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Johnny Ramone Guitar Technique
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- Опубліковано 23 жов 2013
- *Chord diagrams and technique FAQ below. While a Mosrite guitar running into a big Marshall stack was a big part of Johnny Ramone's famous guitar sound, his playing was equally important. The purpose of this video is to make that information more available. This isn't a tutorial, but if you want to play like Johnny, the chord diagrams and FAQ below are a good place. Also, as of 2020, you can check out my many guitar covers on this channel for a closer look at specific songs!
CHORD DIAGRAMS: i.imgur.com/Jfj...
FAQ:
Q: How many of the strings should I strum while playing Ramones songs?
A: The amount of strings Johnny would strum actually varied from song to song. I have found that hitting the bottom four to five strings generally yields a good sound on most guitar rigs, but after years of combing through material, I believe he did strum all six strings quite often -- especially in the early years. But it's really best to listen to the specific song you wish to play and try to determine how many strings you want to strum.
Q: Do you fret and strum the low E string on the A-shape chords?
A: Yes! Johnny technically played Second Inversion A-shape chords, which require you to barre all six strings. For traditional A-shape barre chords, you would instead mute out the low E string and avoid strumming it. So why did Johnny play these second inversion chords? Personal preference, I assume. It certainly allows chord changes to flow into each other more smoothly.
Q: How do you know Johnny played with all downstrokes?
A: You can find a ridiculous amount of sources for this. Too many to list! It's also just plain visible in any live footage.
Q: How do you know Johnny played with barre chords?
A: Johnny mentions his use of barre chords in his autobiography, as well as in other books ("Ramones: An American Band", "The Guitar Player Book", "Hey Ho Let's Go: The Story Of The Ramones", etc). You can also see that he uses them in live videos, though it's easy to mistake them for power chords at a glance.
Q: When I listen to the songs, I don't hear barre chords, just power chords. Why?
A: Barre chord shapes technically have power chords somewhere inside of them, so when you think you hear power chords, you aren't wrong! It's difficult to also hear those extra strings from the barre chords clearly, but they do contribute an imperative sonic characteristic. Additionally, distortion from any amplifier will play havoc with the many harmonics produced by a barre chord, and the exact type of guitar/amp rig in use is a huge factor in how clearly each string can be heard, and how it will resonate in the context of any particular chord. Johnny's Mosrite guitars also had flat "speed frets" that result in a bit less clarity from each fretted string, and Marshall amps such as the Super Lead Plexi 1959 and JMP 2203 have a particular type of distortion when cranked that really breaks up and saturates the sound of each note in a chord. Johnny's powerful downstroke strumming also dug very hard into the bottom strings, putting extra emphasis on them.
Q: I tried playing the songs with barre chords and they didn't sound good. Why?
A: The answer to the previous question applies a lot here. Barre chords and distortion also have a reputation for not always mixing well anyway, but it is possible to get a good guitar tone for it on any decent equipment. Your best bet is to set your intonation well, switch to the bridge pickup on your guitar, and dial in your amp gain/distortion levels carefully. Too much gain is a common problem, but Johnny's tone was still pretty fuzzy. His style is also a unique skill, and like any other guitar technique, you have to be good at it to make it sound good. It didn't sound particularly right when I first tried it, either.
Q: Did he ever use any other kinds of chords?
A: Most notably, Johnny would use three open chords quite often; Open A Major, open E Major, and open D Major. Open G Major occasionally. If you know those four open chords, you can play the main riffs for songs like "53rd & 3rd", "I'm Against It", "Cretin Hop" and "I Want You Around". The open chord shapes are all very unique and easy to recognize in live footage.
Q: What exactly are "Major" and "Minor" chords?
A: I'll avoid music theory and oversimplify it: Major chords often have a bright sound whereas minor chords often sound moody, but the musical context the chords are used in can alter that. Power chords are neither minor nor major and are considered neutral.
Q: Did he ever use the "Minor" chords?
A: Yes, but rarely. I've read he didn't like them and tried to avoid using them. Some people will say he never used them, but I can't find any sources for this, and certain songs and live videos indicate otherwise. They are difficult to notice, but a good handful of Ramones songs sprinkled throughout their career contain a minor chord that often goes unnoticed. Good luck picking them out!
Any other questions? Leave a comment!
Check out my new 2020 guitar cover of Blitzkrieg Bop: ua-cam.com/video/UxzH7yhGHis/v-deo.html Part of an ongoing guitar cover series for the Ramones' entire 70s discography!
Updated 2022 cover is also available here: ua-cam.com/video/NHXoHzBYF5o/v-deo.html
johnny was a better guitar player than people give him credit for and even though he was a skinny dude he apparently had some insanely strong wrists and arms to be able to play that fast for a whole concert, with all downstrokes is insane.....
+oxrjbizzle1984y As someone in a piece about Johnny in a UK magazine said "Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen couldn't do what he did night after night year after year."
my arms get sore after playing one fast all downstroke punk rock song, how in the hell did johnny do a whole concert like that, and like you said, year after year, he did it for over 20 years, it's insane.....
+oxrjbizzle1984y It is a matter of practice. I play 1 hour every day, and years ago I could not even get to the end of Blitzkrieg Bop, after 1 minute I had to stop. I can play a few Ramones' songs in a row now, but that's my limit. I would probably to gradually play more and more every day but I have no time for it. Morale is: keep Ramones songs in your routine practice, and it will come to you.
There is a video on Fender's stream where CJ says about how much he struggled till he worked out how low to have the bass.
Fabio Punk yeah it's definitely all practice, i prefer using alternate strumming when i play to save strength but for ramones songs playing downstrokes is the only way. you gotta play the full barre chords too, no cheating playing only power chords, johnny played ALL barre chords almost.....johnny clearly had incredible stamina for a guitarist, not sure there are too many that could do what he did....
Every "schooled" musician thinks punk rock is the easiest thing play....until they try to play it.
Jay Dean That is true
When Ramones was first released British journalist Charles Shaar Murray ( a big fan ) played it to Mick Ronson and John Fiddler (Steeleye Span ) who both said that the `minimalist ` style of playing was in fact hard to play .As Tommy once said Johnny was a `specialist ` guitar player.
Jay Dean I’m abit of an amateur at heart and even I find it hard with the down picking.
It's pretty fucking hard Lmao
Even the easiest band like Green Day or Blink 182 is still pretty hard ( For Blink 182 the drums are fucking hard cause Travis but the bass and the Guitars is between easy or not )
Jay Dean dem knew it, but dem can’t do it
REMEMBER! You MUST wear your guitar low in order to execute this effectively, or else it WILL hurt. Your arm needs to be stretched out to let your wrist do all the action without cramping your arm.
+theHALLOWEDmetal Yep, lower helps with strumming. It's a bit of a trade off though, because the lower you go, the harder the barre chords get.
Absolutely; you need your entire arm (wrist, elbow and shoulder) to do it properly, otherwise it will get painful very quickly.
Wish I’d known that before hand. Although I find having the guitar low if pretty hard to play properly.
What about for solos and lead?
@@HardlyRamone I have been watching videos and pictures of Johnny holding his guitar, and have noticed that he kept his left wrist straight and in line with his arm. The thumb of the fretting hand pointed towards the headstock. These two positions together could make barre chords much easier. What do you think?
Man, that guitar sound. He was the Hendrix of Punk. So much brilliance in such simplicity.
I wonder what Hendrix would have thought. I bet he'd have liked it.
@@chrisst8922 Absolutely. Johnny even had some Rockabilly and early Blues stuff in his playing stuff even though he wasn't known for playing long guitar solos. Hendrix definitely would have liked it.
I don't usually agree with many comparisons but I'll make an exception with that one, he WAS the Hendrix of punk no doubt about that... No one was doing what he was
This is GREAT, thank you. If anyone truly listens carefully, they will hear all six strings being strummed when Johnny played, not just power chords. You nailed it.
Also many people use a little too much distortion when they try to copy him. I know that it's hard to resist the distortion! But dialing it back a little bit will usually help it sound more aggressive or even "percussive," if you will.
+godfatherNYC Indeed and create distortion by hitting the strings hard! If often see people using too much distortion and play too "soft". You have to work hard to get the sound! Especially with an old chanked tube amp your way of hitting the string influences your sound tremendously.
I was just about to say that. You can hear the G, B and high E strings clearly in "Blitzkrieg Bop". I bought a Ramones Tab book when I was 14 or 15 when I started playing guitar (yeah, I know....), they transcribed them as power chords. It just goes to show how much those "official" tab books are a rip-off. It's better to hear it for yourself once you get the ear for it.
Misfits
That album changed everything. I bought it in Aug 1976. By October, I had bands coming by my house in NW Detroit, to borrow it. It changed everything.
i love panning left and right listening to this album. done with dee dee on left, and johnny on right....
Absolutely.
I cannot understand why the instruments are not arranged as we see the group traditionally in gigs.
They always put the bass in the middle...why?
Then if the lead gutarist normally stands on the left as we see them the record has him on the right. Seems a matter of chance, a few times it coincides. Again why?
Is this the work of that bastard breed the PRODUCER? I fear so.
BTW. The first LP is the only one they did like it, why was that?
I'd be interested to hear about any other records where the instruments are 'positioned' as we see them.
If you watch some interviews with the Ramones you can see how insanely long Johnny's fingers are. There's one from 1981 here on UA-cam and you can clearly see the length of his fingers. That surely helped with those full barre chords allowing him to be able to sling the guitar that low yet still manage to barre all 6 strings.
Holy shit man. I can barre pretty well but wow what a fascinating and painful guitar style.
Thank you very much, this is great. I saw them in 1979, about 40 songs in 60 minutes, I've still not seen anybody play like johnnny and dee dee.
Johnny Ramone is one of the all time great guitar players. His playing inspired a lot of people. People think they can play like Johnny Ramone, but nobody can really play like Johnny. The strumming was all down strokes, and the rhythm wasn't just straight on the beat. His rhythm has kind of a galloping, pulsing momentum to it. Thats the part that nobody really can copy.
I was in a Ramones Tribute band in NY. I studied Johnnys strumming technique. I was also in a Punk Band in the early 80's I patterned myself after Johnny. I used to practice to the album "Its Alive". Stamina and a low Guitar are key. It all comes from resting the wrist on the body and rotating your arm like eddie van halen does when he is tremlo picking(check out videos). But what Johnny did was of major importance. He strummed 1-1234 or 1-12345 in each measure of the beat. Listen closely. the drums were 8th note highhats. the bass was playing the same strumming pattern, but on a lot of songs dee dee played the octave note to johnny. It really is very intricate playing by each individual that gives the band their sound.
Great post.
This is fucking mind blowing. Looks like I have to relearn everything now lol
Awesome video and chord diagram. The best, clearest explanation of Johnny's technique ever!
Your inexpensive setup on this video shows that it's the guitar player's skill, not the hardware, that makes things rock! Looking forward to your next video!
Thanks! Even a cheap guitar can sound good if you keep it set up right and play it well. And in the future, I would like to make a better video on Johnny's technique, and possibly release some guitar and drum covers.
Incredible strength in both hands and razor sharp discipne to lock in time and rock...RIP johnny , it aint easy being the boss and you done good bro ** those chords sound big n full , no cheaters allowed
He was great, and I always think stroking is easy and he didn't get colorful techniques yet now my vision is changed, I play the piano and classical guitar(mostly jazz and and I am in love with minor chord-Am, 7th chord etc..), so the chord.. because of wide fretboard, it is hard to do it. But I used to it though..
thanks for the vid. Johnny woulda been proud
Santa?
Will Heiser santa? jajajajaja!!!
Exactly right -- Johnny Ramone apparently learned "E" shaped and "A" shaped barre chords and pretty well quit right there. No problem with that -- that stripped down technique is one of the many things that made the Ramones awesome.
Yep. I have seen him use the E Major, A Major, D Major, and G Major open chords occasionally, but not often. Cretin Hop, 53rd & 3rd, California Sun, I Want You Around, Today Your Love Tomorrow The World… open chords everywhere. This video only really points out that he didn't use power chords. I sometimes wonder if Tommy taught him a few chords, and he just developed his style from there. If he figured out two barre chord shapes and four open chord shapes just from observing other guitarists, that's really impressive.
Hardly Ramone Open chords Here Today, Gone Tomorrow, Chinese Rock chorus is D, A, G open chords studio and live. She's The One has E minor chord, in RNR High movie you can see how Johnny plays the first chord shape to be ready to shift to the E minor chord. Of course Questionally, I Wont Let It Happen.
TX123412 Yep, those are a few more examples. Nice to see someone else noticing that E minor in She's The One.
Hardly Ramone I'm glad you posted this video. Many publish false information about Johnny's guitar technique, truly misunderstood player. Very few guitarist can actually play the songs correctly and get the groove right. The tension release between chords is hard to play clean. Some will argue the A in Blitzkreig Bop is a power chord while you can clearly hear 4-5 strings, that note on G string 6th fret is there and part of the chord. Even that woody guy has mistakes in his videos, seen him ignore and entire chord in Tomorrow She Goes Away-the 4th last chord in main riff left off. Johnny's downstrokes have a groove too that's often overlooked. Chinese Rock Loco Live there's some great downstroke pattern variation during the verse chords. I think a lot of 'good' guitarist blow it off as simple and are likely frustrated they can't play it correctly.
TX123412 Johnny's technique is difficult to pull off. The barre chords are a pain to fret, and if the downstrokes aren't smooth, it sounds ugly. I still haven't perfected it completely. At some point I'd like to create a full tutorial/guide to Johnny's playing that breaks down his technique more. This video isn't much of a tutorial, it's just a way of getting some information out here where people find it.
The amount of people teaching and playing Ramones songs incorrectly amazes me. People are free to play the songs however they want, but I find it weird that people actually think Johnny himself used power chords or alternate picking (or both). It doesn't help when they spread this information around like it's all factual.
Also, on any E shape barre chord (including that A chord at the 5th fret), the G string is producing a note known as the major third. This note adds that distinct sound that power chords don't have. On A shape barre chords, the major third note is on the B string instead. Because of this, we know Johnny at least strummed four to five strings, or his chords wouldn't have sounded the way they did. I have no way of knowing if he ever strummed all six, but he may have. The most important thing is to make sure you at least hit those major third notes.
Since I found out Johnny used barre chords 15 years or ago or so, right when I started playing guitar, there was never any doubt in my mind that I would use barre chords for my punk music. I never use power chords. In fact I actually forgot power chords was the "standard' thing until I just stumbled across this video.
Your playing was good. The lack of amp made a big difference in terms of the punch but you can clearly hear the full spectrum of the barre chord in your playing and Johnny's. Great video, well done.
Everyone watching this video should take a look at the link on the description because it says about the left hand technique. Thanks for posting, even got my tele do practice :)
Really liked this video ! This is the kind of instructional/facts video I search but have a hard time finding
Hey Hardly, I want to thank you again for making this video. The isolated track clearly reveals Johnny downstroking in groups of three or so at the 1:13 mark, Of course, we would all try to do 1-345678 downstroking whenever possible because it's more early-Johnny sounding. Doing 1-345-781-345-781 downstroking doesn't sound as macho, as it were.
Bearista Bear Yes, Johnny's strum patterns were not as standardized as people often like to think. Johnny did use that "1-345678" pattern often, but it wasn't really some strict rule he always followed whenever he played a lot of eighth notes. If you really watch the Ramones play live, there are tons of places all over their songs where Johnny uses different patterns. I've even seen footage of him playing the chorus of "Rockaway Beach" by just strumming constantly all the way through without skipping a single beat.
For some reason, I've also seen a few people refer to that skipped eighth note in the "1-345678" pattern as a "micro-rhythm", but that really doesn't make sense. It sure sounds neat, but "MicroRhythm" is a drum machine software from the 80's, not a term that describes skipping eighth notes.
And the specific "groups of three or so" you mentioned in Blitzkrieg Bop can be seen in various live videos, including the Arturo's Loft footage from 1975 (though even in this footage he doesn't strum the whole song EXACTLY like the studio version). Here's a quick clip of me playing the song with what I believe to be the exact strum patten from the studio version: /watch?v=z6a55tq5rpA
Hardly Ramone Many thanks for the info on Johnny's strum patterns, Hardly! Your video is a real showcase and an eyeopener. Yesterday, I had posted my own cover of Blitzkrieg Bop, and it took me months to decide how I should attempt to play it. I tried to fit in 1-345678 whenever possible. I think that if I downstroked Johnny's pattern in your isolated track, I might have gotten some complaints from people who are used to the usual Johnny stuff.
Bearista Bear Glad you found the info helpful. And yeah, you may have made a good choice just using a general Johnny-style strum pattern for the cover instead of adhering to the specific way he played it during that one studio session in 1976. I plan to put out a Blitzkrieg Bop cover eventually and play it as close to the recording as possible, and I'll probably have to deal with some people telling me I've played it wrong. Ah well, what can you do...
the real Johnny Ramone way is to play it however YOU play it. that's the punk creed: DIY....not saying this is a bad video. I give a thumbs up to it!
Ha, that's fair! I very much agree, people should just play however they want. I suppose this video really exists to clarify what Johnny himself did, for those who do WANT to play the songs accurately. A lot of tutorials really spread false information, and I hate to see an iconic guitarist's legacy getting gradually watered down... punk itself isn't about putting constraints on technique, but history itself is about facts! I want those facts to be out there for anyone who wants them.
I have no idea how his arm didn't fall off with all those down strokes.
Johnny "only playing barre chords" is something most don't know and don't utilize when covering Ramones songs as its obviously harder to play full barre chords at the speed Johnny played, where most have trouble just trying to play power chord versions of ramones songs. I remember pre-internet (or before everything was online) and occasionally you'd find a Ramones song in a guitar magazine and (from what I recall) the music was Always just straight up power chords and not a barre chord in sight!. Can anyone else corroborate this?.. As far as technical skill, Johnny would have been at the bottom, but just because he wasn't soloing up and down the neck, doesn't mean he wasn't a good songwriter and the perfect fit for a band like the Ramones..His (basic style) and the Ramones great, fun and catchy songs influenced more guitarist than most are aware of and continue to influence kids who may be intimidated by a more technical player to pick up the guitar!..
its difficult to compare esp with the equipment and mixing differences
You can hear the major third in those chords, his amp aint so dirty that ya cant hear it....this guy is correct
Johnny Ramone was God of Punk Rock genre..
Nice video! Thank you!
You're missing one detail: Johnny usually didn't play the second 8th note in a bar. He'd play 1 . 3 4 5 6 7 8. You can hear it in the Blitzkrieg Bop clip starting this video.
This both puts more emphasis on the chord changes, and gives your muscles a chance to rest.
I know that Johnny usually skipped that second eight note, you can hear it in the recordings and see it in live footage. But originally Johnny did not do this on Blitzkrieg Bop. He started doing that around 1977 as the band got a little faster. The strum pattern continued to change over the years, especially going into the 80's.
In the studio recording he strums all the eighth notes in the bar on the A chord before playing the D and E. I've listened to the full isolated guitar track a lot more than any sane person should, and I guarantee he does not skip that second note (except for in a few places, where it's hard to tell). Watch the Arturo's Loft 1975 footage to see the original strum pattern for Blitzkrieg Bop. No skipped eight note on the first bar.
Hardly Ramone Yeah, you're right that there is some variation. I just wanted to share the info. I had no clue about it for years!
So the key is that it's barre chords and it's to strum almost all the strings? Geez that sounds like a hard thing to do. Wrist sounds painful but practice makes perfect right? Haha. Also what type of guitar strap do you recommend to practice johnnys technique on? I know the lower you go the barre chord is harder but I wanna make sure I get the wrist moving as I don't want to develop tenditis or some tendon pain you know?
Yeah, you either strum all of the strings or most of them -- It varies a bit. Starting off only strumming four to five strings may help you get a feel for it. Practice is certainly the key, because it sounded like complete rubbish the first time I tried to play this style. A good tone without too much distortion also helps, because a tone that might sound a little weak with power chords tends to be much fuller sounding with barre chords. It's also more difficult to get a tone that sounds right with all six strings... you don't want the higher strings to be really loud and overbearing, you just want them adding some extra brightness. As for the strap, I just recommend any long ones (I've used a variety of straps) and getting the guitar as low as you can while still being able to play the barre chords well. The lower guitar actually helps with the downstrokes, but yeah it does make the chords more difficult to fret, so you have to compromise and look for a sweet spot.
Hardly Ramone thanks :)
Well done
Sounds good!
Love you, Johnny. R.I.P. brother. Say hello to Joey, Dee Dee and Tommy.
if i had a fender strat, should i change the bridge pick-up to dimarzio fs 1 to get cruncy sound like johnny ?
+Jajang Teu The pickup alone won't get you Johnny's tone, but it'll help. The Dimarzio FS-1 was installed at the beginning of the 80's, so if you prefer his guitar tone from that point on, go for it. In the 70's, he used the stock Mosrite Ventures II slab body pickups, which were unique to that model. You probably won't see those pickups for sale anywhere, but other easier to find Mosrite pickups would likely give you a similar sound (better than the strat pickups). Alternatively, Hallmark Guitars makes great Mosrite-style pickups you could look into. I installed their '67 pickup in a Squier Bullet Strat recently, and the tone is much better than what I got with the guitar in this video.
Just keep in mind that the FS-1 should fit in your stock strat, whereas fitting a Mosrite/Hallmark pickup would likely require you to make a custom pickguard and possibly modify the cavity inside the guitar. Installing the Hallmark '67 in my Bullet Strat was no simple task. Hope that helps!
+Hardly Ramone thanks for the answers mate, it helps
+Jajang Teu I might be late, but the stock bridge pickup from might do the trick just fine. Johnny did use a bunch of strats at some points in his career.
+Hardly Ramone On his Hamer, which he used rarely, he had a PRS Chainsaw pickup. This was basically a humbucker voiced to sound like the FS-1. The original Hamer pickup was a zebra like the neck one the Chainsaw was all black.
Noone will ever compare Johnny ramone to Yngwie Malmsteen. But ya cant deny johnny as an iconic guitarist in his own right. That "simplicity" bore some of rocks greatest songs.
Hi excuse me! In the example how do you put the fingers to do d and e chords because because i only now this position: finger 1 in d finger 2 in a finger 3 in d and finger 4 in f#(d major) but i see un the example you do it diferent .. .can you tell me how you do it ...? I'd aprecieted that...
Hi HardlyRamone: I just noticed another fine point of Johnny's playing. It looks like he always strums at the end of the neck, and not on top of the the neck pickup and not at the space between the two pickups. Is this correct? Would the reason for this be ergonomic, or is it that strumming at the neck ensures you cannot strum too hard, since the pick will always contact the neck?
The most likely reason would be that this was the most comfortable place to strum the guitar. I let my guitar hang very low (below my waist), and it feels best to strum right at the end of the neck.
Three best down picking guitarist in history (that I know of).. 1.) Johnny Ramone, 2.) Doyle Wolfgang Von Frankenstein, 3.) James Hetfield.. Feel free to add to my list or insert your opinions.
Hey Hardly, when are you going to post your Ramones tutorial? I eagerly await it!
Bearista Bear I'm still deciding how I want to do it, and I'm still working on finding all available information on Johnny's playing from reliable sources. I want to make sure this video (or possibly video series) provides the best explanation of the most accurate Johnny Ramone technique I can manage. Unfortunately, I don't know when I'll be done, but I hope it won't take too long.
Ok, thanks for the update!
I have read Johnny's autobiography "Commando", and Johnny himself had stated that he would keep his Marshall amps "on ten" (Page 55 of "Commando"). I'm not much of a guitar expert, but is he referring to having all of the knobs cranked to it's max, or is he simply referring to the volume? I have been playing guitar for a while, and am having some difficulty with getting the Johnny Ramone tone when it comes to EQ'ing and amount of distortion. Any help/advice is much appreciated.
I unfortunately don't know any more details about Johnny's settings beyond what he said there, but I've chatted at length with someone who gets an insanely good debut album Johnny Ramone tone from a Hallmark 60 Custom Guitar and a 4-input non master volume Marshall Super Lead. His amp settings are:
Presence: 10
Bass: 10
Middle: 10
Treble: 10
High Treble: 10
Normal: 0
I also get a very Road To Ruin-type Johnny tone at "practice volume" with my current rig, even though it's not what he used. I have a modified Squier Strat with a Hallmark 67' pickup in the bridge (which required a custom pick guard to install), and a 1980's Marshall Lead 12 combo amp. I also use a Boss GE-7 equalizer pedal to kill the 3.2k frequency as much as possible, because for some reason, that dries out the tone and removes twang from the high strings. My settings are just everything on 10 except the gain, which I keep around 9. Granted, neither of these rigs and settings will help if you can't get the technique down pretty well, but that mostly takes practice and attention to detail.
Just be very weary of overdoing the distortion on any rig. Older gear that won't get a very "metal" tone sometimes needs to be overdriven to it's limit, but modern high distortion rigs can really mess you up. Really laying into those barre chords creates a lot of noise that makes the guitar sound more distorted than one might anticipate. And sometimes, Johnny's tone was actually pretty twangy; his playing just turns those individual strings into one blaring sound of harmonic noise. Blitzkrieg Bop live on Musikladen 1978 is a good example of a twangier-than-usual Johnny tone, but it still sounds like the Ramones. Another thing that may help you: See if you can find isolated "guitar only" Johnny tracks for songs like Blitzkrieg Bop and Teenage Lobotomy here on UA-cam. Play the recording and then switch over to listening to your own guitar, and see if you can identify glaring differences in how the frequencies sound. I've gotten pretty far this way when capturing a recorded Johnny tone.
Hope some of that helps!
very interesting video!! i read it all!
What was the amp setting for playing the Ramones ?
Thanks dude great video
Hi Hardly Ramone: What guitar, amp and and effects did you use for this video?
In this video I used a cheap BGuitars Viper (75$ USD) and an entry level Line 6 spider amp (100$ USD) on it's default "metal" setting. Not actually the best setup for getting the Ramones tone. I've recently started using a cheap Fender guitar instead because it's single coil bridge pickup sounds more accurate.
THE gear for Johnny's mid-70's signature sound:
*Mosrite Ventures II guitar, slab body (Very rare and hard to find)
*Marshall JMP 1959 Super Lead 100W amp head (Likely with EL34 tubes)
*Marshall 4x12 cabinet (Likely with Celestion Greenback speakers)
My setup is isn't even close to what Johnny used, but his technique really helps it sound right. The playing is more important than the rig. Nonetheless, I do recommend using a guitar with a single coil bridge pickup, and I recommend a simple amp setting - Don't use too much gain/distortion, or the barre chords will start to sound pretty bad.
Also, thank you for the kind words in your other comment! I worked really hard to make that chord diagram look nice, ha.
I've got a question: Given that you're only playing the bottom four strings on an E-shape barre chord, would it be OK to simplify things (for beginners like me who are starting to learn barre chords) by not having to press down with the left index finger on the B string and high-E string, given that the latter two strings aren't played at all? This will help to relieve some of the tension on the index finger and therefore some of stress in making a barre chord?. And likewise, given that the ring finger is playing the top three notes on the A-shape barre chords, is it OK not to put pressure by the index finger on the B string and high-E string since the index finger isn't making the notes on those two strings at all? Any response would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!
First I would like to say that in general, it is very good to learn how to fret all six strings and play barre chords properly, as it is a fundamental skill for guitarists. That being said, if you are only going to strum four strings on the E shapes and five strings on the A shapes, I suppose it doesn't matter if you fret the B and high E strings with your index finger, since you won't be playing those notes anyway. For all I know, Johnny didn't fret those strings either.
The thing that remains most unclear about Johnny's playing is whether or not he fretted/strummed all six strings. I do know that Johnny strummed a minimum of four strings on the E shapes and five strings on the A shapes most of the time, which is why I recommend doing that. But it's entirely possible that he actually strummed all six… I have no way of knowing for sure. I personally think he only strummed four to five strings most of the time, because that's all I can usually hear in the recordings.
Many thanks for the feedback!
just saw a video where he plays with three fingers up the neck like playing an A chord
I dont see what difference it makes to do a bare chord instead of powerchord. Did he strum all 6 strings??
Barre chords have more notes, and more harmonic complexity. They sound brighter, and second inversions on A shape chords also sound thicker (sometimes too thick with certain gear). Barre chords introduce a note interval called a "third" to the chord, which can be heard clearly in Ramones recordings. Johnny strummed varying amounts of strings. Probably as few as 3 for palm mutes on some songs, but generally 4 to 5 strings on most sections of most Ramones songs. In some recordings, you can even hear 6, and he may have done that often. Leave Home and Rocket To Russia are particularly good albums for hearing all those strings, or at least the thirds. On the first album you can hear the G string extra clearly, due to the characteristics of that particular early guitar tone.
Hi HardlyRamone: While it is clear from watching videos that Johnny did second inversion A-shape chords, do you think he did a lot of regular A-shape chords for studio albums, or did he in fact do the second inversion for them but you can't hear it because the bass is toned down?
I can see a benefit of second inversion A-shape chords, beyond the convenience factor. With the index finger always on the low-E string, it's much easier to have continuity of sound when sliding from E-shape to A-shape and back. For instance, on Glad to See You Go, in the middle of the song, when Johnny rapidly goes back and forth from E-shape to A-shape, it's difficult to have a nice, clean sound of each chord and smooth change of chord if you don't do the second inversion. But with the second inversion, because the index finger is always on the low-E string, you have a continuous smooth wall of sound when you switch from E-shape to A-shape and back. Would you agree with this benefit?
Finally, do you think it's OK to do the second inversion A-shape on every Ramones song, are or there some where it just doesn't sound right? Many thanks for any help you can offer. Cheers!
I'm pretty sure Johnny always played those second inversion chords. It subtly increases that "wall of sound" effect. I've never seen him mute out the low E string while playing A shape chords. But Johnny's amp settings never really leaned towards getting a super-bassy tone anyway, even in live recordings, so the effect of that second inversion is very minimal.
Also, I don't think he would randomly switch to paying regular A shapes sometimes in the studio, and I highly doubt an engineer would say "Hey Johnny, that E string is making your chords sound too thick, could you mute it out?". However, they definitely rolled a lot of the bass frequencies off of Johnny's guitar tone to keep it from competing with Dee Dee's bass -- a common technique used in music production that results in a less muddy sounding recording.
If playing all the songs with second inversion A shapes sounds too thick to you, I'm willing to bet it has more to do with your amp/guitar tone than anything else. I play every Ramones song with second inversion A shapes and it sounds much more accurate to me than regular A shapes do.
At some point I'd like to create a full tutorial/guide to Johnny's playing that breaks down his technique a lot more. This video is just a placeholder until I can do that.
Hardly Ramone Many thanks for the feedback, Hardly Ramone! My amp (a Line 6 Spider IV 75 watt) does tend to lay the second inversion A-shapes on a little thick so I will try to adjust the settings.
That would be fantastic if you could create a full tutorial. There have been a few how-to guides on UA-cam, but nothing very comprehensive or detailed. I would eagerly await your project. Cheers!
Bearista Bear Line 6 Spider amps will do that, yeah. I have used two different models, and they're a lot better at getting a modern grungy metal tone than they are at getting a more classic Marshall-like tone.
When guitarists practice alone we usually turn up the bass frequencies to get a warm guitar tone that sounds perfect, but generally when a band actually plays, they have to turn that bass knob down a lot more so that you can hear the actual bassist better.
Hardly Ramone Could you recommend an amp that would give a nice Ramones-like tone without breaking the bank? One of the smaller Marshall amps, perhaps? Would it have to be a tube amp, or would a transistor amp be ok too? Best regards.
Bearista Bear I don't have enough experience with owning different amps to really recommend something in good confidence. But I do know that a lot of famous guitarists (including Johnny) used the Marshall Super Lead 1959 Model at some point, so I'd be shocked if there aren't amps and pedals out there now that have been designed to mimic that famous vintage Marshall tone. And there are probably a lot of guitarists who have already looked around for a "Marshall tone from a budget-amp" solution, so if you look around, who knows what information you'll find. You could always try to buy the real deal, but obviously that wouldn't be cheap, and you'd have to crank it up to absurd volumes to actually get Johnny's tone...
I hope that helps to some extent.
great✴️❇️🎼❇️✴️！！
❇️R．I．P❇️ Johnny Ramone🌟
I don’t understand how im supposed to play the a shape and the high e at the same time? My ring finger always mutes it
It's hard, but you basically have to be able to bend your finger back at the third knuckle just enough to avoid muting the high E. Some people just may not be able to do it. I've heard Johnny get that string to ring out clearly with A shapes while using a clean guitar tone though, so I know for sure he was able to do it for. Luckily though, it's not super important to hear that string in those A shape chords, as Johnny didn't strum hard enough to really dig into the high E string and make it ring out loudly through the distortion.
Essentially, his downstrokes were just broad enough to kind of lightly touch the high E string to keep it vibrating and adding some brightness, but not so much as to make the note itself dominate the sound of the chord. I would say the high E is more important to hear in the E shape barre chords, for reasons I'll explain in some upcoming tutorial videos. But with A shapes, If you are at least getting the sound of the B string, you'll get 95% of Johnny's sound.
@@HardlyRamone man thats cool but also kinda sucks at the same time i hope i have the ability to pull it off. The man was a real good guitar player and to pulled off his sound consistently for 20 years is nothing short of amazing
@@efuneral1532 I agree. Good luck!
What are necessary settings of the panel of an equalizer to copy RAMONES sound?
+Олег Колшинский That depends entirely on the guitar and amp in use. In general I would say it is important to have a good balance of bass, mids and treble... Johnny had a very full sounding tone, especially in the 70's. If you are using a rig I'm familiar with, I might be able to give you some better tips.
Ramones songs sound simple until you try to play one. That's when you find out how complicated they can be, and how hard it is to get them to sound right. They're murder on drummers too. No wonder they played such short sets.
Well I've read all the notes & comments & replies and I'm still confused about the fingering on those D and E chords. The A chord looks and sounds like an F-shape barre at 5th fret. The D and E chords sound like straight A-shape barres but the fingering looks nothing like. eg: The D looks like you're fingering
5 (barre)
5 (barre)
7
8
6
5 (barre)
which sounds like some weird jazz thing when I play it. That's what Johnny's fingering looks like too. Is it just trailing fingers?
You are correct, the A chord is a regular E shape barre, also known as the F barre chord when used at the first fret. On this chord I rarely strum anything past the G string. I only use the full six string barre chord on certain songs where I can hear the B and high E string being played. In this particular clip of me playing this particular song, I'm only strumming four strings, so you could technically play the chord like this:
5 (barre) E string
7 (ring finger) A string
7 (pinky) D string
6 (middle finger) G string
Still a major chord (as opposed to a power chord), but the full barre is not in use.
Also, the A shape used for the D and E chords is only formed using two fingers.
5 (barre) E string
5 (barre) A string
7 (ring finger) D string
7 (ring finger) G string
7 (ring finger) B string
5 (barre) High E string
Also, I rarely hit that high E string in this chord, since I have a hard time hearing anything past the B string in Johnny's playing. So if you want, you can just fret it like this and strum five strings:
5 (barre) E string
5 (barre) A string
7 (ring finger) D string
7 (ring finger) G string
7 (ring finger) B string
This one is also still a major chord even when the full barre is not in use. I generally keep all six strings fretted when I play and I adjust how many strings I strum to fit the way the song sounds to me. Usually Johnny seems to hit four to five, but there are songs where I can hear him hitting less than that, and songs where I can hear him hitting all six. You'll just have to learn the chords and use your ears to figure out the songs.
Hi. What pedals are you using ? Thanks..
No pedals! This was a dirt cheap guitar (BGuitars Viper) and a Line 6 Spider amp. It's hard to have worse gear than that, it just sounds pretty good because of the barre chords and not too much distortion on them
Don't forget skipping every second beat, so it's 1-pause-3-4-5-6-7-8. Also, palm muting where appropriate.
This is an amazing video. Thanks!
No problem, man. I'm just trying to clear up some confusion about a very influential but sometimes misunderstood guitarist.
Your video helped me a lot. Thanks!
Usaba calibre de cuerdas0 10 o 0 9?
Hi Hardly Ramone: I've a question about chord changes when playing the Ramones. What do you recommend as the correct time to start each chord change?
For instance, when alternate picking on an acoustic guitar (hence, you're effectively strumming 8th notes), the standard way to change chords seems to be that you take your fingers away from the fretboard for the eighth 8th note of the measure, so that you're up-strumming all six open strings on the eighth 8th note, and then your fingers come down to make the chord for the next measure's first downstroke. So therefore, when playing the Ramones with all downstrokes on an electric guitar, should one lift the fingers so that the eighth downstroke of the measure is playing all open strings?
Another possibility I understand is that you play the seventh 8th note normally on an electric guitar , but you start to take your fingers off the keyboard exactly when the eighth downstroke of the measure commences. Hence, you have less time to move to the next chord to play the first downstroke of the next measure than the first method described in the previous paragraph, but the advantage is that the eighth 8th note may sound nicer than the first method?
I have one more question: Should one slide from one chord to the next or hop from one chord to the next? On the one hand, chord slides result in a continuous wall of sound with no breaks, but you have the potential for finger-sliding noise. Also, Johnny often didn't slide, he hopped a lot from chord to chord (e.g. your UA-cam video clearly shows Johnny hopping from chord to chord on Blitzkrieg Bop). By hopping, you get a clearer chord change but there s the potential for a break in the wall of sound (in Blitzkrieg Bop, you actually hear the deliberate break between the familiar second and third chords).
Any help would be greatly appreciated, as I'm starting to learn some finer aspects of his playing and cannot find any good instruction on UA-cam. Many thanks!
These are indeed the finer aspects of his playing, and many would likely scoff at such a close examination of them, but I do have answers.
Johnny seems to begin almost all chord changes right as the final downstroke before said change commences. The next chord would be fully fretted in the millisecond before the next downstroke began. A chord change at fast tempos should be achieved during a single eighth note, and you aren't playing much of an actual chord while doing so. For a split second, you may actually be hitting some open strings during a change, but ideally you want to minimize that. Quick, smooth chord changes generally only leave strings unfretted for an incredibly brief moment in time.
Here are the details on how he would switch from chord to chord. This information comes from studying slowed down footage from the 70's, which may be a bit of a ridiculous thing to do, but nonetheless it makes things very clear. Keep in mind that this information does not apply to every single chord change he ever made, this is just the way he seems to change chords most often (from what I've seen). The information in the paragraph above this one applies to everything written below.
___________________________________________________
When switching from a major E shape to a major A shape barred at the same fret:
*First finger (barre) should stay firmly in place.
*Second finger should lift off the G string.
*Third finger should smoothly roll off the A string down onto the D, G and B strings WITHOUT coming off the fretboard.
*Fourth finger should lift off the D string.
When switching from a major A shape to a major E shape barred at the same fret:
*First finger (barre) should stay firmly in place.
*Third finger should lift off the fretboard completely, and the second, third and fourth fingers should then then slam back down on the A, D and G strings together in the millisecond before the next downstroke begins.
When switching from a major E shape to a minor A shape barred at the same fret:
*First finger (barre) should stay firmly in place.
*Second, third and fourth fingers should all lift off the fretboard completely and then slam back down on the D, G and B strings together in the millisecond before the next downstroke begins.
When moving up or down the neck with a major E shape:
*First finger (barre) should lift off the strings as you move your hand along the neck, and clamp back down at the new fret in the millisecond before the next downstroke begins (This is what creates that "hopping" effect. Sometimes he would lift his barring finger up more than other times, and sometimes he would actually just let it glide along the strings).
*Unlike your first finger, your other three fingers don't have to release the strings completely, they should just glide gently along the strings WITHOUT applying any pressure to the fretboard as you slide up or down the neck -- this helps guide your hand. Only after reaching the location of the new chord should you apply pressure again.
When moving up or down the neck with a major A shape:
*First finger (barre) should lift off the strings as you move your hand along the neck, and clamp back down at the new fret in the millisecond before the next downstroke begins (This is what creates that "hopping" effect. Sometimes he would lift his barring finger up more than other times, and sometimes he would actually just let it glide along the strings).
*Your third finger can either glide gently along the strings or lift off of them for a brief instant. As far as I can tell, Johnny usually wouldn't lift off completely, but it looks like he did sometimes, usually when he was actually moving up to another A shape chord higher on the neck. This requires a lot of precision.
When changing from one chord shape to another located at a different spot on the neck (Like going from a major A shape to a major E shape barred at a different fret, or from a barre chord to an open chord, etc):
*This one varies a lot, and it doesn't matter that much. Just make sure that you are releasing the strings as you strum the last eighth note before the change, and fretting the new chord shape by the time you get to the next downstroke.
___________________________________________________
When doing any chord change with a "hop" of some sort in it (where you actually release the strings in some way), you may lose what seems like a lot of that "wall of sound" effect until you get really good at it. As for "sliding" up or down to a chord, there are two ways of doing that. The first is to release pressure on the fretboard and slide the chord shape up or down the neck without actually taking your fingers off the strings. This is a common chord change.
The second is to actually maintain some pressure on the strings, and quickly slide up to the next chord, which makes for a very organic sounding change. Johnny uses this technique on certain chord changes in songs like "Commando", Pinhead" and "Go Mental". Both of these sliding techniques usually create some string noise, but not so much that it becomes intrusive or terribly noticeable. If it creates an unusually loud amount of intrusive noise for you, the problem can be related to any number of things.
Technique, guitar tone, and the type of strings in use can all contribute to string noise. If you are having a hard time figuring out what the cause is, I can only suggest seeking the help of a guitar technician or experienced player who can test your instrument, or at least someone else on the internet who knows more about guitars than I do. I don't trust myself to accurately diagnose a string noise problem over the internet, even if I had an audio clip or all the information on your equipment.
Anyway, I hope you find all of that information useful. Most people are content with just nailing downstrokes and barre chords, but if you REALLY want to copy Johnny, knowing the exact details of his chord changes will certainly help.
Hardly Ramone Thank you so much for such a wonderfully detailed and informative response! I have been playing guitar now for about six months (yes, I'm new at this) and the Ramones are the only reason I took up guitar and the only music I like to play guitar on. It took a lot of effort to learn barre chords and downpicking (I've had tendinitis before and so my fingers are relatively weak) and you've now given me info on the finer points of his playing that can help take me to the next level of playing like Johnny. Thanks again, and I look forward to seeing your next Ramones video. All the very best!
Bearista Bear Glad I could help. I do recommend trying out other techniques at some point, beyond just what Johnny did. I mainly like to play Ramones songs too, but exploring the versatility of the guitar can be very fun and rewarding. Things like seventh chords and scales are brilliant fun to mess around with, even if you aren't playing along with any songs that use them. Eventually you might even develop your own signature style. But if you just want to play like Johnny for now, go right ahead. I hope to put out more Ramones videos soon.
Hardly Ramone I do like a few other bands like Scorpions, Judas Priest and AC/DC, but there's so much to learn with The Ramones, it'll take time to master all of Johnny's main techniques and develop all the necessary muscle strength and muscle memory to play really well before I'm ready to try out new stuff. On that note, I do have another question about Johnny's technique:
On a few songs like I Wanna Be Sedated, Ramona, and Swallow My Pride, Johnny does what sounds like an alternating palm-muting sequence (chord/chord-mute/chord/chord-mute/etc. What is your recommended technique for performing this?
I've tried out several methods that I've seen on UA-cam, and most don't sound right:
1) Simple palm muting for all eight 8th notes - doesn't sound right because there's no alternation of the chord sound.
2) You alternate the pressure on the chord with your left hand, so that the first strum plays the full chord, the second strum sounds muted because the left fingers has eased off the pressure and just rest on the strings. The problem is that the resulting alternation seems to sound twangy or boingy, not clean and precise.
3) The left hand plays normally, the first 8th note strum is normal, the second strum uses palm muting (actually, it's the side of the right hand, not the palm), and you keep alternating this. Seems to sound quite right to me, but it takes lots of effort to get it perfect. With this method, one can slowly transition to normal playing on Ramona by gradually moving the right hand back to behind the bridge so that there's no more palm muting.
4) Same as 3) except you you don't strum every second 8th note, you just mute it without strumming. For some reason, it sounds rather similar to 3) despite not strumming every second 8th note.
5) One guy on UA-cam does it by alternating between first strumming a chord on the upper-pitch strings, and then strumming muted lower-pitch strings. Seems like a lot of trouble, and it doesn't lend itself to slowly transitioning to full chord playing on all eight 8th notes like Ramona.
Any tips on how to perform Johnny's alternating muting would be most appreciated! Cheers!
Bearista Bear While Johnny himself confirmed he used barre chords and downstrokes, he never mentioned the finer aspects of his palm muting. All we can do is watch live videos and guess about what he's doing. The problem is, someone can be doing a ton of subtle things while palm muting, but when you watch them do it, it always looks the same as any other palm muting.
I personally always use method "3)" when playing I Wanna Be Sedated. I don't really alternate between upper and lower strings, I just I fret a major A shape at the 7th fret and strum the A, D, G and B strings, avoiding the low E string. Normally I would hit the low E in an A shape, but for the palm mutes in that song specifically, it doesn't seem right. Some people theorize that I Wanna Be Sedated could have multiple rhythm guitar tracks playing different parts to achieve the sound you hear on the album, and that would not surprise me.
To demonstrate the way I do it, I threw together a quick video. The audio was actually recorded by the camera in this one, as oppose to my other videos, where I run the guitar amplifier output into my computer. You'll find the video on my channel now.
man playing it so low makes it really hard to do barre chords!! ill just keep practicing
Something that I find crazy is that most songs are in major (while 90s punk is 95% minor), and minor chords avoided as much as possible, and when they happen, they are mostly played as major chords, and it's not just because of this sloppy style, it seems to be legitimately major chords substituting minor chords, because playing minor chords instead sounds wrong. Joey's vocal melodies stick mostly to the 1 4 5 of the current chord so sometimes both would work, I don't want to go to the basement is a great example. These observations are based on the first album only, and I don't know all that much about music theory, but found out about this by accident when trying to transpose Ramones songs to minor (a fun exercice!). "I just want to have something to do" is clearly in minor, but sounds bad when the third is played, the Ramones really hated minor chords :D.
Yes, they are avoided quite a lot. Songs like Beat On The Brat, You're Gonna Kill That Girl, and indeed I Just Wanna Have Something To Do... they should all have a minor chord, but it's major instead. This makes it all the more interesting that minor chords were used on occasion. I suspect that in the early days, Tommy Ramone contributed some of his music knowledge and pushed to use the minor chords in some places. The songs he wrote on the first album, Blitzkrieg Bop and I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend, both contain an A shape minor chord in the appropriate place. Listen To My Heart also contains a minor chord despite despite not being one of his tunes. Most interesting to me is the minor chord in Sheena Is A Punk Rocker, the only /E shape/ minor I've been able to confirm. In the music video, there's a shot of Johnny playing it, and you can clearly see him not fret the G string for once. But no, there was a clear aversion to them. Sometimes I think the use of a major 3rd as a harmonic component independent of the key is a contributor to the "chainsaw" guitar tone.
Power chords are made up of the root and the fifth of the scale, i.e. an A5 chord is made up of the root which is an A and the fifth which is an E. A barred A major chord would be made up of the root = A, the third = C# and the fifth = E. They sound different and with distortion, power chords usually sound better. This is pretty basic stuff though. (Try playing an A5 using only the sixth string 5th fret (root of the scale) and the fifth string 7th fret (fifth of the scale) using distortion, I think it sounds quite nice and allows for fast and easy moving around the fret board. You can add the 4th string 7th fret which is the root an octave higher. The same shape sounds especially nice on the fifth and fourth strings.)
I know exactly what a power chord is. In this video I use major chords because that's what Johnny used. It's more difficult than playing power chords, but the third interval adds to the sound.
Oh absolutely, I agree, and you can see this on a lot of the videos of Johnny. I meant the comment to be, in general for those who might not know the difference between the two types of chords, as some of the posted comments seem to indicate. Cheers!
massif20022000 Ah, I see. In that case, thanks for posting the extra info. I just assumed your comment was directed at me.
No worries.
So Johnny always hit the 6th string when playing 5th string barre chords?
eloy316 After watching a lot of live footage very carefully, I have not yet found an example of him strumming from the 5th string down on 5th string/A shape barre chords, so the answer to your question is probably yes. I also have a video up with some slow motion clips of his strumming.
What about the sound? Does it change considerably or not? (Hitting the 6th string on an A shape barre chord VS. just strumming from the 5th string)
eloy316 How much it affects the sound really depends on your guitar tone, but in general it makes 5th string barre chords sound a little bit thicker. It definitely aids the "wall of sound" characteristic that Johnny's playing has.
+eloy316
Playing this way puts the fifth of the chord at the bottom instead of the root, and I think you can definitely hear this in Johnny's playing. Try playing 'Blitzkrieg Bop' both ways and I think you'll agree it sounds more like the record with all six strings on all the chords.
Dave Brock of Hawkwind is another player who also does this a lot.
what your guitar man? very good sound.
Thanks man! BGuitars Viper GE93-NT (75$ USD), super cheap. I put some nice strings on it and set the intonation. The amp is a small entry level Line 6 amp. The Johnny Ramone technique is really what makes this sound great, not the guitar.
Johnny had his guitar hanging from way below his waist it hurt my wrist alot when i tried that
I bashed me nuts when I tried.
What's the difference between barring the fret and just using a power chord? They sound the same to me.
In a barre chord, you fret multiple strings with one finger (usually all six with the index finger). With power chords, you usually only need to fret two or three strings using individual fingers. Barre chords have a fuller sound and the potential to be major, minor, diminished, etc. Johnny Ramone primarily used major barre chords to get a brighter sound out of his guitar.
Different guitar tones can make it tricky to identify barre chords (especially if you don't know what to listen for), but alternating between playing power chords and barre chords on the same guitar will yield a very audible difference.
It is also worth noting that it can be quite difficult to get a distorted electric guitar to sound good with six string barre chords. Some people assume it can't be done, but it is very possible. In general, less overdrive/distortion is needed to get a mean sounding tone with barre chords, since the chords themselves already have a lot of harmonic noise.
+Hardly Ramone Thanks. I understand now.
Barre chords work in any key, and playing in different keys shouldn't make them sound better or worse. Poor sound quality usually comes from tuning, intonation and technique. You say your guitar is tuned, but I recommend checking the intonation as well if you haven't already. It also takes a bit of finesse to fret and strum barre chords well, especially if you're doing it like Johnny... I couldn't get it to sound good at first either, but over time I developed a feel for it, and the sound improved massively. Also, I would make sure you are fretting the chords correctly by checking the "CHORD DIAGRAMS" image in this video description if you haven't already.
Your guitar tone coming through the amplifier can also suffer from pickups that lack clarity, excessive gain/distortion/overdrive and using certain amplifiers (especially cheap ones). Good quality single coil pickups work best for Ramones in my experience, and you don't need as much distortion to sound good with barre chords as you do with power chords. I have also found that certain amps and guitars just struggle to get a good sound with barre chords and distortion, and I'm still not 100% why. I believe it has to do with a guitar's unique characteristics and the way an amp overdrives/distorts the signal.
I recommend you practice technique, make sure your guitar's intonation is set and be weary of excessive amp gain/distortion/overdrive. If this does not yield any improvements, I would look into the other things I mentioned. Let me know if you have further questions, but I hope that helps!
It is a pretty cheaply made guitar and anp, so that might be it. Got both of them for only 50 bucks. I'm currently saving up for an upgrade. So that might be the problem. Thanks again
Sorry, on last question. I read your description, where it says it varies song by song for how many strings you play. For the first riff, should you play the G string? If I don't play it, it sounds perfect, but if I do, it gives it kind of an eery sound.
What tuning did Johnny use?
E standard
There's way too much distortion and he always missed the second strum stroke out!
Unfortunately this cheap amp does not have a knob to precisely control the distortion. It has two distortion presets, one of which is extremely low and the other is a tad bit high. The latter was used in this video, as it sounds better than the other preset.
As for the strumming pattern, see my response to Lars Petrus elsewhere in the comments.
🥀Thank you so much 🥀🎻🥀Wonderful
Johnny Ramone nifty downstroke🎼🎻🎼!
U know his string gauge?
Probably a set of 9s since it was a skinny necked Mosrite. That is his known gauge from the later years, but there is less certainty about it regarding the early days.
is he only using downstrocks ? even in 80's, 90's when they played really fast ?
It's possible there were some exceptions, but I believe it was almost always downstrokes, even later on. However, post-1980 he started dropping out eighth notes on the faster songs (basically strumming less often), and replaced the almost nonstop downstrokes of the early years with new strumming patterns that resembled a horse gallop (or something vaguely similar to that). He still did some insanely fast downstrokes in the 80's and 90's, he just put more gaps in between those bursts of speed to create a tension release and prevent his wrist from locking up. In a lot of 80's and 90's Ramones videos, it does sorta look like alternate picking on the fast songs, but I've figured out how to do what he does in those clips -- it is indeed downstrokes. I'll probably cover this topic in an *extensive* tutorial I have been planning for quite a while now.
I'm sort of wondering if Johnny started using upstrokes alongside his usual downstrokes towards the end of the Ramones' career, with their final performance of Blitzkrieg Bop in 1996 being a good example; it's really making me wonder how he could have downstroked that fast, since even dropping the eight notes and strumming less seems to be very difficult at 200+ BPM.
I'm not sure if you still have plans to make the video, but I definitely hope you at least still are interested in making further Ramones tutorials on your channel, since very few other videos on UA-cam do Johnny's technique justice.
Thank you for the support! I do plan to do more still. As for the upstrokes, Johnny was pretty adamant in his autobiogaphy that it was always all downstrokes no matter what. Personally, I think as the years went on he got sloppy about always strumming true eighths in sync with the music. He always kept the chord changes well timed though, which boasts an impressive separation between his strumming hand and fretting hand. I can do something that, to me, sounds right and looks like his later year performances, and it is indeed still downstrokes, and they are very fast.
@@Blaze850 Just a heads up, I've gotten around to uploading covers lately, with more on the way.
@@HardlyRamone Great work on the covers! You absolutely nail the sound. I especially enjoy the guitar-only versions (your downstrokes honestly sound even cleaner than Johnny's on the original recordings!)
I recently was able to get a tone with a stratocaster that sounds pretty close to Johnny's on the debut album, and I'm curious if you'd be able to offer some advice on how to improve it.
i am a begginer whats the diffrence?
Between what and what?
I think I didn't get it. If it's barre chords, are you playing A - Dm - Em?
+Cesar Crash For the verses of Blitzkrieg Bop, its A (E shape major at the 5th fret), D (A shape major at the 5th fret), and E (A shape major at the 7th fret). And the two A shape major barre chords (D and E) are played with the low E string fretted, which is unusual.
+Hardly Ramone I think I get it now. The problem to me was the shape of your fingers. I think you are pressing D, G and B with your ring finger, right?
Thank you, dude.
+Cesar Crash Yep, on all A shape major barre chords I fret those three strings with my ring finger. Hope that helps!
+Hardly Ramone Thank you!
+Hardly Ramone Sorry this is off subject to this particular reply section, but I really am curious to ask your opinion since you appear knowledgeable. I don't play guitar but did you ever notice that it sounds like Ramones have an organ or piano overdubbed when they play? You can't hear it all the time, but I find it quite noticeable. I did some research and I was so stoked when I found this quote...... "recalled the band's late singer, Joey Ramone, in 1999. "I'd listen to John's guitar and hear all these harmonics, these instruments like organ and piano that weren't really there. And he didn't use any effects."
How in the world does he get that sound??? I can cite examples in a few songs from their 1977 live show at The Rainbow in London.
what's your amp settings?
I don't remember what they were, but likely something with a good balance of bass, mids and treble. I don't like to hear any of the three turned down too much.
11
E shape barre chords is without 5 and 6 string power chords
I'm not sure what you mean.
Hardly Ramone If you add first three strings to the G power chord you get E shape G barre chord.
Jantan Tabulataba Power chords are simplified barre chords. So technically yes, barre chords could also be viewed as power chords with more strings added.
For anyone reading this who might be interested in some music theory, "Power chord" is a term that refers to a chord that lacks a full triad of notes. Power chords only contain root notes and perfect 5ths, meaning they are neither major nor minor.
Alternatively, major barre chords contain root notes, perfect 5ths, and a major 3rd. The major 3rd note is what actually makes the chord "major", and it is always located on the G string of an E-shape barre chord, or the B string of an A-shape barre chord. Therefore, if Johnny Ramone strums more than three strings, he isn't playing a power chord, he is playing a major chord. If you learn to recognize major 3rds really well, you can hear them all over Ramones songs, indicating that Johnny strummed a minimum of 4 strings the majority of the time.
if you want to get the johnny ramone style of playing is to play along with the record to get the timing and technic down and look at the old concert videos and just check out his hand and what hes doing its a no brainer
damn, right hand SPOT on, even in pictures you can see Johnny's right hand was in a weird movement
Holy shit! Now i know it's a B minor in blitzkrieg bop!!
Yep, that seems to be the most overlooked detail in Blitzkrieg Bop... probably because the chord only makes two brief appearances in the entire song. I know Tommy Ramone wrote the music for this song, and I'll bet he put a B minor in it because it is technically the correct chord for the key of A, whereas B major is not. He was an experienced musician, after all.
I know Johnny didn't care for minor chords, and he apparently got annoyed when Joey wanted to use a lot of them in his songs, but you can hear the occasional minor chord in certain Ramones songs throughout their career. There are actually three songs on the first album that contain a single minor chord; Blitzkrieg Bop (B minor), I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (C# minor), and Listen To My Heart (C# minor).
I plan on recording a Blitzkrieg Bop guitar cover soon, and as far as I know, it could be the first one on UA-cam to contain that B minor.
Félix Deschambault I'm still unsure about that one.. it's definitely a point of controversy amongst the fans. F#m would be correct chord for the key of D, so it sounds fine when you use it to play the song, but to me it actually sounds more like a major chord on the actual studio recording.
When I'm trying to figure out if a chord is major or minor, I like to isolate a few seconds of the song where the chord in question is being played, and then loop that audio clip to repeat over and over again as though Johnny Ramone were just playing that same chord nonstop.
Here's the F chord in "Here Today Gone Tomorrow", looped to play over and over again: F Chord ..It sounds a lot like a major chord to me, but I could be wrong.
For contrast, here's the Bm chord in Blitzkrieg Bop, also looped to play over and over again: Bm Chord
The "m" in The F#m is minor or major?
I'm not totally good with note in english
Félix Deschambault
"A" or "Amaj" indicates a major chord.
"Am" or "Amin" indicates a minor chord.
"A7" indicates a dominant seventh chord.
"A5" indicates a fifth chord (power chord).
Those are probably the most important chord types.
Thanks!! Can you just explain me the seventh chord?
Nothing as difficult as 'simple'.
Dam, now that I heard that isolated track......he was even sloppier than I thought, a big mess but sounded cool with all together.
His strumming wasn't always perfectly in time with the music (especially when they got faster), but his chord changes were right on the beat, and that's what kept it sounding awesome. When you time the chord changes poorly, it sounds like crap. Johnny designed his style to work in the band rather than sound great on it's own, and what he did worked perfectly.
Tkns u Punk Rock
Muito bom o seu canal amigo parabéns se de da uma passada lá no meu um abraço do seu amigo kinho slap!
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Johnny ramone in the greatest guitarist That ever lived.
no upstrokes....get a marshall amp...turn it up real fuckin loud....hope your elbow does not give out
Johnny Ramone siempre copiado jamás igualado....
so a fucking bar chord basically?
Basically.
Rodrigo The amount of strings Johnny strummed varied from song to song, and sometimes even varied throughout the same song. He definitely played all 6 at certain times though, especially in the early days. This tends to sound terrible on certain guitar rigs, but if you've got the right tone (and you downstroke well), hitting all 6 strings will really give you that classic Ramones sound.
It's worth noting that he probably only strummed 3 to 4 strings when he played palm mutes. I plan to put out a tutorial with more details in the future. Hope that helps, and I'm always happy to answer more questions or clarify!
Definitely my favorite punk guitarist
It's all in the Wrist....shake your wrist like you just burned your finger.
a lot of new players lock their wrist and elbow and sort of chop at the strings, using their whole arm to the max.
this is not only the WRONG way to play...it looks goofy and amateurish.
The little guy in Greenday plays that goofy way ... because he has no shoulders to speak of and weak wrists.
ps... i saw the greenday guy trying to play Commando...on a Ramones tribute video...and he looked nervous because he couldn't keep pace.
Ya Gotta Move the Wrist!!
estas tocando en modo disco, no en vivo. aprende a tocar
bir türk benmiyim amk :D
No one I know in my life can play like this for longer then 2 minutes.my friend can play pink Floyd good but he can't play like Johnny the man was his own shit
Sorry.but no energy
malisimo tu video