Smells Like Teen Spirit Guitar Lesson - Nirvana

Genre: Grunge

Difficulty level: beginner-intermediate

Guitar techniques you will learn in this lesson:

• power chords
• accented and muted strumming
• syncopation
• rhythm
• lead guitar techniques

Smells Like Teen Spirit is a great song popular across the globe, and learning it will give you a chance to improve several guitar skills.

First of all you’ll learn that ever-famous intro riff, which is made up of power chords. You’ll learn the correct strumming technique, where you mute the string not with you palm, but with your fretting fingers. The intro riff will take some practice before you get it sounding right, since the syncopated timing of the power chord strums, and switching between muted and normal strums is not the easiest guitar technique, but once you get it right, you’ll be able to make up your own riffs that’ll sound just as good as Curt Cobain’s!

You also be learning the famous solo section, which is fairly simple. The biggest challenge will be bending the string with your pinky, but as you develop your finger strength, it will become easy.

All in all, this is a great beginner guitar lesson where you’ll be learning a number of techniques you’ll need to be a great guitarist, including syncopation, power chords, and lead guitar techniques through the solo.

Song Details

Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana was released on their 1991 album Nevermind. The song was Nirvana's first and biggest hit, giving the band instant international fame and recognition. This song became the non-official anthem of Generation-X, the teenagers of the early ‘90s. Nirvana has broken up, but despite that many agree that Smells Like Teen Spirit is one of the greatest rock songs of all time. Besides reaching the top of the charts, the song has been covered by several musicians, which is another sign of acknowledgement in the industry.

The name of the song is actually from the deodorant brand name Teen Spirit. 

Awards and chart rankings:

• U.S. Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks: #1
• U.S. Billboard Hot 100: #6 
• U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks: #7
• UK Singles Chart: #7
• French Singles Chart: #1
• Swedish Singles Chart: #3
• Norwegian Singles Chart: #2 
• Swiss Singles Chart: #6