Muse - Stockholm Syndrome Pt.1 - Intro - Guitar Lesson

Absolution

2003 4:56

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About Stockholm Syndrome Pt.1 - Intro

Drop D tuning and E minor give this intro section of Muse's "Stockholm Syndrome" its low, menacing weight right from the first note. The open dropped D string is central to the riff, letting you get a heavier, fuller sound with less left-hand effort, but the real challenge is keeping the picking tight and rhythmically precise at 120 BPM. Matt Bellamy's playing here favors aggressive, percussive downpicking that can tire your forearm quickly if your technique is sloppy, so short focused bursts beat long careless runs. The Alternative Rock feel of the track sits in that tense, almost mechanical groove where locking into the pulse matters as much as hitting the notes cleanly. If the syncopation in the riff keeps tripping you up, the Practice Toolbar is exactly what you need: loop the offending bar and drop the speed until every pick lands where it should.

• The riff is built around Drop D tuning, which lets you bar power chords on the bottom two strings with a single finger for fast, aggressive transitions.
• At 120 BPM the picking hand needs to be disciplined and consistent, making downpicking stamina a key thing to build before attempting full speed.
• The intro sits in E minor, so practicing the riff against an open low E drone is a useful way to internalize the dark, tense tonality.