Muse - Hysteria - Guitar Lesson

About Hysteria

The bass line gets all the headlines on "Hysteria," but the guitar part is a serious workout in its own right. Running at 149 BPM in Drop D tuning, the low open D string is central to the heavy, locked-in riff that drives the verse. The Drop D setup lets you hit that root with real force using a single-finger barre, but keeping the picking hand tight and consistent at this tempo is where most players struggle. The chorus opens things up into bigger, strummed chord shapes, so you need to shift gears quickly between precision palm-muted picking and fuller strumming without losing the pulse. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the main riff slowed down until your fretting and picking hands are genuinely synchronized before you push back toward full speed. Muse write guitar parts that sit in a specific rhythmic pocket, and if you rush, the whole riff loses its weight. The key of A minor keeps the mood tense throughout, so lean into that darker tone when you shape your sound.

• The Drop D tuning is essential to the main riff, letting the open low D string anchor the heavy, repetitive picking pattern that defines the song's drive.
• At 149 BPM, consistent palm muting and right-hand precision are the primary technical demands, making slow practice with looping critical before attempting full speed.
• The guitar part shifts between tightly muted single-note riffing in the verses and broader chord work in the choruses, requiring quick transitions between two distinct techniques.