How to Play Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Goode”

Chuck Berry wrote dozens of rock and roll classics, but perhaps the best-known of them all is “Johnny B. Goode.” The track was a Number Two Billboard hit when it was released in 1958 during the first rock and roll boom and went on to influence rock and roll guitarists throughout the next decades.

Berry wrote the song in 1955, lifting the opening guitar riff pretty much verbatim from the single-note opening riff to Louis Jordan’s 1946 recording “Ain’t That Just Like a Woman,” but adding double-stops to fatten it up.

The success of “Johnny B. Goode” inspired Berry’s followup songs “Bye Bye Johnny” and “Go Go Go,” as well as his 1969 album Concerto in B. Goode and its nearly 19-minute title track. The significance of “Johnny B. Goode” was acknowledged when the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 for its influence as a rock and roll single.

In this video, uploaded more than a year ago on December 24, 2015, Paul Davids provides a thorough lesson in how to play “Johnny B. Goode,” complete with backing track, available here.

Paul takes you through the track note by note and then performs the intro at 120 bpm and 145 bpm (the original is played at about 170 bpm). He includes several camera angles and tab, so if you’ve wanted to learn Berry’s classic riffs, here’s your opportunity.

Be sure to check out Paul’s other videos, including his lessons and gear comparisons, at his YouTube channel.