VENUS was written by Robbie van Leeuwen & released by Dutch rock band Shocking Blue in 1969.
This song has an amazing distinctive intro chord strum using a B7sus4 chord and is a perfect example of rhythm study for guitar.
Open chords, varied rhythms, a run using E Minor Pentatonic Scale and some power chord slides.
Key: Em
Time Signature: 4/4
THE SONG
Chords:
The chords for the whole song:
The best place to start is the Verse rhythm.
Verse Rhythm: (the X = mute)
The 2 bars below are played 4 times for the Verses (8 Bars). This Chord sequence is also in the intro and outro.
on bar 8 in the Verse play the following run in E Minor Pentatonic
Chorus:
Follow the chord / rhythm sequence below.
The Slides:
These are played after Chorus 2 and just before the final outro.
Easy Version – play fret 5 of E string (6), pick it and then slide your finger up to fret 7. Do this 4 times on the beat (1, 2, 3, 4).
Add Complexity – Play A5 (power chord) and slide it up to B5 (power chord). Do this 4 times on the beat.
As the record – Play A Barre chord and slide it up to B Barre chord (on the beat).
Intro:
Using the B7sus4 chord (open or barre) play the following:
Pay attention to the 16th notes in the first 2 and last 2 bars.
Then play Em – A as in Verse
The slide on beat 4 of bar 4 starts from the 12th fret on E (6). Pick at fret 12 and slide all the way down so you can land on the Em chord to follow it.
Song Structure:
🎸 For additional video lesson help with this lesson ⤵️
🎸FULL SONG PLAY THROUGH⤵️