How to Play "Barracuda" by Heart

If you've bought Guitar Hero III, as many others have done, no doubt you're faced with the desire to play the songs that you've heard there. Learning guitar riffs to your favorite songs can lead to increased popularity in your peer group, And the cooler the riff, the cooler you sound. "Barracuda" by Heart is one of the classic guitar riffs. Practice it well.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. Set guitar in standard tuning if you haven't already. This means that starting from the bottom (lowest-sounding) string, their notes should be, respectively, E, A, D, G, B, E.

2. Make an Open E power chord. Let the low E remain open, fret the A string on the second fret and fret the D string, also on the second fret. You can either cover both with the tip of your index finger or use your index and middle fingers, one on each string. As you strum according to the down-up-down rhythm, use the heel of the palm of your strumming hand and rest it lightly against the strings; this is called palm muting, which gives it that muted sound typical of this part of the riff.

3. Use your index finger to press down on the strings on the full second fret, then fret the A string on the fourth fret with your ring finger and the D string with you pinky on the same fret. Strum this for one down beat.

4. Move up one fret and repeat the one down beat.

5. Do a harmonic on twelfth fret (the bar just after the "double dots" if you have those markers on your guitar) then on fifth fret (the bar just after the first single dot). To do a simple harmonic, just lay your index finger lightly across the strings at that spot and strum the top four strings (the four highest notes). This technique takes practice.

6. Listen to the song on Guitar Hero or on CD and get familiar with the rhythm of the chords and the rests. Then you can be a guitar hero playing "Barracuda" by Heart to your friends.