Street Spirit (Fade Out) Guitar Lesson - Radiohead

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Today I thought it would be fun to teach you guys one of my favorite songs by one of my favorite bands.

Street Spirit (Fade Out) by Radiohead has this dark and ominous vibe about it propelled by a haunting yet challenging arpeggiated picking pattern throughout.

The whole song is based around just three chords (Am, Em & C), but with the added melody lines and quick arpeggiated picking pattern it sounds much more complex than that.

The nice thing about this Street Spirit (Fade Out) guitar lesson is that the picking pattern that we will be learning stays the exact same throughout the entire song.

As soon as you get it down it is simply a process of repeating the pattern over and over again around those three chords I mentioned earlier.

I think this is one of those songs that sounds great even without the vocals. It really is a very beautiful guitar part when played on its own.

Be sure to pay attention to the picking indications for the picking pattern that I demonstrate at the beginning of the lesson.

Remember, the idea with this style of picking is to always be picking in the direction of the next string that you are going to be playing. This will make everything much easier to play in the long run than if you just decided to alternate pick the entire thing.

Hope you guys enjoy this beautiful yet challenging Radiohead lesson!

Carl...

[zachosen]

I have to tell you this ... after watching so many lessons, I've learned only how to play it only from your Video, thanks a lot

[bighurka]

i learned it in half an hour i think it 's quite simple the hard part is the string skipping and to stay in tempo but it's not that hard and it so beautiful! Anyway thank you for showing it and keep up with the good work ! ;)

[wilmabaird]

I've been playing guitar for 4 years now and I still can't get this song. Radiohead is my favorite band and this just kills my self esteem

[maestronicenigma]

Thanks a lot man, that was super helpful.  Breaking down the picking pattern to the degree that you did made this a lot easier to learn.  And the multiple camera angles were definitely appreciated.

[BlazedAFGaming]

Direction of picking = down (d) or up (u) (DIRECTION OF PICKING PATTERN SAME FOR ALL 3 CHORDS)
 
 
 
 
 
 


  A minor picking pattern

 
 
 
 
 
 

  E minor picking pattern

 
 
 
 
 
 

  C picking Pattern
 
 
 
 
 
 

[Buyinos]

You deserve more views. Unlike Marty, he rarely teaches the whole song, unless it's a simple one.

[ceciliamossi]

gracias no puedo creer que estoy tocando esta cancion, ya casi saleee

[AllTheCoolNamesAreTaken]

Thanks a lot man, I've always loved this song and I was able to get the picking pattern down in one day!

[Thomasringpetersen]

Immerse your soul in love. Last chorus it goes to.
G E (major)

[griffinoshields]

If you're having trouble learning the pattern, count how many times he picks the strings in one sequence. Figure out the pattern and keep practicing

[cpoole]

If you have a chromatic tuner that changes Hz to tune, I think I figured it out about 429 HZ to match the cd. I tuned to the song, then figured out the tuning. Its been awhile since I played it but I think its 429 HZ instead of 440. Hope this helps. If not or any suggestions Ill re try it when Its not late

[MrNangoo]

This is a brilliant lesson, had so much fun with this. Thank you so much..

[neildixon]

Thank you! Love the way you explain succinctly.
It’s a mind thing with me, when I think about patterns like this and try and follow the correct direction of pick, I usually mess them up.
Your pick directions are spot on. So I’m going to keep at this one because it’s a beautiful AND predictable pattern and chord structure. I hope it will help me alter my brain to multi task naturally!!!
If you ever get to give an instructional on the outro, that’d be great. The most difficult part for me to get smoothly is fitting in the penultimate G#.
🙂

[kinkkong]

You should do a tutorial for High and Dry, that is a great song and these are great tutorials

[zebbell]

Found it a lot easier to use finger picking (P.I.) than using picks.

[samuelchristencovers]

one of my favorites of them, pure emotion. I did a cover of this song, where i played all instruments (i even added violin) by myself, so i would really be happy when you could take a look, and perhaps say what you think. Thanks a lot !

[maxwebster]

Please do a tutorial for Black Star by Radiohead. I really really want the right strumming and chords. Please :)

[alloksharma]

hi..big fan of yours...could you please provide a lesson for Airbag by Radiohead..ll really appreciate it.. thanks !

[TrickshooterTV]

Im fairly new to guitar and have a terrible habit of learning the first minute of a song then moving onto something else 🤣 I hope this doesn’t create bad habits for me in the future with regards to actually becoming skilled or does everyone tend to do this when they start out?

[superlonewolf]

Having a hard time picking with the e minor chord. My pinky isn’t fully hitting the third fret almost as if my hand can’t stretch that far without muting or messing up the sound. Any suggestions on how I can improve that?