07 KURT COBAIN

Three lessons that Kurt’s playing style and songwriting has taught us

FILL SPACE AND ADD TENSION BY USING CHROMATIC NOTES

The Bleach album has a raw, high-energy punk-rock feel as delivered in songs such as Mr Moustache via Kurt’s constantly aggressive pick attack, developed with chromatic passing notes and palm-muted single-note riffing. ‘Chromatic’ simply means that some of the riffs are semitone-based runs, taking in notes from other keys and thus sounding less centred around the root note. Chromatics are a great way to generate a feeling of unease and unpredictability in your riffs.

USE SOFTER DYNAMICS TO PUT FOCUS ON THE VOCAL

Nevermind is full of dynamic shifts, often using clean guitars and a thinner arrangement during verses. This puts the focus on the vocals and leaves plenty of room for overdriven, powerful choruses. Lithium establishes this in its opening four-chord progression that ascends for the first three chords and descends on the last one (a pattern also used on Polly). Drain You and Smells Like Teen Spirit are similar but the third chord descends, instead of the fourth.

EMPLOY DISSONANCE TO GRAB ATTENTION

The intro to Serve The Servants sets the tone of angst and unrest that permeates In Utero, thanks to the grating dissonance in the guitar and bass. This puts the listener on edge at these points and leaves a sinister undertone when returning to the more conventional verse and chorus sections. For an additional jarring effect, Cobain often ends phrases of≈the vocal melody with a note that clashes with the guitar chord he’s singing over.