For many years, I played "Basket Case" by Green Day on guitar… in the wrong way!

When I decided to do this guitar lesson on Basket Case by Green Day, I realized that there’s so much nuance in both the rhythm and the chords. We'll explore all of them!

As always, we'll learn a simplified version of playing Basket Case, and a more complex, authentic one. If you're a complete beginner, learn the strumming pattern and chords, and give it a go. :) We'll also get into how to play the rhythm like Green Day did and add The Push Technique and some palm muting.

💡 Basket Case is an awesome tune for practicing Power Chords on the electric guitar. If you're planning on playing it with a band, don't miss my advice on dealing with the volume.

First things first, let’s get our guitar in tune. :)

Basket Case by Green Day: Guitar Tuning

To play Basket Case on guitar like the Green Day original, you'll need to tune to E Flat Tuning. If you have a chromatic tuner, just move all your strings down one semitone (E♭, A♭, D♭, G♭, B♭, E♭). Another way is to put a capo on the first fret, retune the open strings to EADGBE, then remove the capo. You're now in Eb!

🎸 E♭ Tuning: For more detail on this tuning, head to this lesson.

E♭ Tuning means tuning every string is tuned a semitone lower than in standard tuning. It makes the strings ever so slightly looser and so bends are a little easier. It also means that open chords are a semitone lower, so it's better for some singers. This detail was one of those I used to miss when playing Basket Case back in the day. So now you know!

Before we learn the progressions, I suggest you listen loads to the original and jam along with it to make sure you absorb the order of the sections as well as their energy. There are a lot of chords and they change pretty quickly, so it’s crucial you memorize them. :)

Basket Case by Green Day: Verse 1 Progression

Basket Case starts with a verse with only guitar and vocals. We’ll need power chords here: we play E, B, C#, G#; then A, E, B, B.

When you play these chords, make sure that your first finger mutes all the unused strings. You should be able to strum all six strings and only hear the three notes that you want. :)

Once you’ve got this progression down, try adding all-down eighth notes with palm muting. The key to palm muting is to find the point where the strings ring but with a dampened sound. Look for the Goldilocks amount of palm mute. ;)

Now we have to add pushes and accents to make it really sound like Green Day.

Pushes & Accents

The verse progression also contains three pushes - the chords change on the “and” of 4 rather than beat 1. These happen on the first E-to-B change, then C# to G#, and A to E. It always feels like I’m being pushed in the back when I switch chords early!

As for the accents, I played Basket Case live hundreds of times without doing the accents right. Nobody noticed! So if you want to be extra fussy, listen up - it’s worth practicing it right so that it sounds like the Green Day original. :) If you don’t mind, it won’t matter too much.

You can check out the authentic accents in the video! It might seem a bit complicated, so try writing it out yourself to make sense of it.

Basket Case by Green Day: Bridge Section

For the bridge, we need A, B, E, and E. The switch from A to B is pushed, and we have a similar accent pattern as the verse.

The few bars have a different feel. It’s much more strummy and energetic, and we don’t use palm muting.

It goes E5 half a bar, D5 half a bar, C#m, A, then B. Then we have a series of quick changes: E for two beats, B for two, C#m for two, then B for two. The rhythm is a bit peculiar, so check out the video or tabs for all the details.

💡 B Major Grips: I suggest you play B Major as an A-shaped barre chord so that it’s a short jump from open E chord. There are several ways to finger this B Major chord - Billy Joe plays it with fingers 1 and 4. I do the same but use finger 3 to help me out!

And here’s a pro trick – for the open E chord, play the standard grip using fingers 1, 2, and 3, but relax finger 1 so that it doesn’t press string 3 down. It should be muted so that when you strum the chord you only have five strings ringing out. This is technically an E5 chord, and it sounds fuller than your standard E chord. :)

Basket Case by Green Day: Verse 2 Progression

Verse 2 is the same as verse 1, except we switch power chords for Major and minor chords: E, A, B, C#m, and… G#5. ;)

👂 Ear Detective Work: The G# chord is a funny one. In the key of E, G#m is a diatonic chord - it’s the “proper” chord - but it just doesn’t sound right in this context. G# Major sounds a little closer to the original, but G#5 is what Green Day guitarist Billy Joel played. Transcribing is all about being a detective. ;)

The rhythm is pretty consistent here - check out the video for the exact rhythm. :)

There’s just one more section to learn. It appears near the end of the song and involves double stops based around E and C#m, along with A, E, and B Major! Check out the video lesson for full details.

Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Guitar Approaches

As you’ve seen, there’s loads to learn here - accenting, chord grips, muting, timing, and more. It’s also real easy to rush ahead or fall behind the rhythm, so make sure you play along with the original.

You can also play it at many different levels. If you’re a beginner, you can play this without barre chords - switch them for power chords and focus on your palm mute. Everyone will recognize the song even without the barre chords. :)

Take it to the next level by adding pushes and accent passages. Accents with palm mute is a crucial rock-guitar technique, and Basket Song is the perfect song for exploring it.

The volume is also key in this genre. If you want to play this music in a band or live, spend some time getting used to the volume before you even go to a rehearsal studio. It’s pretty loud, and your guitar behaves differently at those volumes. Practice at loud volumes at home before you take it out to the world. :)

I need to do more lessons on pop-punk songs! I used to love this music when I was in my early twenties, and listening to it fills me with nostalgia. Stay tuned for more. ;)

Want chords, tabs, and lyrics to follow along with my guitar song tutorials? Check out JustinGuitar Tabs!