Bon Jovi - Raise Your Hands - Guitar Lesson

Slippery When Wet

1986 4:17

Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music

About Raise Your Hands

From the 1986 *Slippery When Wet* album, "Raise Your Hands" is one of the heavier, more riff-driven cuts in the Bon Jovi catalog, and it rewards guitarists who want a solid workout in Glam Metal rhythm playing. The song sits in E major at 120 BPM in standard tuning, so there are no capo or alternate tuning complications to deal with. The backbone of the track is a chunky, palm-muted power-chord riff that locks in tight with the kick drum. Getting that riff to feel punchy rather than muddy comes down to clean palm muting and consistent pick attack, so use the Practice Toolbar to loop it slowed down until the muting is second nature before bringing it back up to tempo. The lead breaks call for confident bends and a bright, slightly overdriven tone. Pay close attention to the transitions between the rhythm sections and the choruses, where the chord voicings open up and the picking pattern shifts.

• The riff is built on palm-muted power chords in E standard tuning, making pick-hand muting precision the central technical challenge.
• At 120 BPM the rhythm parts sit at a moderate pace, but maintaining consistent palm-mute pressure throughout the full song takes real endurance.
• The lead sections feature string bends in E major, so practicing accurate intonation on those bends is worth isolating with a slow loop.