Garage rock: a practice guide

What it is

Garage rock is the name given, mostly after the fact, to the rough rock and roll played by amateur bands in the mid-1960s. Many were teenagers who had heard the British beat groups and the surf and rhythm and blues records of the day and wanted to make that noise themselves. They rehearsed wherever there was room for a drum kit and an amplifier, which was often the family garage. Most made a record or two for a small local label and were gone a few years later.

The style never really went away. Later generations of punk and indie bands borrowed its directness, and the sound has been revived more than once since. The common thread is attitude more than era: play it loud, keep it simple, and don’t polish it.

How it sounds

• Few chords, played hard. Three or four chords carry most songs, usually strummed in steady eighth notes or hammered in downstrokes.
• Dirty guitar tone. Fuzz, an overdriven small amp, or both. Clean, careful tone is the exception.
• Combo organ. A thin, buzzing electric organ is a signature sound, often doubling the guitar riff or holding one chord.
• Shouted vocals. Sneered or yelled more than sung, with backing vocals that sound like whoever was nearest the microphone.
• Short songs. Two to three minutes is normal. Intros are short and endings are often abrupt.

Tempo and feel

Most garage rock is quick and straight, without swing. Driving songs usually sit between 140 and 180 BPM, and there are plenty of mid-tempo stompers below that. What matters more than speed is that the band locks together. The music is simple enough that any looseness in timing is exposed.

How to practise it

Build downstroke stamina. Set the metronome to two clicks per beat and play straight eighth-note downstrokes on one chord for a full minute. Start slower than the song and work up. If your arm tightens, stop and shake it out. Tension kills both tone and timing.

Rehearse the stops. Sudden breaks where the whole band cuts out for a beat are a big part of the style. Practise them against the click so everyone comes back in at the same moment.

Play it at the real tempo. Once the parts are solid, play the song at full speed with the click, then without it. If the band speeds up without the click, that’s normal; aim to keep the drift small.

Keep the arrangement lean. If a part doesn’t make the song hit harder, leave it out. Garage rock rewards a band that knows when not to play.