Pulp Fiction - Dick Dale ‍ Misirlou - Guitar Tab

About Dick Dale ‍ Misirlou

Few opening riffs in Instrumental Rock are as immediately recognisable as the one Dick Dale tears through in "Misirlou." Recorded in 1962, the piece is built almost entirely on a single-string run that rockets down the low E string at a relentless 125 BPM, staying in E minor throughout. The sheer speed of that descending run is the central challenge: each note needs to be clean and even, which demands tight alternate picking and a very controlled right hand. Dale famously played with heavy strings and attacked them hard, so matching that aggressive tone and attack is part of getting the feel right. If the main run keeps falling apart at tempo, use the Practice Toolbar to loop it slowed down until your pick hand is locked in before you push the speed back up. The song also appeared prominently in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction, which introduced it to a new generation of guitarists.

• The signature riff is a fast single-string descending run on the low E string, demanding clean alternate picking at 125 BPM.
• The song is played in E Standard tuning, so no retuning is needed, but keeping every note even at full tempo is genuinely difficult.
• Dick Dale used heavy-gauge strings and a hard pick attack to get his characteristic aggressive surf tone, worth considering when dialling in your sound.