“Indie music” may be a misnomer: while the term is labeled as one genre, the name encompasses an incredibly wide array of different artists, all with their own unique sound and playing style. Yet part of the beauty of indie music is embracing that diversity.
Learning to play indie guitar will expose you to more new sounds and techniques than nearly any other genre around. And the hallmarks of the genre — like broken, melodic chords, arpeggios, and chord-centered solos — can translate to a wide variety of different styles you may play.
Indie music arose during the 1980s, a decade when guitar music was dominated by hair metal bands and extreme shredders in the mold of Yngwie Malmsteen. In reaction, many indie guitar players deliberately adopted a mindset counter to the rapid-fire, solo-centric approach to the guitar flooding the airwaves at the time.
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Indie guitar playing is fundamentally based on a strong grasp of melody, creative chord choices, lots of broken chords and arpeggios substituting for barre chords in rhythm playing, and a distinctive lack of both classic-rock distortion and high-octane solos.
Beyond the music, many indie guitarists (and bands as a whole) deliberately eschewed the spotlight in favor of retaining some measure of artistic integrity. Though indie bands still became widely popular — and many “sold out” at the same rate as their mainstream counterparts, altering their sound to produce more commercially viable records — the anti-guitar hero ethos continues to influence indie players today. In fact, Johnny Marr even famously wrote a set of “Ten Commandments” on how to avoid becoming a guitar hero!
Nowadays, many of those “rules” have loosened — no surprise, considering indie music was originally a genre about breaking the conventional rules of rock when it was invented. Modern indie guitar headliners like St. Vincent routinely play complex improvised solos drenched in waves of fuzz, and the arpeggiated, flowing style of pioneers like Marr has been tempered by the hard-driving influence of the alternative rock scene.
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But if there’s one critical thing to keep in mind about playing indie guitar beyond the technique, it’s the mindset: innovation, and commitment to the new and artistic over the commercial and popular.
Any discussion of indie guitar players begins and ends with Johnny Marr, the legendary guitarist of all-time indie greats like The Smiths, The The, and Modest Mouse. In many ways, his intensely melodic style has shaped the evolution of the genre. And while indie music continues to adapt, Marr is largely responsible for creating indie’s signature guitar sound and will always belong at the top of any list of famous indie guitar players.
Another large presence on the indie rock scene throughout the 1980s and 1990s was New York City band Sonic Youth. Their twin guitarists, Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore, pioneered the use of alternative tunings in indie rock and became famous for their habit of playing the guitar with random objects from drumsticks and violin bows to screwdrivers.
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While their use of so many indecipherable tunings and custom-prepared instruments may be nearly impossible to replicate, their sound remains a major influence throughout indie music today.
Coming onto the scene slightly after Marr’s tenure in the Smiths ended, guitarist Joey Santiago moved the indie genre forward with his work in the Pixies. While he took and built upon Marr’s use of melody and arpeggios, Pixies music displays a much harder, more aggressive side of the indie genre, more in line with hard-nosed punk and hard rock than with Marr’s shimmering, ethereal chord structures.
Santiago’s trademark stripped-back chord structures and lean solo lines would later inspire genres like grunge, particularly through his influence on Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. The use of distortion and fuzz in 90s bands like the Pixies and Nirvana also changed the sound of indie from a clean, broken-chord sound to a rawer format focused around the use of power chords.
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In the modern era, indie guitar has found a place among an increasingly large array of synthesizers and effects. Artists like St. Vincent have integrated a fuzz guitar sound into electronic-based pop arrangements, while Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker has meshed indie guitar sounds with psychedelic vocals and effects.
One consistent trend throughout the history of indie guitar is the use of chords and melody. In classic rock bands, there’s typically a hard delineation between the lead and rhythm guitar players — the rhythm player maintains the groove with basic barre and open chords, while the lead player provides all the accents and plays the solos. Indie guitar, on the other hand, fuses those two identities into one player.
Rather than playing jaw-dropping solos like a blues or rock guitar hero might, indie players are challenged to integrate the song’s melody into their rhythm playing and add main riffs and accents to a tune while maintaining the pulse.
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Because of these multiple jobs, indie songs often feature riffs based heavily around chords and break up the chords themselves into more melodic voicings. Rather than the power chord, featuring just the root and fifth notes on the bass strings, indie players make greater use of the top strings, especially for playing inversions of various chords in positions higher up the neck.
For an example of a classic melodic indie rhythm part, check out the video above of The Smiths’ debut single, “Hand in Glove.” Widely considered to be one of the first true indie songs, “Hand in Glove” is as notable for its interwoven guitar rhythm and melody as it is for Morrissey’s provocative lyrics. The opening riff, tabbed out below, is based entirely around the Bm chord that forms the basis of the song.
While “Hand in Glove” was recorded in the key of G (using a capo on the third fret), The Smiths often played it live in the key of F#, as it’s tabbed out here. Johnny Marr often tuned his guitar strings up a full step, but it’s easier to simply place a capo on the second fret if you want to avoid the hassle.
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When searching for a melody or solo idea, many indie artists simply look to the song’s basic chords and make minor extensions off that central structure.
Depending on the style, indie songs can use a variety of different chords. Like more general rock, four-chord progressions are popular — especially a few stock ones that crop up everywhere.
The Pixies’ “Here Comes Your Man” utilizes a I-V-ii-IV progression, for example, while The Smiths’ “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” uses the i, III, VI, and VII chords. Johnny Marr was also a big fan of the classic I-vi-IV-V progression, using it in both “Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others” and “Vicar in a Tutu.”
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Many indie songs employ a simple overall chord structure with lots of subtle changes throughout to keep listeners on their toes. While the St. Vincent song “Los Ageless” contains a dizzying array of different chords at first glance, nearly all are formed by simply adding or removing one finger to move between the changes. From Abmaj7 to Baug/G#, Eb/G to Cm/G, or Gm to Csus2/G, St. Vincent skillfully creates larger harmonic shifts out of minor fingering tweaks.
Diagram of the chord changes through the outro of St. Vincent’s “Los Ageless.” Notice how simple one-note shifts can create a more drastic change in the character of each chord.
To create a set of chord changes, you might try simply adding an extra extension to a classic barre-shape chord, removing one of those fingers to let an open string ring out, or shifting some of your fingers up and down by one fret. Playing around with these minor changes will increase your familiarity with different chord roots and extensions and can give you ideas for potential solos.
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Indie guitar chords tend to revolve around the guitar’s upper strings — when power chords and full barre chords are used, they tend to be palm-muted and quick. There are certainly exceptions in a genre as diverse as indie, but on the whole quick, sharp rhythm parts are more common than heavy, ringing bass strings. Extended chords on the upper strings also allow for more richly colored chord structures without contorting your fingers into twister-style positions.
Indie music generally operates in a straight 4/4 feel, with steady but not flashy drumming. As a guitar player, that style makes it much easier to lock into the groove, but also puts more onus on the guitar to create an interesting groove. Syncopation and proper use of space are critical skills for any indie guitarist to learn.
Economic playing is a much more important trait in indie music than in formats like jazz and blues-based rock. The primary goal is to convey the essence of the melody and rhythm in ass methodical a way as possible. That doesn’t mean you should resist fleshing out a particular groove; just remember not to bury the lead by drowning out the melody and pace in an overly crowded mix.
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Incorporating the melody prominently in your rhythm part is a great way to guard against overly busy playing. If you find yourself struggling to nail the melody
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