Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus Lesson

Learn to play Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus on JustinGuitar!


View the full lesson at Teenage Dirtbag by Wheatus | JustinGuitar

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Awesome song, and (as always) awesome and clear lesson. This is one I happened to know already, but it was definitely worth going through again to solidify it.

Couple of things I do differently (I unfortunately didn’t take any notes so not sure from where, perhaps from GuitarZero2Hero), and I think they add a little to the song, so thought I’d mention them in case anyone is interested in experimenting with them.

In the bridge (“Oh yeah, Dirtba-ag”), you can play E B5 Asus (so substituting the B5 for the palm-muted chord). It’s a pretty quick change, so Justin may have intentionally simplified it for ease, but as B5 is already a chord in the song (these are the same chords as in the verse, just in a different order), I don’t think it amps up the difficulty too much to add it back in (relistening to the original, I’m pretty sure that chord is there).

In the chorus, where it goes to the single-note riff starting on C#, you can add in a slide up to the C# from 2 frets down (a B), and you can do it every time this riff (or its extended variant) appears.

Lastly, in the verse, it might help to know that the upstrum on the “uh” of 4 (the 16th note right before the 1) doesn’t have to be of the whole chord, but just the thinnest two strings (and it also sounds fine if you only catch the thinnest string).

But, as with all things, play around to find out what sounds the best to your ears, of course!

I’ve been working on a version of this song with rewritten lyrics involving the characters from Beverly Cleary’s Ramona series, so hopefully I’ll be able to get that recorded soon! Currently recovering from covid (ugh).

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Thanks, I’ll make sure to try those :slight_smile:

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Awesome stuff. Just rediscovered this track and now i know how to play it. Thanks

went back and revised the Grade 3 Backbeat Hit lesson and my does that help with this song
I thought I already knew that but was doing it all wrong.
Great bit of technique to learn again properly
Especially the bit about getting the feel right & enjoyable and how this enables you to connect better with the audience