Muse - Stockholm Syndrome - PreChorus, Chorus & Turnaround - Guitar Lesson

About Stockholm Syndrome - PreChorus, Chorus & Turnaround

Stockholm Syndrome's pre-chorus, chorus, and turnaround sections are where Muse push their Alternative Rock sound toward something genuinely aggressive. Drop D tuning is central here: the lowered sixth string lets you hammer power chords with a single-finger barre, but the real demand is keeping those chords tight and percussive at 120 BPM rather than letting them blur together. The turnaround in particular involves a quick chord sequence that needs clean fretting-hand muting between each hit, which is easy to fumble up to speed. G minor gives the whole passage a tense, claustrophobic weight, so lean into that with firm picking attack rather than a soft stroke. The pre-chorus build requires precise timing as the rhythm tightens before the chorus lands, so use the Practice Toolbar to loop that transition slowed down until your right hand is locking in consistently. Once the muting and the chord changes feel automatic, bringing it back up to full tempo is straightforward.

• Drop D tuning is essential here, allowing one-finger power chords on the lower strings and giving the riff its heavy, low-end driven character.
• Clean palm muting between chord hits in the turnaround is the main technique to isolate and drill before attempting the section at full 120 BPM.
• The shift from the pre-chorus rhythmic build into the chorus requires precise right-hand timing, making it a good candidate for slow, looped repetition.