Imagine Dragons - Believer - Guitar Lesson

3 of 5

2017 5:06

Listen on Spotify

About Believer

Few rock tracks from 2017 grabbed as many guitarists as "Believer" by Imagine Dragons. The song sits in Bb minor at a steady 120 BPM, which means your internal pulse needs to be locked in tight before you tackle the aggressive, syncopated riff that drives the verses. That riff is deceptively simple on paper but demands clean, percussive picking with real rhythmic confidence. The pre-chorus and chorus build intensity through chunky power chords, so getting your palm muting consistent across those sections is where a lot of the work actually lives. If the main riff keeps slipping rhythmically, pull up the Practice Toolbar, loop that passage slowed down, and focus on the pick attack landing exactly where the beat falls rather than rushing it. E Standard tuning keeps everything accessible, but the Bb minor key means you will be working around barre chord shapes that can fatigue your fretting hand quickly, so practise those chord transitions in short, focused bursts within the Pop Rock style.

• The main riff relies on tight, percussive alternate picking in Bb minor, so locking your rhythm to a metronome before adding any attitude is essential.
• At 120 BPM in E Standard tuning, the song is approachable for intermediate players, but consistent palm muting across the chorus power chords is the real hurdle.
• Looping the verse riff slowed down in the Practice Toolbar helps you nail the syncopated rhythm before bringing it back up to full tempo.