What alterations/additions do you make to Green Day songs when you play along with them?

[green day is]

I play the verse on Last Night on Earth like this:

e-0-1-2-3-

b-2-2-2-2-

g-2-2-2-2-

d-2-3-4-5-

a-0-0-0-0-

e---------------

It's not that different to how the song is played, but it sounds pretty cool.

That's exactly how it's played aside from the additional notes on the e string, assuming you keep the fingerpicking between strums.

[The Disappearing Boy]

That's exactly how it's played aside from the additional notes on the e string, assuming you keep the fingerpicking between strums.

I just tend to strum them as normal. That last one can be a bit of a bitch to reach though!

[Vic_Rattlehead]

I add (what I like to think are) Mike-esque fills when I'm playing American Idiot/21CB era songs on bass, cause a lot of them are just root notes. Also when I drum to Green Day stuff I play quarter notes instead of eighth notes cause I can't do that fast with my right hand and stay accurate

[Karl Karlson]

I add (what I like to think are) Mike-esque fills when I'm playing American Idiot/21CB era songs on bass, cause a lot of them are just root notes. Also when I drum to Green Day stuff I play quarter notes instead of eighth notes cause I can't do that fast with my right hand and stay accurate

Adding bass fills to songs from "American Idiot" is pretty hard, since some songs sound easy on the album, but when you listen to the bass tracks you'd be surprised what's hidden there. Not as much as "Dookie", but still..

[greendepent]

I use to play the solo that BJ did in BBC sessions 94 in 2000 Light Years Away. Also change some notes in the Coming Clean solo. Actually I try to play some solo in Brat, like live perfornances of 2010.

[The Disappearing Boy]

21st Century Breakdown

This is how I do the riffs in the middle part. It's a lot easier to just hold the chords and play it like this. I was actually really surprised when I found out it's not how the band play it.

e|----------------------------------------------

B|-------------5--5--------5--5--5-5-7-5--------

G|-------6-6-6-6--6--6-6-6-6--6--6-6-6-6--7--6--

D|-7--7--7-7-7-7--7--7-7-7-7--7--7-7-7-7--7--7--

A|-0--0--0-0-0-0--0--0-0-0-0--0--0-0-0-0--0--0--

E|----------------------------------------------

e|----------------------------------------------------------------

B|------------------10--10--10-------10--10--10-10-12-10----------

G|---------11-11-11-11--11--11-11-11-11--11--11-11-11-11--12--11--

D|-12--12--12-12-12-12--12--12-12-12-12--12--12-12-12-12--12--12--

A|----------------------------------------------------------------

E|----------------------------------------------------------------

I play it like they do live coz I like to play the open A and D strings, but for the second bit you've put here I might shift everything up a string to include the open D. Dunno how easy that will be to play - it shouldn't be too bad.

[Spike]

I play it like they do live coz I like to play the open A and D strings, but for the second bit you've put here I might shift everything up a string to include the open D. Dunno how easy that will be to play - it shouldn't be too bad.

That should be easy enough. The chord would just be

e|-5-

B|-7-

G|-7-

D|-0-

A|---

E|---

[Vic_Rattlehead]

Adding bass fills to songs from "American Idiot" is pretty hard, since some songs sound easy on the album, but when you listen to the bass tracks you'd be surprised what's hidden there. Not as much as "Dookie", but still..

I have listened to them, the only ones that really stand out are Holiday and Homecoming, everything else is pretty standard to be fair nothing like Insomniac, one of the best albums for bass I've heard

[Spike]

Adding bass fills to songs from "American Idiot" is pretty hard, since some songs sound easy on the album, but when you listen to the bass tracks you'd be surprised what's hidden there. Not as much as "Dookie", but still..

I find it pretty easy to add fills to most songs off that album. I tend to keep the verses the same on the whole, but I like throwing Mike-esque fills in the chorus. Just the odd thing like octave jumps, runs up and down the scale, that kind of thing. There's definitely a lot more going on than what we can hear in the full mixes suggests, though.

[Certified Nimrod]

I play JoS with a capo and open chords.

I used to do that for the first two parts of the song.

[green day is]

I used to do that for the first two parts of the song.

Yeah. 1, 2, and 4 are easy but 3 and 5 can get challenging. I Don't Care for having an A in it, which can't be played open with a capo on the first, and 5 for dat quick F# C# switch. Also C#/G# and D#/G# in the chorus but I don't play those as open anyway, I just add the G# to the bottom of the others.

[The Disappearing Boy]

I've also taken to playing JOS with open chords; either when tuned down 1/2 a step or with a capo on 1st. By the time I get to the second chorus of part 5, my left hand kills from changing between E and A, but I've found that it helps if you mix up how you play A throughout the song - sometimes play it with 3 fingers and sometimes play it with 1 - it's not too bad!

[Penguin Puffball]

I tend to harmonize as much as I can. I blame it on being in chorus for 6 years, but their songs sound really good with extra harmonies!

[beejeezee]

When the distortion kicks in in wake me up when september ends, I play in dropped d and play the backing chords to the main riff - G, F#, E and D. Adds a cool, kinda dark sound to the song.

Ihave to try this out.

[Anaïs.]

As someone who only knows two chords on the guitar, I'm in awe of the divine knowledge everyone in this thread possesses.

[Spike]

As someone who only knows two chords on the guitar, I'm in awe of the divine knowledge everyone in this thread possesses.

You could always play Uptight

[green day is]

As someone who only knows two chords on the guitar, I'm in awe of the divine knowledge everyone in this thread possesses.

which two chords

[Anaïs.]

which two chords

A and E.

[The Disappearing Boy]

Here's something to play (finger picking) during the verse of 21 Guns. Just as a little variation on the intro:

b-6~~~6~~~~~~

g------------

d---7~~~~~~~~

a-5~~~~~5~~~~

Keep the same shape and do the same thing for all four chords. x57x6x, x13x3x, x810x10x and x35x5x (I can't be bothered to tab it out )

I made it up earlier on today, but I haven't tried it with the music yet.

Also, if I feel like playing rhythm guitar during the solo, I like to play the first two chords an octave higher sometimes.

[PleasedToMeetMe]

Lately I've been playing the riff to 'Thunderstruck' by AC/DC after the last chorus of Christie Road during band practice. I don't know why, I don't even like that song . .

[beejeezee]

I adore playing all their songs acoustically. If that's different.

[DookieLukie]

When I play Basket Case, I go: "grasping tooo aww fuck this shit" and play a new song.

[Todd]

I recently been singing "Jeff Ott the law, and the law won" on both Green Day's and The Clash's versions

[beejeezee]

When I play Basket Case, I go: "grasping tooo aww fuck this shit" and play a new song.

That's kind of shitty.

[Billie Joe's Fender]

Although i can be a bit of a perfectionist sometimes i do play things differently sometimes.

On She, i play verse 2's guitar part for verse 1, verse 3's guitar part for verse 2, and an improvised solo for verse 3.

On Longview, i double the bassline on guitar (i say double loosely as i play by myself) and during the outro i do an improvised solo.

I prefer Hitchin' A Ride in Eb (it sounds as natural in that tuning as a song off Dookie IMO) and Castaway in E both for listening and for playing on my Fender and i play the former's violin intro on guitar.

I play Words I Might Have Ate and Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life) with an electric guitar instead of an acoustic guitar and i play the latter's violin solo on guitar.