Riff Rundown

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Difficulty: Easy – Intermediate

Composer – Cheap Trick

Where to find this song – Heaven Tonight track #1

Release Date -January 1978

Cheap Trick was formed in 1975 by Robin Zander, Rick Nielson, Tom Petersson, and Bun E. Carlos. The band toured extensively before releasing their first album in 1977. The album failed to chart in the US but did well in Japan. It was in Japan that the group recorded their 1979 “Live at Budokon.” The album reached number 4 on the US charts and sold more than three million copies. Their next album, ” Dream Police, was also a hit and spawned two top 10 singles.

Verse Riff

How To Play It

Begin this riff by placing your 1st finger on the “A” string on the second fret, and your 3rd finger on the “D” string on the fourth fret. Throughout the first measure, notice that you will almost always be playing the “A” string on the second fret constantly, so for the in between parts of the notes where you see the “two” on the tablature, keep that as a constant strum, and mostly try to move your 3rd and 4th fingers. After you have played what was shown above once, then move your 4th finger to the sixth fret on the “D” string and play that once. For what you have learned so far, you will play that a total of two times in the first measure, and then at the end of the measure you will need to just pick up your fingers off of the fretboard and play the “low E” and the “A” string open once and together. That will end the first measure.

For the second measure, place your fingers just as arranged in the

first measure, except substitute your fingers up one string on both
parts. Play this measure the exact same way.

For the third measure, place your 1st finger on the “A” string on the second fret and play that approximately seven times, then pulling your fingers off of the fretboard and playing the open notes on the “low E” and the “A” string.

For the fourth measure, leave your 1st finger where it is, and barre your 3rd finger on the “D” and “G” strings o the fourth fret. Play that about six times and you are done with the riff!

Riff Resources

Complete Transcription To “Surrender” (PDF)

Complete Transcription To “Surrender” (Power Tab)