Bush - Glycerine - Guitar Lesson

Sixteen Stone (Remastered)

1994 4:26

Listen on Spotify

About Glycerine

Few power chords here: "Glycerine" runs almost entirely on open and barre chords played with a quiet, unguarded feel that suits E major perfectly. The challenge is not technical complexity but dynamic control, keeping the strumming loose and understated through the verses while building tension naturally into the chorus without overplaying. At 80 BPM the tempo is patient, which can actually work against you if your chord changes are not clean, since there is nowhere to hide in the space between beats. The open-string resonance in E Standard tuning is a big part of the sound, so let those strings ring and resist the urge to mute too aggressively. Bush recorded this as a raw, almost acoustic moment on an otherwise heavier record, and capturing that fragility is the real goal. If the verse-to-chorus transition feels rushed, use the Practice Toolbar to loop it slowed down until the shift feels effortless. This is a good song for working on light right-hand touch within the Alternative Rock style.

• The song sits in E Standard tuning and E major, making open-position chord voicings ring out naturally with minimal fretting effort.
• Right-hand dynamic control is the core skill here: the verses demand a restrained, almost hesitant strum that contrasts with the fuller chorus feel.
• At 80 BPM the pace is slow enough that sloppy chord transitions become very audible, so clean fretting hand changes are worth isolating in practice.