Guitar World (August 1997)

Skank, Rattle & Roll - Part 2

In order for a song to work for me, there should be a strong instrumental hook to draw the listener in. Being a guitarist, I can't stress enough the importance of a great guitar riff. In No Doubt, my biggest challenge is to come up with catchy, instantly-recognizable parts that simultaneously convey the song's vibe.

For the most part, I have free reign to use any idea I come up with, as long as it fits the song. Usually, I'll try a lot of different things and keep the parts that everyone in the band likes - their approval is important to me. It's harder for me to come up with the right part if I'm not involved in writing the song. On Tragic Kingdom, I sometimes felt I wasn't being creative with keyboardist Eric Stefani's or bassist Tony Kanal's songs. For example, on the main verse riff to "Spiderwebs," I couldn't think of anything more creative than to double Tony's bassline. In retrospect, it seems like a good judgement call. Sometimes the obvious choice is the right one.

I'm very proud of my riff on "Just A Girl." That song is special to me because it was the one that perked up the record label's ears. It was a great feeling. For the first time in our career, after being told countless times that we didn't know how to write songs, the record label guys were going, "Hmmmm, maybe it's a single."

Many people have asked me if I used drop D tuning on the opening riff to "Just A Girl," but I didn't - I used standard tuning. What sounds like an open low D played on a detuned E string is actually a synthesizer blended in with the guitar riff. The synth part was played on an ancient Jupiter 8 by our producer, Matthew Wilder. It's the same patch that was used on an old Cars song, but I forget which one. I thought it was great to have the synth in the mix, because it made the riff sound so distinctive. I knew that people listening on the radio would instantly remember that sound. And since we were on this whole New Wave kick when we were recording the album, we thought the part was perfect!

The synth plays only the first two notes of the riff (the D and A); the rest of it is guitar. I played the first D note on the A string at the 5th fret, followed by the A on the D string at the seventh fret. In fact, the whole riff is played in the 5th position.

When I come up with rhythm parts, I often like to move one voice within a chord shape, either diatonically or chromatically. The rhythm part to "End It on This" is a good example of my chromatic approach. I start off by playing the F chord at the 8th fret. I then lower the F root note on the 3rd string a half step to E (the seventh) and then again to the Eb (the lowered seventh). The resulting harmony is a rich F-Fmaj7-F7. I use the same principle over the next chord in the progression, the open D5. I fret the A with my index finger and the D with my middle finger, leaving my ring finger available to play the C#, which hints at a Dm(maj7) sound, and C, which produces a Dm7 sound, on the A string.

When people ask me how I play the intro to "World Go Round," I always smile to myself, because that's the song on Tragic Kingdom that we're least proud of. It has a good melody, but the way it was recorded made it sound like a bunch of lame white guys trying to play reggae. Nevertheless, my part seems to fit well in the song.

The intro is a good example of moving one note diatonically within a chord shape. I play the fretted D and G notes in conjunction with the open G (my middle finger barres the top two strings at the 3rd fret). While holding the double-stop, I play an ascending line on the G string, fretting the A note with my index finger and the B with my ring finger. I make sure to let all the strings ring together. It's an easy riff, but it's fun to play.

This should give you something to work on for now. More riffs next month.