Boston - Smokin' - Guitar Lesson

Boston

1976 4:21

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About Smokin'

Written by Tom Scholz, "Smokin'" sits on the harder, more driven end of Boston's debut record, and it rewards guitarists who want to dig into the kind of tight, gain-heavy rhythm work that defined Hard Rock in the mid-1970s. At 120 BPM in A minor and E Standard tuning, the song is approachable in terms of pitch, but the real challenge is keeping the rhythm locked and aggressive without letting it get sloppy. Scholz's guitar parts layer rhythm and lead in ways that sound deceptively simple at full speed. The picking hand does most of the heavy lifting here: consistent downstrokes with controlled palm muting give the riff its punch, and relaxing either element will blunt the feel immediately. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the main riff slowed down until your pick attack is consistent on every stroke. Once the rhythm part is solid, the melodic lead lines over the top fall into place much more naturally.

• The song sits in A minor in E Standard tuning, so no retuning is needed and open-position minor shapes are all usable.
• Consistent downstroke picking with controlled palm muting is the key technique for nailing the tight, punchy rhythm part.
• Looping the main riff with the Practice Toolbar at reduced speed helps build the pick-attack consistency the song demands.