0:00:35.746,0:00:40.184
How could I have forgotten the cowbell? [br]Welcome to Blue Oyster Cult's

0:00:40.184,0:00:44.964
"Don't Fear The Reaper". Most excellent [br]and classic rock riff of all time to start

0:00:44.964,0:00:50.054
off my classic riff series. So, uh, let's [br]get close-up and check out how to play

0:00:50.079,0:00:56.156
that riff. Okay the first chord we've got [br]here is an "A" chord. It's only a partial

0:00:56.156,0:01:00.202
"A" chord. We don't need the whole thing. [br]We're using our second finger here on the

0:01:00.823,0:01:04.694
4th string, second fret and the third [br]finger directly underneath it on the

0:01:04.694,0:01:08.700
second fret of the third string. We're [br]gonna start off by playing the open 5th

0:01:08.700,0:01:15.310
string. Then the 4th string. Then the 3rd[br]string and then we lift our fingers off

0:01:17.201,0:01:21.891
and play the open "G" string. Just the [br]open "G" string on that last note.

0:01:23.022,0:01:27.083
But we lift all of our fingers up to help [br]us get to our new chord which is the "G"

0:01:27.083,0:01:30.944
chord. Again we don't have to play like a [br]whole "G" chord like some of you might

0:01:30.944,0:01:34.844
have learned like this or whatever. But [br]we're just using the 2nd finger there on

0:01:34.856,0:01:39.411
the second fret of the 5th string and the [br]3rd finger on the 3rd fret of a thicker

0:01:39.421,0:01:45.600
string, the 6th string. So we got, we got [br]we got that little gap there to change and

0:01:45.600,0:01:49.860
we're gonna play just the 6th string, five[br]four, three.

0:01:55.110,0:01:59.180
Then we do like a little "F" power chord [br]here. So first finger in the first fret

0:01:59.187,0:02:04.234
of a thicker string and the third finger[br]in the third fret of the 5th string. And

0:02:04.234,0:02:10.299
we again play 6th string, 5th string, 4th [br]string, 3rd string. Now the 4th string

0:02:10.299,0:02:15.466
sounds a little bit funny out of context [br]but it sounds cool in the riff. Um, after

0:02:15.466,0:02:20.286
that we just go back to the "G" and that's[br]the whole riff.

0:02:32.390,0:02:37.649
The main chords that we're playing in this[br]are really "A" minor, "G", "F", and "G".

0:02:37.649,0:02:41.579
They've been the chords that you'd play if[br]you wanted to kind of do a "strummy"

0:02:41.581,0:02:49.066
version. Twenty billion songs with that [br]sequence..there's one other little bit in

0:02:49.066,0:02:56.400
the song, so it's doing the riffs a lot. [br]Then it goes into "F", "G", "A" minor.

0:02:56.400,0:03:02.560
"F", "E" minor, "A" minor. (Song lyrics) [br]"Don't fear the reaper..."

0:03:05.126,0:03:11.736
So it's just that little bit that goes "F"[br]"G", "A" minor. Two, three, four.

0:03:12.131,0:03:17.891
"F", "E" minor, and then back into the[br]"A" minor, to "G", to "F".

0:03:18.976,0:03:24.188
He kind of strums it a couple of times and[br]then eventually it kind of morphs

0:03:24.188,0:03:40.392
into the riff. (Playing ends) The picking [br]for this tune is alternate picking.

0:03:40.392,0:03:44.260
I was not really sure to be honest, [br]I tried a whole heap of different pickings

0:03:44.260,0:03:47.942
and ended up having to look at YouTube [br]and checking out some live videos of

0:03:47.942,0:03:51.502
the Blue Oyster Cult playing the tune and[br]it's quite obvious when you watch

0:03:51.512,0:03:54.832
some films that he's using alternate[br]picking. So make sure that you're

0:03:54.832,0:03:58.858
going "Down, Up", "Down, Up", "Down, Up", [br]"Down, Up", "Down, Up", "Down, Up",

0:03:58.862,0:04:03.596
"Down, Up", "Down, Up". There's a few[br]other patterns that kind of seem a

0:04:03.596,0:04:07.254
little bit easier at first but if you do[br]it this way, it does sound just like

0:04:07.254,0:04:10.598
the record. And if you're gonna [br]accidentally hit any strings at least

0:04:10.598,0:04:12.549
they'll be accidentally the right strings

0:04:12.549,0:04:16.297
you know? So, um, like the same strings[br]that he might accidentally have hit on

0:04:16.297,0:04:20.277
the record. Um, when it comes to doing the[br]chord part, you can either kind of strum

0:04:21.376,0:04:24.549
so you have to be kind of moving the same[br]as it was for the riff.

0:04:25.179,0:04:29.099
Live, very often it's kind of chugging [br]eighths. So it changes to double time.

0:04:31.327,0:04:36.937
And he's playing power chords often. [br]"F", "E" minor, "A minor", "G" to "F".

0:04:39.226,0:04:45.808
And eventually it kind of moves back into[br]the riff there. So, um, that's pretty much

0:04:45.808,0:04:49.785
the whole tune, well the whole of the kind[br]of radio edit of the tune because the

0:04:49.785,0:04:53.647
actual tune really longer. Loads of great[br]interesting parts and really good solos

0:04:53.647,0:04:57.632
if you fancy transcribing them yourself. [br]But this is just the riff lesson and I

0:04:57.632,0:05:02.462
wasn't really supposed to do the chord bit[br]but anyways. Hope you've enjoyed playing

0:05:02.465,0:05:06.685
that and don't forget, more cowbell. [br]See you soon, buh-bye!