Don't Stop Believin'

One of the most iconic rock anthems of all time, 'Don’t Stop Believin’ is packed with catchy chord progressions, driving rhythm guitar, and melodic hooks. We're going to break down the key chord shapes, the driving rhythm parts, and the ever-amazing solo that give this song its uplifting energy!

As always for our lesson write-ups, there will not be any tab available. Instead, please use Dion's incredible video lesson as your main resource, and this blog post as further support to learn this timeless tune at your own pace! And with that said, grab your guitars, and let's get started!

Intro

Unlike the relatively gentle piano intro, us guitarists are thrown straight into it with a speedy repeated four-note pattern - you know exactly which one I mean! Let's take a closer look at it.

The four-note run is simply a descending run in E major - our home key - playing the notes of E, D#, C#, and B. Dion addresses the fact that there are a handful of ways to approach this, but between you and me, I think Dion's version is the most comfortable! You'll want to start on the 17th (E) fret of the B-string, descending to the 16th (D#) and 14th (C#), and finish it off with the 16th fret on the G-string (B).

The notes themselves are pretty straightforward, it's the speed that's the killer! To adapt, Dion substitutes his pinky for his third finger to help build speed. Do what works best for you - the important thing to keep in mind is that you stick to the same fingers. Changing up the fingering pattern will hinder your muscle-memory, and ultimately slow you down.

As someone who spent most their adolescence trying to keep up with all the fastest players, I can confidently offer this insight:

To replicate this lick properly, you'll want to start with a gentle palm-mute, before gradually releasing it to create the crescendo! Try to alternate pick every note in the sequence. If that feels just too difficult, you're more than welcome to throw in a pull-off or two to keep up with the speed!

The final piece of the intro puzzle is the double-stop bend at the end. We want to catch the 19th fret on both the B- and E-strings, using your third finger and pinky respectively. The challenge lies in keeping the E-string still with your pinky, while bending the B-string with your third finger. Make sure you use your first and second fingers to help with the bend - it's a tight squeeze, and the tension at that part of the neck is pretty high!

The rhythm section

There are two parts that make up the rhythm section of the track, which we'll name the 'powerchords' and 'riff' sections - let's take a look!

Powerchords

Once you hear the drums make their entrance and crescendo into another verse, you'll know it's time to get your powerchords ready! We need just two chords - A5 and E5 (the number '5' is a shorthand instruction to play a powerchord). You're more than welcome to play the A5 chord on either the E- or the A-string - choose what feels best to you!

The challenge of getting the chords to sound right is making sure you're using accents and palm-mutes in the right places. If we break the bar into eighth notes, we want to accent the 1, 4 and 7 and palm-mute the rest.

This is quite a popular rhythm in driving rock music. Personally, I find the easiest way to count it is "1 2 3, 1 2 3, 1 2" - it helps to feel the accent and simplifies the counting!

As for the palm-muting - make sure that you're muting as close to the bridge as possible, as we want to make sure we're still getting the pitch of the chord. Moving further up to the neck will create more of a percussive, scratchy sound.

Riff

This is probably the part that came to mind when you thought of the rhythm guitar for the track. This is the part that mimics the forever memorable piano intro melody. Staying true to E major, we're going to use a blend of two scale shapes/boxes.

There is a variation to the ending upon the second repeat that we need to be aware of. Instead of coming back down to the C# (4th fret of the A-string) after the D# (6th fret of the A-string), it goes down to the G# (4th fret of the E-string). Listen to either the video lesson or the track and see if you can pinpoint exactly where it changes! I'm confident that you'll notice it won't sound quite right if you just play the first ending on repeat!

The last thing to consider with the riff is the picking. Try to down-stroke each note, as it will help everything remain dynamically even, as well as help you confident play in time! With that said, it's by no means a dealbreaker to use some alternate picking.

The solo

This solo is the definition of short and sweet. It's only a handful of bars long, but does exactly what a solo should always do - it serves the track.

Once again, we're staying within the key of E major, just at the other end of the fretboard! Let's start by taking a closer look at the fast run that kicks it all off. The run starts on the fourth beat of the bar, but, be mentally prepared to play it just after the third beat, as it's a pretty fast track! I'll highlight the notes/frets needed below to play it:

To really nail this tricky run, we need to consider a few things - timing, and picking technique. We're using sixteenth note triplets, meaning that we need to cram two lots of triplets (the 6 notes) into just one one beat of the bar. Really try to get the accent on the first note of each triplet to help you get the right rhythm!

Regarding the picking - playing triplets where we don't play all three notes on one string can be tricky. So, using alternate picking, be sure to practice the jump between each string slowly in isolation. It's important to first build the muscle-memory and accuracy, then push for speed.

Here's a bit of advice for anyone struggling to find a healthy balance between speed and accuracy: make sure that your first finger is getting ready to play the next string before you play the last note of the string you're currently on. For example, make sure your first finger is hovering over the 14th fret of the B-string as you're playing the 17th fret of the G-string. Once again, make sure you practice this motion slowly!

We won't go into as much detail for the rest of the solo, as it focuses more on nailing the melody and rhythm, and let's be real - it's not as difficult! I'll provide a fretboard diagram of all the notes needed below:

It's one thing to learn the notes and get the timing right, and it's another to make the solo feel right. So, to channel your inner Neil Schon, make sure that you're using plenty of vibrato to replicate that beautiful, vocalised, melodic style of his.

Another small point (that I'm sure you're already aware of), is to make sure that you're bending to the right pitch. It's not easy to hit the perfect note every time, but it makes such a difference to the success of the solo! I find the best way to be consistent is simply to listen and be honest with yourself. Even the best guitarists can't hit the perfect bend 100% of the time. Instead, they're able to adjust within milliseconds just by listening to their own playing. So, if you bend too far, or not enough, just adjust until you hit the sweet spot. The more you practice this, the quicker, and more confident you'll become!