Geddy Lee makes use of a simple power chord in creating a wicked chordal groove. In this lesson we’ll look at how to play the intro and how that chord works and you’ll get to check out my brand new look!

Turn The Page

This bass line is from the into of Turn The Page from Rush’s Hold Your Fire album and features a cool riff that uses bass chords in a slightly different context. It’s roughly 160bpm in the key of B Major and is a really fun riff to play.

Power Chords

The chords we re using here are power chords, which are made up of the root and fifth. For this riff however, we extend to make use of the root again at the top. So for that first chord, we have; B, F# and B as shown on the stave below.

We also make use of barring by holding our fretting index finger over the A, D and G strings. The notes here are B, E and A, this gives the sound of a B sus 7 chord.

Putting It All Together

So, now you know the chords we will be using, we just have to put it together and get the rhythmic pattern down. The first part of the intro is as below.

Then, once we have played the first riff through four times, we move the whole pattern down to the 11th fret position of Ab as shown on the TAB and stave below.