Billy Squier - Lonely Is The Night - Guitar Lesson

About Lonely Is The Night

Few hard rock riffs from the early 1980s hit as hard as the opening of "Lonely Is The Night." Billy Squier built the track around a driving, syncopated E minor riff that locks in tightly with the kick drum, and getting that pocket feel right is the real challenge here. At 120 BPM in E Standard tuning, the tempo is approachable but the rhythmic precision is not: the riff demands clean alternate picking and tight palm muting so each note punches without smearing. The key of E minor also opens up some low, open-string aggression, so let the open E ring when the part calls for it rather than fretting everything. The verse and chorus transitions shift quickly, so use the Practice Toolbar to loop those sections slowed down until the chord movements feel automatic. This is a song where tone and attitude matter as much as technique, so keep your picking attack consistent throughout.

• The main riff sits in E minor and relies on syncopated palm-muted alternate picking, so a consistent right-hand technique is essential before bringing it up to tempo.
• Running in E Standard tuning at 120 BPM, the song is a solid study in <a href="/genre/hard-rock/">Hard Rock</a> rhythm guitar feel, where placement slightly behind or on the beat changes everything.
• The open low E string is a key part of the riff's power, so avoid over-fretting and let those open notes ring with full attack.