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Alice Cooper - School's Out - Guitar Lesson

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Key E major
Alice Cooper - School's Out guitar lesson video
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Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
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Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.
School's Out album cover
School's Out
1972 3:30
Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Music
Alice Cooper Hard Rock 1972 E major
Capo Advisor 0 E major · Original key

About School's Out

That opening riff is one of the most recognisable moments in Alice Cooper's catalog, and getting it to sit right takes more attention than it looks. The figure lives in E major at 120 BPM, but the attitude comes from a loose, slightly behind-the-beat swagger rather than mechanical precision. In E Standard tuning the riff is beginner-friendly in terms of finger placement, yet the real challenge is dynamics: you need to let the open low E ring and cut off the chord stabs with tight palm muting at exactly the right moment. The Hard Rock genre rewards players who can control silence as much as noise, and this song is a perfect lesson in that. Set the Practice Toolbar to loop just the main riff slowed down until your muting hand is consistent, then bring it back to full tempo. The verse chords are straightforward, so most of your work will go into nailing that choppy, punchy intro feel.

  • The signature riff centres on open-E power chords with sharp palm-muted stabs, making right-hand muting control the key skill to develop.
  • Played in E Standard tuning at 120 BPM, the song sits at a tempo where timing sloppiness is immediately obvious, so a clean groove matters.
  • The riff is approachable for intermediate players, but capturing its aggressive, chopped feel requires practising the muting and release as one coordinated motion.

How to Play School's Out

Tuning: E Standard · Key: E major · Tempo: 120 BPM

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 120 BPM to build it up to tempo.

Fender Telecaster
Guitar

Fender Telecaster

Alice Cooper's original band occasionally used the Telecaster for bright, cutting tones that sliced through the dense Marshall crunch on tracks like 'School's Out.' Its twang provides sharp articulation contrasting the warm humbucker thickness Cooper preferred.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

The Les Paul Standard delivers the warm, singing sustain that defines Cooper's classic era solos and rhythm crunch when paired with Marshall Plexis. Its balanced PAF humbuckers give Cooper responsive dynamics, from controlled verses to saturated solo tones.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

Michael Bruce and later players like Ryan Roxie relied on the Les Paul Custom for its thicker body resonance and hotter output, providing the sustaining lead tones and aggressive rhythm crunch essential to Cooper's theatrical hard rock sound.

Gibson ES-335
Guitar

Gibson ES-335

Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter used the semi-hollow ES-335 for warm, singing lead lines with natural breakup, capturing the '70s solo era's melodic sophistication while the semi-hollow body added organic warmth against Marshall's aggressive gain.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

The JCM800 became Alice Cooper's tone foundation from the '80s onward, delivering tight, mid-heavy gain with note clarity that cut through dense arrangements on 'Poison' and beyond. Its responsive push lets Cooper shift from controlled verses to explosive solos.

Seymour Duncan JB
Pickup

Seymour Duncan JB

Hotter ceramic humbuckers like the Seymour Duncan JB powered Alice Cooper's '80s sound, delivering saturated gain and compressed sustain for arena-filling solos while maintaining the midrange definition the JCM800 amplified.

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