor, with a brooding atmosphere that depends heavily on how you voice and mute the chords rather than on flashy technique. The temptation is to strum too hard or too full, but the real skill here is holding back, letting each chord breathe, and keeping the low end controlled. Pay close attention to palm muting and the degree of pressure you apply, because the contrast between open and muted moments is what gives the track its tension. If the rhythmic groove isn't locking in cleanly, use the Practice Toolbar to loop the verse figure slowed down until the timing feels automatic. This is a great song for building discipline in Alternative Rock rhythm playing, where subtlety does most of the work.

• The song is in E minor, so open-position Em voicings and power chords both work well and give you different textural options.
• Controlled palm muting is central to the guitar feel here, making right-hand technique more important than left-hand complexity.
• Keeping dynamics low and restrained throughout is the main challenge, as overplaying quickly kills the track's tense, understated mood.