Pete Townshend's EASY but Super Useful Tips and Tricks for Guitar 

The Mighty Who, greatest live band. Pete one of the greatest singer songwriters ever. Can play any instrument professionally, perform, play, and sing at the same time. Write hit songs all on his own. Author, editor, producer, businessman. Only equal to Paul McCartney.

Pete is a unique guitar player.I saw lots of the guitar greats including Hendrix but Pete was the best performer I ever saw live!

Pete was/is seriously UNDERRATED in rock guitar! \m/

Love his songwriting and sound, the fact that he does not play the same tired blues solo's is a plus.

I am 60 years old and have been playing since I was 7. I even played my share of paid live shows and put recordings out too. But you taught me some really great stuff about Pete Townshends chord voicing that I totally missed out on so kudos to you! I better get singned up!

I LOVE that song "The Seeker". The guitar chords don't sound like regular chords and that's what makes it interesting.

Pete has such a unique guitar sound. Simple, effective and melodic. Some great chords and riffs is all you need sometimes.

I love Pete’s use of chord inversions. From ‘67-‘72 he had the best sound with the SG Specials and the Hiwatts. You nailed the sound of those songs in Quadrophenia!

I became a Who/Pete Townend fan in 1970 when I was 12, two years after I started playing guitar. Fortunately, my 7th grade history/music teacher was also a PT fan, and together we worked on learning to play _Tommy_. I still never get tired listening to Pete's demos and isolated guitar tracks to pick up all his tricks.

The opening lead in Eminence Front is among the greatest I’ve ever heard, and I’ve heard them all.

Definitely worthwhile Pete Townshend technique to point out. Thanks for showing how he did them!

Its easy to dismiss petes playing because he doesn't play many solos like Clapton etc . But nothing beats his own unique playing style , just listen to Tommy or live at Leeds his chord work is perfection! Plus he has the ability to get so much out of a few easy chords , check out won't get fooled again baba o reily, squeeze box .and so many more songs . 🎵

That Les Paul Deluxe with the Mini Humbuckers really does have a unique sound on those Townshend chords-fat and plenty of low end, yet still clear and bright on the high end! I think some of those Townshend chords actually sound like the opening guitar riff on “Treat Her Like a Lady” by Cornelious Brothers and Sister Rose!

As a lifetime bassist who has always dabbled with acoustic and rhythm I've lately been trying to improve my chord vocabulary. Some great tips here for me to learn some new techniques and chord voicings.

I spent thousands of hours listening to Who Live at Leeds, Who’s Next, and Tommy as a teenager. I spent all my time trying to emulate Page, Clapton, Alvin Lee, Paul Kossoff, Mark Farner, Carlos Santana, and never realized how much Pete Townsend’s playing influenced my playing of chords and riffs for that matter. I pretty much internalized and still routinely play these Townsend “tricks” without ever sitting down to study them.

Great video , I love The Who and Pete Townsend's playing, he was one of my early influences also ,his playing of triads, muting , droning , thanks for giving him attention !

My favorite band of all time. They invented heavy metal, punk and the Rock Opera, and every position a consumate musician. Thank you so much.

Thank you Mark... another very exciting and informative lesson about one of our greatest modern composers!

100% agree that Townshend is a guitar genius! Great analysis as usual! Thanks man!

Great stuff. Pete's G is my go to. Personally learned it first from Jimmy's Tangerine tho! Tom Petty goes there a lot too.

Pete is an absolute metronome, quite apart from his fingering skills. Neither Moonie nor The Ox could hold time so Pete was like the click track. I learned so much about playing, both guitar and bass, from him. He could keep a beat with incredible accuracy while basically, musical chaos surrounded him. All bands need someone who can do that, even orchestras - it's why they have conductors. So, young sprockets, before you spend your time learning fancy licks or even scales, put in the hours to get your time and rhythm perfect.

Nice video and showing some of the tricks of the rock guitar trade! I'm a big Who fan from way back and loved the showmanship of Pete. I'll just call him Mr. Power Chord moving forward. Earlier today, I was listening to one of their drummer's, Simon Phillips, tell the story of when Pete got his tremolo bar stuck through his hand. He saw Pete's hand go down, but it didn't come up. Pete was right next to Simon, and he could hear Pete say, "That doesn't look good." I guess a hand expert was in town and said Pete was so lucky as it didn't pierce anything important in the hand. He gave him some painkillers, and Pete was ready to go in just another day or two.

that D triad moving up the neck is really cool Im using it..thanks for the video always gr8 stuff..

Great stuff here. I think Live At Leeds rivals The Song Remains The Same, as the greatest live album ever.

So cool to hear that Pete Townshend is a great guitar player. His sound is so efficient. No hard rock or metal act ever came close to the sheer aggression of Live at Leeds. Just listen to the riff at 8:40 in the My Generation medley.

I also had a HUGE Who phase in middle school and early high school. Ive used that G open power chord at 2:07 for over 15 years and totally forgot that I learned it from Pete. Thanks for a great video and nostalgia trip.

I thought his best moves were windmills and guitar smashing. 😂 Pete did great soloing on Quadrophenia. He has great percussive technique and is a great writer.

I have been chasing down Pete's exact harmonic phrasing for 40 years - and you nailed it. THANK YOU.

Glorious indeed earn my gratitude my admiration and my zub thanks mark fom a guy who identified as Tommy to my whole family

Wish I had known all this back in 1978. Thanks heaps Mark

While I was never a big Who or Townsend fan, I appreciate both and learned a lot of my "fat chording" from covering those songs when bandmates wanted to do them. While I like lots of the hits, the only album I really listened to was Tommy. But after taking that apart for a year or so, I found Pink Floyd and got lost there for a few years.

Very cool! I went through a Who phase in the 70s, so much so that after seeing Live at Leads, I bought an SG. To me, Pete is the ultimate less-is-more player. It looks simple, but it's his ferocity that is the secret sauce. That is what is hard to replicate. As always, great material, Mark! Thank you for taking the time you do to enlighten us.

Great job. Pete was my main influence as a guitarist. He is one of the very few guitar players from that time period that actyally gave himself a voice.

Superb, thanks Mark. Can you do one for his lead playing when you have time please? Pete is a majorly underrated lead player.

Thanks for this acknowledgment, Pete's def a fantasticly important part of rock guitar history. Power and finesse as only he does it, love Pete!!

He even did the drone very early on: I Can See For Miles. Very cool video. I think I'm more influenced by Pete than I even realized :) I really like playing the open A with the 5th fret on the top two strings pressed.

Great video! I think it's worth taking note of Pete's solo guitar work. For a period of time he was heavily into the big solo thing, the Isle of Wight concert being a prime example but ultimately it seems that even though he was a great solo guitarist when he wanted to be, he didn't always want to be. Ultimately he is best remembered for his innovative chord work and his song writing, as well as other innovations. But he was every bit the solo guitarist when he wanted to be. Mind you it's hard to be a Solo guitarist when John Entwistle is producing bass notes like bubbles in a glass of overly excited beer!

Presented very well. I love Townshend's (sp) roaring rhythms and simple but profound leads. 👍

KILLER sound you got there.

For Pete/Who fans. Check out Live Tanglewood 1970. You will see when he maxes the Hiwatt, hits the fuzz pedal and all hell breaks loose-just fantastic

Fantastic rhythm player

Fantastic!

The speed of the mans chord changes though It seems to me, he needed a way to do those and fingered the chords to suit Only guessing of course, I don't know the man personally

I'm busting out my '61 SG Special and am going to HAVE SOME LOUD FUN!

Thanks Mark for sharing Pete's style of music playing especially the drone constant sound with movable scale example. The power chords are another one area I always explore to add into my library of guitar playing techniques.

He’s a great inspiration for me

Whaaaaaaaaaaat?? No windmills, Mark!!?? Jim C.

SUPERB ❤ Mark I really enjoyed this lesson. Great stuff! Many thanks🤟👋🖤🦋🖤

Mark, Townshend possibly did invent the power chord and some are very intricate and loud, as you have demonstrated. Why? Keith Moon and the drums were the lead instrument, Entwistle was the time keeper.

Hey that was a great lesson. I like Pete's work on Magic Bus. You can tell that he was a banjo player.

Very informative and very well presented!!! Thanks!!

Love me some Chairman Townshend!⚡️Nice work.

At last a vid that does Pete justice. 🎉

It might just be me, but some of Pete's style reminds me of Malcolm Young's, especially when Pete hangs there and plays more of a rythym guitar. Pete is way more experimental, but their aggresive and precise playing are similar. I had never noticed it, but when you played that Won't Get Fooled Again riff, it reminded me of the riff on Rock and Roll Singer by AC/DC.

Very clear. Thank you. ❤

I loved his acoustic work on Love ain’t for Keeping. Learnt much from that.

Great insight! I play guitar well enough to learn these cool techniques! Like you, I was in junior high when I discovered The Who (mid 70s), but I was a drummer discovering Keith Moon! Oh, the memories! I actually still play drums and have my Keith Moon chops! Lol.

Inventing new chord shapes, just to omit the 3rd. Genius.

Did Pete not say that he was inspired by Purcell’s use of pedal point?

Big Who fan 😎👍

3:18 like that drone d sound

Thank you, I've subscribed - this is an excellent video, genuinely useful and insightful.

Nicely done. A lot of Pete’s solo-ish stuff is kinda hidden behind their wall of sound. Like Won’t Get Fooled Again. Tons going on beside the PCs. As for solos? If you haven’t come across it, Pure and Easy. Great song. And an astounding solo. (Think Pete said it was one he was particularly proud of)

Thanks for this ,I just love it

Quadrophenia is one of the greatest albums of all time!

I think Dave Davies was playing power chords before Pete

Pete got the idea for the Windmill after witnessing Keith Richards doing an arm- stretch exercise before playing.

Nice, thank you.

@MarkZabel - Nice summary of Pete's tricks! I've admired his signature tricks since a teen, and it's nice that you've captured them in a short but sweet vid. How are you getting your tone? It's killer - thanks!

Hey, awesome video like always insightful. What amp/pedal were you using in the demo?

I saw the classic Who Live and they were the best band live. Better than Zeppelin. Pete had this trick that I haven't totally figured out. He plays a chord that sounds to me like all the strings are open. What is he doing?

What year is the gold top, Mark?

when you talk about droning notes, you seem to walk right past one of their first and best songs ever, "I Can See For Miles"

That Les Paul sounds incredible

An extremely good "researcher" from what were led to believe.

Great stuff! Are those Lollar Firebird pickups in your LP Special?

"Even if you have no interest in theory" = "I don't want to know what I'm doing."

Subtle!

Merci ....

Sus4 chords too - they are all over Tommy

Do you think you could do a lesson on how Pete played won't get fooled again from the policemen's ball?

Si!

Alex Lifeson uses that e chord with the b more than anybody

Noice!!!

❤

Yeah, but how does he do them windmills without missing or hitting his hand on the neck? 🤣😼

I've ripped enough Townshend off in my playing that he'd be well within right to sue me.

Mini humbuckers? Hm.

Love Pete's playing but he's turned into a grumpy old man who can't say a nice thing about anyone. I'll take Page over him in a heartbeat.

Definitely worthwhile Pete Townshend technique to point out. Thanks for showing how he did them!