Alternative Rock Guitar
Alternative rock emerged in the late 80s as a reaction to mainstream arena rock. It values raw energy, unconventional song structures and emotional honesty over technical showmanship. If you grew up on 90s and 2000s radio, these are your songs.
GuitarZone covers the essentials: Muse, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Oasis, Pearl Jam and Foo Fighters. From clean arpeggios to walls of distortion, alternative rock teaches you how to use dynamics and texture.
Arctic Monkeys 3
Audioslave 3
Bastille 1
Blind Melon 1
Christina Perri 1
Collective Soul 2
Counting Crows 1
Dave Matthews Band 3
Death Cab for Cutie 1
Depeche Mode 2
Dinosaur Jr. 1
Disturbed / Simon & Garfunkel 1
Echo & the Bunnymen 1
Eurythmics / Marilyn Manson 1
Gary Jules 1
Gnarls Barkley 1
Goo Goo Dolls 1
Green Day 4
Jane's Addiction 2
Jeff Buckley 3
Jimmy Eat World 1
Kings of Leon 3
Linkin Park 6
Massive Attack 1
Modest Mouse 1
Muse 19
- 1 Blackout LESSON 2006
- 2 Dead Inside COVER 2015
- 3 Defector LESSON 2006
- 4 Hysteria LESSON 2003
- 5 Plug In Baby LESSON 2001
- 6 Pressure LESSON 2006
- 7 Psycho LESSON 2015
- 8 Reapers LESSON 2015
- 9 Starlight TAB 2006
- 10 Stockholm Syndrome - Intro LESSON 2006
- 11 Stockholm Syndrome - PreChorus, Chorus & Turnaround LESSON 2006
- 12 Stockholm Syndrome - Solo & Ending LESSON 2006
- 13 Stockholm Syndrome - Verse LESSON 2006
- 14 Stockholm Syndrome Pt.1 - Intro LESSON 2006
- 15 Stockholm Syndrome Pt.3 - PreChorus, Chorus & Turnaround LESSON 2006
- 16 Stockholm Syndrome Pt.4 - Solo & Ending LESSON 2006
- 17 Supermassive Black Hole LESSON 2006
- 18 Undisclosed Desires LESSON 2009
- 19 Uprising LESSON 2009
Neal Hefti 1
Oasis 9
Papa Roach 1
Pearl Jam 7
Puddle of Mudd 1
R.E.M. 4
Radiohead 9
Rag'n'Bone Man 1
Red Hot Chili Peppers 10
- 1 Around the World LESSON 1999
- 2 Black Summer TAB 2022
- 3 Breaking the Girl LESSON 1991
- 4 By the Way LESSON 2002
- 5 Californication COVER 1999
- 6 Dani California LESSON 2006
- 7 I Could Have Lied TAB 1991
- 8 Otherside LESSON 1999
- 9 Scar Tissue LESSON 1999
- 10 Under the Bridge TAB 1991
Sarah McLachlan 1
Smashing Pumpkins 1
Soul Asylum 1
Spin Doctors 1
System Of A Down 4
The Cranberries 2
The Killers 1
The Smashing Pumpkins 7
The Strokes 1
The Tragically Hip 2
The White Stripes 1
Thirty Seconds To Mars 1
Tokyo Ghoul 1
Twenty One Pilots 2
U2 5
4 Non Blondes 1
Alternative Rock Guitar Techniques
Alternative rock guitar is all about contrasts. Quiet verses explode into loud choruses. Clean tones switch to heavy distortion mid-song. Chord voicings are often unconventional: open strings ringing against fretted notes, unusual tunings, and arpeggiated patterns that don't follow traditional rock formulas.
Muse pushed the technical side with complex riffs and effects-heavy tones. Red Hot Chili Peppers blended funk rhythms with rock power. Foo Fighters channeled punk energy into radio-ready anthems. Pearl Jam kept blues-rock alive with raw, emotional solos.
Start with Everlong to learn drop D power chord shapes. Try Californication for clean tone melody work. Hysteria will push your alternate picking and stamina.
Related genres: Grunge, Alternative Metal, Punk Rock. Or browse songs from the 90s when alternative rock peaked.