Shoegaze guitar

Shoegaze means slow ringing chords, arpeggios that blur into a cloud and melodies that seem to float. Below are the chords, scale, techniques and a riff you can hear and practise.

1980s70–120 BPMsus chordsarpeggios

What is shoegaze

Shoegaze appeared in the UK in the late 1980s. The name is a joke: guitarists spent a lot of time staring down at their effects pedals. The genre is not about speed but about sound - a dense “wall” of guitars that swallows the vocal and the melody.

The guitar part itself is usually simple: open chords with open strings, sus chords, slow arpeggios and long ringing notes. The character comes from ringing strings, slides and the tremolo arm, and on records from reverb, delay and fuzz.

Signature chords

The key chords are sus2 and seventh chords with open strings: there is no clear third, so the sound is airy and ambiguous. Try Dsus2, Asus2, Em7, G and let every chord ring out.

Dsus2 – Asus2 – Em7 – G

Scale for soloing

Shoegaze melodies are mostly major and simple. The D major pentatonic is enough: below it is shown from the 10th fret, where the melody on this page is played.

Techniques

Open strings

Open strings inside a chord ring over the others and keep sounding through the chord change. Tap Dsus2: the first and fourth strings are open, and the chord sounds airy.

Glide

Instead of picking a new note, the note slides smoothly to a new pitch. In shoegaze this is often done with the tremolo arm; on any guitar a slow slide along the string gives a similar effect.

Effects

Reverb, delay and fuzz turn a simple arpeggio into a wall of sound. Our examples play without effects so you can hear the notes themselves. Learn the part clean first, then add effects on your own guitar.

Riff in the style

A slow arpeggio over Dsus2 and Asus2: the strings are never muted and ring over each other. Hold each chord until the end of the bar and play softly, without accents.

Shoegaze-style melody

A slide on the second string, a few long major pentatonic notes and vibrato at the end. Play slowly and let every note sound.

The riff opens as a draft: change notes, tempo and tracks however you like.

Open in Riffonic

What to listen to

Listen to these songs and pay attention to what is described next to each one.

My Bloody Valentine - “Only Shallow”. Guitar lines that float in pitch: they are played with the tremolo arm over a dense wall of sound.
My Bloody Valentine - “Sometimes”. Steady strummed chords dissolved in a thick layer of guitars: you hear a cloud of sound rather than separate chords.
Slowdive - “Alison”. Soft chords with long reverb and delay: the guitar becomes a backdrop for the floating vocal.
Ride - “Vapour Trail”. A ringing arpeggio of open chords that loops for almost the whole song.

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

What effects do you need for shoegaze?

Usually reverb, delay and fuzz or overdrive, sometimes chorus and the tremolo arm. But start with the part itself: our examples play without effects so you can hear exactly what to play.

What chords are used in shoegaze?

Open chords with open strings, sus2 and sus4, seventh chords. They sound ambiguous and airy, and the open strings ring over the chord changes.

Do you need a guitar with a tremolo arm for shoegaze?

The arm helps with floating notes, but it is not required. Slow slides and light bends give a similar effect, and you can start on any guitar, even an acoustic.