Creator Area
Sign in Creator Area

Practice Studio

The Smashing Pumpkins - The Everlasting Gaze - Guitar Lesson

Sections · Loop · Speed · Metronome

Not in tune?

Select a Loop

Start of your loop
End of your loop

Speed Control

Speed
100%

Tools

BPM
Key E minor
The Smashing Pumpkins - The Everlasting Gaze guitar lesson video
Guitar 365
Guitar 365 Top Contributor
YouTube: 1.6Msubs 22Kviews
Creator Page →
·
–50¢ 0 +50¢
· Tap to start

Your browser will ask for microphone permission.

Amp Settings

Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
AI tone preset

AI-selected preset based on genre and era — adjust the knobs to taste.

Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.
Listen on Spotify
The Smashing Pumpkins Alternative Rock E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About The Everlasting Gaze

"The Everlasting Gaze" is one of the heavier, more unrelenting things in the The Smashing Pumpkins catalog, and it rewards guitarists who are willing to dig into sustained, high-gain power chord work. The song sits in E minor and runs at 120 BPM in standard tuning, so there are no capo or retuning tricks required, but getting the tone right takes some work: you want a thick, distorted wall of sound that still stays articulate. The main riff is built on driving, repetitive motion rather than flashy lead playing, which means your pick attack and consistency across repeated phrases will be tested more than your speed. Alternative Rock riffs like this one can feel deceptively simple until you try to lock them in with the same intensity for a full take. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the verse riff slowed down until your fretting hand stops tensing up, then bring the tempo back up in stages. The challenge here is stamina and tone, not complexity.

  • The riff runs in E minor at 120 BPM in standard tuning, making it accessible to set up but demanding in terms of sustaining consistent pick attack throughout.
  • High-gain distortion with strong low-mids is central to the tone, so dial in your amp or pedal carefully before you focus on the riff itself.
  • The main figure relies on repeated power chord motion rather than melodic lead work, so practise it in loops with the Practice Toolbar to build stamina and evenness.

How to Play The Everlasting Gaze

Tuning: E Standard · Key: E minor · Tempo: 120 BPM

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 120 BPM to build it up to tempo.

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Billy Corgan's primary weapon, particularly his late-'70s hardtail model with stock single-coils that create the Pumpkins' signature scooped, fizzy fuzz tone when slammed into a Big Muff. The single-coil bridge pickup delivers that aggressive high-end sizzle and cutting sustain central to their distorted sound.

Fender Telecaster
Guitar

Fender Telecaster

James Iha's go-to rhythm guitar, providing bright, cutting tones that complement Corgan's Strat-based layers and add definition to the band's wall-of-sound approach without sacrificing the clarity needed in their dense arrangements.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Corgan used Les Pauls with stock PAF-style humbuckers for warmer, thicker lead tones that contrast with his Strat's fizz, allowing him to shift between aggressive rhythm fuzz and fat, sustaining solos throughout the Pumpkins' catalog.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

A variation of Corgan's Les Paul arsenal, the Custom offered similar warm humbucker character for lead work while its thicker body resonance provided deeper low-end support for the band's heavier passages on later recordings.

Gibson ES-335
Guitar

Gibson ES-335

Corgan deployed this semi-hollow body for textured, slightly more organic tones that provided sonic variety beyond his Strat and Les Paul, particularly useful for cleaner, more nuanced passages that needed definition without harsh high-end artifacts.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

The core of Corgan's distortion tone, cranked to the edge of breakup and pushed harder by his Big Muff pedal, the JCM800's natural tube compression and high-volume sustain became synonymous with the Pumpkins' crushing wall-of-sound aesthetic.

Recommended for You