Overview of Playing the Nirvana Song Smells Like Teen Spirit

Series Summary

Are you filled with a raging angst, boiling over at every encroachment the man makes upon your God-given freedom? Are you governed by a radical individualism and a lust for life? Do you see anarchy as a viable option when it comes to guaranteeing your inalienable rights? Do you like cranking up the stereo until the sheer force of rock emerging from the speaker cones dislodges your apathy and drives you to a wild abandon of head banging and fist waving? Do you play electric guitar? If your answer to all of these questions was ‘yes,’ you might just be the candidate we’ve been looking for.

We’d like to make you an offer. With these videos, we’re passing along to you the knowledge you need to express your mistrust, your fear, and your anger to the fullest extent. Our expert instructor will teach you how to play Nirvana’s “Smells Like Teen Spirit” on electric guitar. This punk rock anthem for the dispossessed crystallizes a moment in American history that represents a turning point for the decade to come. While it may seem that this song belongs to the past, it is still the war cry of anyone who finds themselves wrestling with a sense of disillusionment about life, love, people, politics, ego, identity, or happiness. It is the lament of anyone who finds themselves set adrift in an ocean of ever-shifting opinions, the turbulent waters of their times.

Video Transcript

"Hi this is Joe Wiles with the Rock and Roll Conservatory on behalf of Expert Village. Today we're going to talk about Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit". We're going to go into gear that Kurt Cobain used. We're going to go into a little music theory behind the song, and we're also going to explore the song in depth and how to play it. In the next segment, we're going to talk about the distortion pedal in general. I'll see you there."