Play Like Chuck Berry - Chuck Berry Rhythm Guitar Lesson

Today I want to share with you insights into Chuck Berry’s signature guitar style. In this guitar lesson, we’ll dive into Berry’s rhythm and lead styles, and I’ll show you how to understand the concepts behind what he was doing so you can use this in your own music. 

Berry is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of rock and roll music. By studying his guitar style, you can gain a deeper understanding of the genre's roots and its evolution straight out of the blues. Berry's innovative guitar techniques laid the foundation for countless rock and roll artists who followed him.

So make sure you’re tuned up and let’s get started!

Chuck Berry Rhythms

One of the first things that you’ll notice about Berry’s rhythms is that he often departed from the typical bar chord shapes and instead relied heavily upon blues rhythm patterns.

For example, if a song was in the key of A, instead of playing an open position A chord and strumming it like this in a song:

Berry would take just two strings from this chord, the 5th and 4th strings, and play a rhythm pattern based on it like this:

This pattern uses the root and 5th of the chord, which is a power-chord, as well as the root and 6th. This is a common sound heard in the blues.

However, one unique thing that Berry did in contrast to a lot of blues tunes is he played this eighth note rhythm pattern with a straight feel, while the rest of the rhythm section swung. 

This creates a special push-and-pull sound between the band and what Berry played. You can hear this clearly in the song "Johnny B. Goode".

To be honest I can’t think of any other tunes or rhythm sections that used this technique.

Once you have down this basic open shuffle in A, next you’ll want to make this a moveable pattern. To do this we are going to get rid of the open strings and move up to the key of Bb.

This next rhythm pattern is going to be based on this Bb chord:

Here we’ll follow the same root 5th to root 6 pattern just now on the 6th and 5th strings higher up the neck like this:

Getting rid of the open strings gives you the freedom to be able to shift this around the neck. 

Whatever fret your index finger lands on is the root note for that chord. Just make sure that you keep the same amount of frets between your fingers as you move the pattern around the neck. Remember that as you go higher the frets get closer together, and as you move down towards the headstock the frets get wider so your hand position needs to adjust accordingly.

A fun variation that Berry would do to this rhythm is slide into the first chord like this:

There isn’t a set pattern that Berry would do this little slide other than typically it would be sliding into beat 1. However, this can be done at random whenever you feel. Just sprinkle it in as an embellishment to the rhythm pattern. 

From there you’ll want to experiment with this Berry-style rhythm pattern with a root on the 5th string like this:

This would be based on the A-shaped bar chord with a root on the 5th string as well like this:

Once you have that down you can shift the Eb up 2 frets and play the rhythm over and F chord like this:

This is the beauty of this moveable pattern. Once you get it down you can move it around the neck and play it where you want.

This rhythm set the foundation for many rock and roll bands to use in countless hits still to this day. But Berry got it from the blues, he just put his own twist on it.

Tip: I’ll often play these eighth note rhythm patterns will all down strums in the strum hand. This helps capture the driving feel and energy that Berry played with. 

Aside from blues rhythm patterns Berry also had some more sophisticated chords in his repertoire. For example the opening chord to “No Particular Place To Go” uses a Daug chord like this:

This chord to me sounds like the influence of earlier electric blues players like T-Bone Walker. This is the type of chord you’ll hear in tunes like “Stormy Monday”.

Chuck Berry’s Signature Double-Stop Licks

Another signature part of Berry’s guitar style was his unique use of double-stops. A double-stop on guitar refers to the technique of playing two notes simultaneously. It produces a harmonized or chordal sound.

Again a number of Berry’s double-stop licks came straight out of the blues. For example this lick here in the key of Bb:

This example begins with just two notes from a Bb7 chord the Ab on the second string and the F on the 3rd string. After two beats of triplets, the lick descends down using more double-stops until you get back to the root note Bb on the 8th fret of the 4th string. 

Lick #2 uses double stops on the 1st and 2nd strings. This is the type of double-stop lick you’ll hear a lot in Berry’s classic “Johnny B. Goode”. I think of this lick as coming right off the Bb major bar chord we learned above.

This lick just slides into the top 2 strings of that chord like this:

Lick #3 demonstrates another concept Berry would use in his rhythms and in his solos to build energy. This concept I call a repetitive figure lick. The idea is to take a simple idea and repeat it over and over. This builds momentum in your music and also makes the audience go crazy. Here is an example of a repetitive figure lick going again over that same Bb bar chord in the 6th position.

This final Berry lick is a combination of staccato bends and double-stops. I like to refer to this lick as the “Duck Walk Lick”. Start out by bending the 8th fret on the 3rd string and then quickly release the pressure in the fretting hand. This is the staccato part. Then Berry would often play the 6th fret on the 2nd string and bounce back and forth between these 2 ideas. Once that part is going then he would bar down his index finger on the 6th fret and create a double-stop that would occasionally come through with the bend like this:

Conclusion:

Learning Chuck Berry's guitar style can be an incredibly rewarding and beneficial journey for any guitarist. His contributions to rock and roll music are undeniable, and by studying his techniques, you can tap into the essence of the genre's roots while also improving your musicianship.

By unpacking Berry's rhythmic approach, you can develop a strong sense of his timing and groove that will elevate your playing in any style of music. His classic riffs and licks provide a ton of timeless phrases that can enhance your repertoire and captivate your audiences. Additionally, his phrasing and melodic abilities can inspire you to create memorable guitar solos that resonate with listeners.

Happy playing and for another great Chuck Berry-style lesson check out “Johnny B. Goode”, or “No Particular Place To Go” next!