Chords for Ghost's Tobias Forge Plays His Favorite Riffs

Hi, this is Tobias Forge.
You're watching Loudwire.
_ _ [Bb] _ _ [N] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ For as long as I can remember playing guitar, I've always done so playing _ to _ music.
If we start with Kiss, that was very early for me.
It could have been _ _ Strutter.
_ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ [C] _ _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ [E] I was _ _ more of a rhythmical player.
Some guitars that I know are just _ _ _ like_
_ If you just say, the song is in A minor, and _ _ then it just goes. _
_ Whereas I'm a little bit more compositional in _ my [G] _ soloing, so that's a little bit different.
One riff that just _ out of nowhere is one of the most economical riffs I've ever heard.
_ [N] _
_ It's so fun because I can really hear _ _ James laughing when he came up with it.
It's [Em] _ [Ab] the_
_ [C] _ _ _
[E] _ _ [B] _ _ [E] _ _ _ _
[Gb] _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ [E] Like_
_ _ [Ab] That's funny.
That's a funny riff.
James Hetfield is definitely _ _ one of the best guitar players that have ever walked this [B] earth.
Even though I know sort of theoretically how to play _ [Gb] _ Master of Puppets, _
it's impossible to play Downstrokes the way that he does from start to finish for seven minutes. _ _
_ _ [Eb] _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ Truly mind-blowing.
Most ghost songs, you have to remember, I write them and then record them, and then I never play them again.
If you ask me to play Elizabeth, I will have to sit for five minutes and try to figure it out.
And then it's sort of like, oh yeah, that was clever.
Oh, that was dumb.
I should have done it this way instead.
_ [B] _ _ The [G] first one _ _ _ [Em] was_
_ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ [Em] _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ [Bb] _ _ [Em] _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ [Bb] _ _ [Em] _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ [Bb] _ _ [B] _ That was sort of the thing that_
That was the riff that originated everything.
And then it [G] was [Db] the_ _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ _ [Db] _ _ _ _
_ _ [G] _ That's the bridge _ _ into the chorus.
_ [Fm] _ _ _
The chorus is one half note up, which is kind of strange. _ _
_ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ [Bb] _ _
[Fm] _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ [Bb] _ _
[Bbm] _ _ _ _ [Ab] _ _ [Eb] _ _
_ [Fm] _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ [Bb] _ _
_ All the songs from the first record were supposed to be very pre _ -metal, _ very basic.
_ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ [Em] _
Like the most _ _ primordial, like, caveman sort of riffing, _ _ but still sort of to the point.
The band that I had in mind, that I heard in my head being Ghost, _ was _ [Gb] very much a sort of a 70s band. _
Maybe slightly older.
You know, they were in their 30s, so they had played 60s music.
You know, they had done that.
[D] _ _
[Gb] _ _ [E] _ _ _ _ [D] _ _
[A] _ _ [E] _ _ So you had one little dumber sort of guitar player [G] on one hand.
He came up [E] with a_
_ _ _ [Bb] _ _ [E] _ _
_ _ _ _ [Ab] _ But then you had the smarter guitar player next to [C] him who _ [Bm] like_ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [A] _ _ _ [G] _ _
_ _ _ _ [D] _ There you go.
_ [E] And that transformed it.
_ [E] _ _
[B] _ _ [D] _ _ [E] _ _ [E] _ _
[Gb] _ _ [D] _ _ _ _ _
On a real guitar, like on an electric guitar, this pull [G]-off is kind of important.
_ [C] _ _ [E] _ _ [Gb] _ _
[D] _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ [B] _ _
[D] _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ [B] _ _
[D] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ [Gb] _ _
[D] _ _ _ [E] And essentially the verse is basically the same riff.
_ [G] _ _ [B] _ _ [Dm] _ _
[E] _ _ [C] _ _ [B] _ _ [D] _ _
[E] _ _ [C] _ _ [B] _ _ [A] _ _
[Gb] _ _ [E] _ _ [B] _ _ [D] _ _
_ [Em] _ _ _ [C] This [Bm] _ _
[D] _ _ _ _ [C] _ _ [Bm] _ _
_ is a [A] typical me thing.
[Ab] I go astray on the third row, third line, and just do something _ that's _ longer than the previous two,
so that it lands on the fourth segment.
_ [Gb] So it comes to _
[Em] be_
_ _ [C] _ _ [Bm] _ _
[D] _ _ [Em] _ _ [C] _ _ [Bm] _ _
[D] _ _ [Em] _ _ [C] _ _ [Bm] _ _
[D] _ _ _ [E] _ _ _ [B] _ _
[D] _ _ _ [A] So it _ becomes_
In there you have a lot of information.
And it sort of gets you the brain to understand [E] that by the time that this happens, _ [D] _ _ _ [G] _ you flip sides.
And then, you know, I wanted it to be a very, very straight chorus.
_ _ So I _ [Ab] turned to the most _ [Em] used _ chord progression, if [Ab] you want to write a [Gb] song in minor.
_ And it's the [Em] most used because it's the best.
_ _ _ [G] _ _ _ [D] _
_ _ [Em] _ It's the most [C] effective [G] song, like [D] chord [Em] progression ever.
_ And this is why you've seen [C] probably YouTube clips [G] _
of [D] _ _ Jokers on TV _ singing _ _ 50 songs over that. _
[Ab] But it's because it's the most effective ever.
So I will continue writing [E] songs with that. _ _
But it needed [Gb] a little bit of flair, so I did this little _ _ _ _ addition [G] to the riff.
_ _ That sounds really good on an electric guitar.
_ _ [A] And it sounds really cool when it's like two [E] guitars playing at the same time,
because it becomes this _ sort of_
It sounds way more complicated _ and more like a movement than it [A] actually is.
_ _ _ _ [G] _ _ _
[D] _ _ _ [Eb] But you know, the whole vibe of the song was supposed to be very power pop. _
Power pop as in cheap trick, the cars.
And this feels to me very cheap [A] trick-ish.
_ _ Besides being an actual cheap trick. _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ [C] _ _
_ _ [Bb] _ _ [A] _ _ _ _
[C] _ _ _ _ [E] _ _ [Db] _ _