Portugal. The Man - Feel It Still - Guitar Lesson

About Feel It Still

That choppy, staccato rhythm guitar line is the engine of "Feel It Still," and getting it to lock in at 120 BPM with the right percussive snap is the real challenge here. The part sits in D minor in standard tuning, so there are no capo or alternate-tuning hurdles, but the feel demands tight right-hand muting and precise upstroke control to nail the sixties Motown bounce the song borrows from. Portugal. The Man blended that vintage groove with modern Pop Rock production, which means the guitar sits in a mix that is busier than it sounds, so every dead note and chord stab has to be deliberate. If the rhythm pattern is slipping, isolate the four or eight bars where the chops fall and use the Practice Toolbar to loop it slowed down until the muscle memory is there. Once the rhythm is solid, pay attention to the light, airy chord voicings that keep the arrangement from getting heavy.

• The signature rhythm part relies on tight palm muting and staccato chord stabs to recreate the Motown-influenced sixties groove at the core of the song.
• Playing in E Standard with a D minor tonal center means you can use open-position and barre chord voicings without any retuning or capo work.
• Keeping the rhythm locked and consistent at 120 BPM is harder than it looks, so use the Practice Toolbar to slow the pattern down before building back up to tempo.