STEREOPHONICS DAKOTA

Dive into Rockschool’s easy Grade One arrangement of this alt-rock chart-topper from Wales’s finest

Penned by frontman Kelly Jones whilst on tour in 2004, Dakota emerged from Jones’ search for a new sound, ultimately achieving international success for Stereophonics including their first UK number one single. This feel-good song contains the hallmarks of modern alt-rock guitar playing: a driving rhythm, catchy melodic hooks and a chordal riff; all of which take centre stage in this Rockschool arrangement. The repeated eighth notes in the introduction need to be rhythmically even in order to complement the characteristic synthesiser sound on the backing track. Following this, there are chiming lead guitar tones for the first half of the verse which create space in the track (note the rich sound of the D# in bar 10). For these and the vocal melody section that follows, fingering positions need to be very precise, and care will be needed when moving between open strings and fretted notes to produce a clear sound.