Green Day’s roots go all the way back to the late ’80s when guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tré Cool got together to jam. After gaining some underground success with their first indie release, 39/Smooth, they gained the attention of Reprise records and began work on their major label debut.

Dookie was released in 1994 and was met with instant commercial success, thanks to a nearly constant rotation of singles like “Longview” and “Basket Case” on MTV. They were invited to participate in the Woodstock ’94 concert, where millions of viewers took notice as the band infamously started a mud fight. Dookie went on to sell over ten million copies, and helped Green Day bring punk rock back to the mainstream.

After a few more experimental albums, the group devised a “punk rock opera” entitled American Idiot, which was released in 2004 and debuted at number one on the Billboard charts. After the album’s release, the group embarked on a lengthy tour that resulted in the live CD/DVD, Bullet in a Bible.

“21 Guns” was a single released off the band’s 2009 album, 21st Century Breakdown. This album was also considered a “punk rock opera” and was written during the tour for the previous album.

INTRO
“21 Guns” begins with a spacey intro that is played in free time. Gtr. 1 and Gtr. 2 use a series of tenths to establish the chord progression used in the Verse. Taking two notes that are a third apart and raising the higher note by an octave creates the tenth interval. Gtr. 1 alternates between Dm (D and F) and F (F and A) while Gtr. 2 handles B% (B% and D) and C (C and E).

VERSE
Gtr. 3 (an acoustic guitar) begins the Verse with Rhy. Fig. 1, which is a simple strumming pattern that goes through the main progression of the song. The chord diagrams for this section are listed at the beginning of the transcription. Eight measures into the first Verse, Gtr. 1 comes in with Rhy. Fig. 2, which reprises the volumeswelled intervals from the Intro. The swells continue for the next eight measures before Gtr. 4 comes in with a distorted tone on beat four of the last measure.

CHORUS
The Chorus comes in with Gtr. 4 playing Rhy. Fig. 3. The second chord in the figure is a dyad, with a C on the 5th string played against an open 6th string. The implied harmony here is C/E, even though a full C chord isn’t played. The progression then descends downward in whole steps from D5 to C5 and then B♭5 before jumping to a 6th string root F5 chord, then finishing up by returning to the C5 chord at the third fret.

CLICK THE TAB FOR A LARGER VIEW

BRIDGE AND INTERLUDE
One of the more interesting parts of the tune happens during the Bridge and Interlude. Here, Gtr. 5 plays a simple eighth-note based background part that not only outlines the passing harmonies, but also gives the arrangement some breathing room. Touring guitarist Jason White handles the accent parts live. For the first measure, Gtr. 5 goes between a D and F for both the D and B♭ chords. For the F5, the F note remains while the D moves down to C. The F moves down to E and the C remains in place for the C chord.

Gtr. 7 joins in with Gtr. 5 in the Interlude. This is about as close as it gets to a guitar solo in a Green Day song. The first four measures of the Interlude are shown in Fig. 1. The suggested fingering will help with some of the transitions. Begin by playing a standard F5 chord based off the eighth fret of the 5th string. The notes will ring better when you hold down the chord shape. Play the grace note hammeron with your first and ring fingers then quickly shift down to the sixth position for the F on the 2nd string. In the next measure, use your index finger for the E on beat three to prepare for the slide down to the third fret. For the first three notes in the third measure, hinge barre your middle finger over both the 2nd and 3rd strings before ending the measure with a standard F major triad in the first position.

The airy, wide-voiced intervals return in the second Interlude on the sixth page. Gtr. 2 comes in with a series of half notes that consist of chord tones that follow the progression used in the Verse.

Want more? Check out these cool links at guitaredge.com
• Get punk rock guitar tab and more at guitarinstructor.com
• Get cool Green Day gear at oldglory.com
• Get Punk Rock Guitar Play-Along Vol. 9 at musicdispatch.com
• Download “21 Guns” on iTunes
• Check out Green Day online at greenday.com

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