Johnny Marr is probably most recognised for his work with The Smiths, distinguishing the band’s sound with jangle pop riffs. A band that were not around for as long as you might think. In 5 short years the Morrissey/Marr song-writing team released 73 songs across LP’s, EP’s, Singles and B-Sides. A lifetime’s worth of incredible music.

Marr has also been a member of The Pretenders, The The, Electronic, Modest Mouse and The Cribs. He has also provided guitars as a session musician for Crowded House, Talking Heads, Hans Zimmer, John Frusciante, Noel Gallagher and Girls Aloud…

He is the guitar anti-hero. Johnny Marr riffs may sound simple and he ensures the listener never gets bored. He combines arpeggios and two-string melodies with countless open tunings and raised tunings and the use of a capo. Sometimes layering 3 or 4 guitar parts on top of one another. When you sit down to learn these guitar parts, you realise it’s not as simple as it may seem.

His guitar playing on The Smiths records is far more advanced and technical than most guitar players. He keeps it fresh by constantly exploring the fretboard and coming up with crazy innovative ideas, for example, when recording This Charming Man Johnny took an open-tuned Telecaster and set it down on top of a Fender Twin Reverb with the vibrato on full. He then dropped knives on the guitar, hitting random strings. This astonishing effect is all buried under a whopping 15 guitar parts in total.

A key part of Johnny’s sound also comes from the effects he uses live and in the studio. From the typical shimmering chorus that really fatten up his sound and give the illusion that there’s more than 1 guitar, to the lashings of reverb and delay on the major 7th chords and intricate lead lines.

Johnny uses a lot of different guitars, most notably the Rickenbacker 330, Gibson 355 along with countless Stratocasters, Telecasters and acoustics. Amp-wise he can be seen using Fender twins, Roland Jazz Chorus and a Fender Pro. The gear he uses shapes his sound but is not essential in order to imitate.

Let’s take a look at some of Johnny’s most recognisable riffs and attempt to dissect them.

1. This Charming Man

The attention-grabbing intro to This Charming Man is unmistakable Johnny Marr. His trademark chorus-coated double-stops draw the listener in for the first few bars. The rhythm section kicks in, and where most guitarists would repeat the introductory hook, Marr proceeds to pick his way through a rolling country-tinged lick, cleverly incorporating the open high e string. He rounds the lick off by messing about with a crescendo of double-stops and the entire band come to a halt, paving the way for Morrissey to do his bit.

Marr used an old Telecaster on this record, you don't need a lot of effects, just a little chorus and reverb. Johnny uses a capo on the 2nd fret for this song.

2. What Difference Does It Make?

In this track Marr keeps things relatively simple, it's his classic jangly sound and although it's a relatively simple chord structure, outlining the chords - A, C and D, Johnny effortlessly squeezes out a majestic pop melody. The riff uses a string skipping technique and it can be a little tricky at first to get down that bouncing rhythm. Not many effects used here again, just the usual suspects - chorus, reverb and a light overdrive. Capo on the 2nd fret.

3. The Boy With The Thorn In His Side

Written by Marr in 1985 while the band were on tour promoting Meat Is Murder, this instrumental became a staple warm up for Marr, Rourke and Joyce until it was recorded later that year and released as a single. The album version was later enhanced with more guitar overdubs, complete with a rich string section to fit in with the rest of the tracks on the album.

The format is unusual. In the opening sequence, the band opens with a suspenseful two chord pattern later identified as the pre-chorus. This acts as a build up to the chorus where Johnny executes an almost flamenco-sounding barrage of triads underlying Morrissey's confessional vocal line.

There are many overdubs of both electric and acoustic guitars on this recording but we'll just be concentrating on the main hook. These triads on the bottom three strings are typical of the Johnny Marr jangly sound and here, i've outlined the chords for each triad as a guide.

4. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now

Johnny explains that he got this guitar on January 2nd 1984, few weeks earlier when The Smiths were gonna sign to Sire Records, they were wined and dined by Seymour Stein and getting stories out of him about different bands. In one tale, Stein claims he took Brian Jones to go and buy a guitar in New York, so Marr took the opportunity to ask for the same deal and they would sign to the record label. Stein agreed, and true to his word took Johnny to a guitar store 'Manny;s Music' on 48th street as all the stores were closing. Johnny spotted this one guitar and fell in love. The red '59 Gibson ES-355.

The first notes he played on his brand new guitar were what would later become the iconic introductory riff on Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now. Johnny was in awe and had no idea where the riff came from. He writes riffs in his sleep. He decided quickly that it must be turned into a song.

The opening chords are quite jazzy for a Smiths track. Accompanied by the bass, Johnny hits an E major 7 followed by a C major 7, while gently fluttering the whammy bar (this could quite easily be an Allan Holdsworth tune at this point). Marr then descends to B minor and finally Asus2 to setup the shimmering jangly riff. Now we're in Smiths territory.

Light chorus and reverb, capo on the 2nd fret.

5. Barbarism Begins At Home

'Barbarism' is essentially a lengthy funk jam revolving around a couple of Chic-esque guitar licks from Johnny Marr and Andy Rourke's repetitive slap bass line. The pair were secretly into their funk and the band took a huge risk with this track but it pays off.

The main riff contains these chunky power chords with the high e string left to ring out before Johnny rounds it off with a signature jangly move. He then plays these blistering hammer-on's and pull-off's before taking the janglyness to the next level with a sweeping magical riff across 5 strings.

Genius.

So there you have it, the majestic guitar-god genius of Johnny Marr. I am a huge fan of Johnny's playing and learning his riffs and lines really does improve your knowledge and understanding of the guitar. Over the years I've analysed all of his techniques and his playing style and it truly is unique, I find it difficult to ever get bored of The Smiths and all the wonderful melodies Johnny managed to squeeze out of his guitars in those fantastic 5 years. A reunion looks increasingly unlikely but there's more than other material to make a long-lasting legacy.

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How To Play Guitar Like Johnny Marr