This famous tune from the prog rock kings requires precise timing and crisp playing. Straightforward distortion with a lot of mid and treble will give you the right sound. Don't use delay, lots of reverb or other such effects for the distorted guitar to get the right sound. However, for the clean guitar parts, use a little reverb and even chorus to fill out the melodic chord picking that comes along soon enough in the song.

The distorted guitar parts are simple powerchord stabs cycling through A - B - C - D and G powerchords. Practice at getting tight timing and swift chord changes. This riff is the same throughout the song, so once you can do it, you will be able to play large parts of the song easily!

We've included the melodic picking of the high A7sus4 chord over the top of the rhythm guitar (which is simply repeating the earlier riff anyway). This way you can hear when the A7sus4 chord notes are picked properly. This chord is held between the 12th and 17th frets, so you'll need an electric guitar to play this part. The frets are smaller at this end of the guitar neck, but even so the chord shape is still quite tricky to hold - so make sure to keep your fingers from accidentally muting or brusing adjacent strings during play. The good news is that once you hold the chord, you can just hold it and pick it as shown - no awkward chord changes happen here.

After that part there is some lovely fingerpicking between an A and D chord back down at the low end of the guitar. Break this into manageable chunks and practice until you get smooth chord changes and the right timing for the notes.

After that part the song returns to the distorted guitar riff that the song began with. However it ends by strumming out full open chords - A major and G major repeated, ending with C major and F major repeating as the song shifts key before ending.

This is a great song for learning timing and precision. Although the song parts aren't very complex, the strict timing used in this song still makes it a challenge to even seasoned guitarists. Well worth practicing to get your sense of rhythm and timing honed!