Riff #1: Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult (Songs Guitar Lesson RF-001) How to play

How could I have forgotten the cowbell?
Welcome to Blue Oyster Cult's

"Don't Fear The Reaper". Most excellent
and classic rock riff of all time to start

off my classic riff series. So, uh, let's
get close-up and check out how to play

that riff. Okay the first chord we've got
here is an "A" chord. It's only a partial

"A" chord. We don't need the whole thing.
We're using our second finger here on the

4th string, second fret and the third
finger directly underneath it on the

second fret of the third string. We're
gonna start off by playing the open 5th

string. Then the 4th string. Then the 3rd
string and then we lift our fingers off

and play the open "G" string. Just the
open "G" string on that last note.

But we lift all of our fingers up to help
us get to our new chord which is the "G"

chord. Again we don't have to play like a
whole "G" chord like some of you might

have learned like this or whatever. But
we're just using the 2nd finger there on

the second fret of the 5th string and the
3rd finger on the 3rd fret of a thicker

string, the 6th string. So we got, we got
we got that little gap there to change and

we're gonna play just the 6th string, five
four, three.

Then we do like a little "F" power chord
here. So first finger in the first fret

of a thicker string and the third finger
in the third fret of the 5th string. And

we again play 6th string, 5th string, 4th
string, 3rd string. Now the 4th string

sounds a little bit funny out of context
but it sounds cool in the riff. Um, after

that we just go back to the "G" and that's
the whole riff.

The main chords that we're playing in this
are really "A" minor, "G", "F", and "G".

They've been the chords that you'd play if
you wanted to kind of do a "strummy"

version. Twenty billion songs with that
sequence..there's one other little bit in

the song, so it's doing the riffs a lot.
Then it goes into "F", "G", "A" minor.

"F", "E" minor, "A" minor. (Song lyrics)
"Don't fear the reaper..."

So it's just that little bit that goes "F"
"G", "A" minor. Two, three, four.

"F", "E" minor, and then back into the
"A" minor, to "G", to "F".

He kind of strums it a couple of times and
then eventually it kind of morphs

into the riff. (Playing ends) The picking
for this tune is alternate picking.

I was not really sure to be honest,
I tried a whole heap of different pickings

and ended up having to look at YouTube
and checking out some live videos of

the Blue Oyster Cult playing the tune and
it's quite obvious when you watch

some films that he's using alternate
picking. So make sure that you're

going "Down, Up", "Down, Up", "Down, Up",
"Down, Up", "Down, Up", "Down, Up",

"Down, Up", "Down, Up". There's a few
other patterns that kind of seem a

little bit easier at first but if you do
it this way, it does sound just like

the record. And if you're gonna
accidentally hit any strings at least

they'll be accidentally the right strings

you know? So, um, like the same strings
that he might accidentally have hit on

the record. Um, when it comes to doing the
chord part, you can either kind of strum

so you have to be kind of moving the same
as it was for the riff.

Live, very often it's kind of chugging
eighths. So it changes to double time.

And he's playing power chords often.
"F", "E" minor, "A minor", "G" to "F".

And eventually it kind of moves back into
the riff there. So, um, that's pretty much

the whole tune, well the whole of the kind
of radio edit of the tune because the

actual tune really longer. Loads of great
interesting parts and really good solos

if you fancy transcribing them yourself.
But this is just the riff lesson and I

wasn't really supposed to do the chord bit
but anyways. Hope you've enjoyed playing

that and don't forget, more cowbell.
See you soon, buh-bye!