Rockabilly guitar
Rockabilly is early rock and roll with a country streak: a fast shuffle, a guitar that is its own bass and rhythm section, and a short, bright echo. Below are the chords, scale, techniques, a riff and a solo you can hear and slow down.
1950s150–200 BPME–A–B7shuffle
What is rockabilly
Rockabilly appeared in the American South in the mid-1950s: young musicians mixed country with rhythm and blues. Elvis Presley’s first Sun Records sessions sounded just like this: guitar, a slapped double bass and almost no drums. In the 1980s the style had a second life.
A rockabilly guitarist alternates a bass note and a short chord, often with pick and fingers at once. Solos favour double stops with a slide, a hammer-on from the minor third to the major third and open strings. The tone is clean, with a short slapback echo.
Signature chords
E, A, B7 (I, IV, V7) is the rock and roll progression behind almost all rockabilly. B7 pulls back to E. In the rhythm part only the top three strings of the chord are hit, and the bass is played separately on the thick strings.
Scale for soloing
E Mixolydian suits the solos: major with a flat seventh, D. Players add a "blue" G and hammer straight onto G#: that is the signature rockabilly sound.
Techniques
Boom-chick
A palm-muted bass note on the beat, a short chord on the top three strings on the offbeat. Root and fifth alternate. One guitar sounds like bass and rhythm at once. Listen to the riff below.
Double stops
Two neighbouring strings at the same fret, a slide in from below and quick repeats. Over B7 the chord tones are taken in pairs as well. Tap B7 to hear the chord.
Slapback
A short echo with a single repeat about a tenth of a second later. It gives rockabilly the "slapping" sound of the early records. The examples here are dry; on your own amp set a short delay with one repeat.
Rockabilly riff
A shuffle, one chord per bar: bass note on the beat, chord on the last triplet. Root and fifth alternate while the double bass walks in quarters. Start at 60% and keep the bass notes muted.
Rockabilly solo
E and G# double stops slide in and repeat, then a G to G# hammer-on on the open string, a phrase over A and over B7, and back to E with vibrato. Play it light and with drive.
Bass part
Quarter notes on root, third, fifth and sixth, with the seventh instead of the sixth on B7. In rockabilly this is played on a slapped upright bass, so keep every note short and crisp.
The guitar plays the genre’s chords quietly underneath: switch it off with the "Guitar" button to hear the bass alone. Bass guitar exercises in the trainer →
The riff opens as a draft: change notes, tempo and tracks however you like.
Open in RiffonicWhat to listen to
Listen to these songs and pay attention to what is described next to each one.
- Elvis Presley - “That’s All Right”. The guitar holds both bass and rhythm with light phrases on top: the model of early rockabilly.
- Carl Perkins - “Blue Suede Shoes”. A fast shuffle, double stops and short, bright solos.
- Stray Cats - “Rock This Town”. 80s rockabilly: slapback, double bass and fast, virtuoso phrases on a hollow-body guitar.
Every riff and solo on this page is an original exercise in the style of the genre, not the notes of someone else’s song.
FAQ
How is rockabilly different from rock and roll?
Rockabilly is closer to country: lighter, often with double bass and hardly any drums, and the guitar plays boom-chick. Rock and roll is thicker, with piano, saxophone and a strong backbeat.
Do I need slapback?
For the period sound, yes: it is a short echo with one repeat. You can play without it, but with it rockabilly instantly sounds like the 50s records.
What guitar is used for rockabilly?
Classically a hollow-body or a guitar with single-coil pickups and a clean tone. But rockabilly techniques sound great on any electric guitar.