How to Play Lithium by Nirvana (Guitar Lesson)
What are you waiting for? Get your membership now!
Lithium
Allen Van Wert teaches this classic grunge song from the album Nevermind. Still a staple of rock radio today, this song continues Nirvana's style of soft and loud parts. Dynamics were a big part of their sound.
Taught by Allen Van Wert in Songs With Allen seriesLength: 20:17Difficulty: 1.0 of 5
Video Subtitles / Captions
Supplemental Learning Material
Songs With Allen
Found in our Beginner Lesson SetsLearn rock songs with Allen Van Wert.
Lesson 1
Turkish March
Allen Van Wert teaches his neo-classical rendition of this Mozart masterpiece.
Length: 33:18 Difficulty: 4.0 Members Only
Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers
Allen Van Wert covers the ZZ Top classic "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers."
Length: 24:58 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Angry Again
Allen Van Wert teaches this Megadeth classic.
Length: 41:01 Difficulty: 3.5 Members Only
Seventeen
Learn this classic hair metal song by the band Winger.
Length: 67:00 Difficulty: 3.5 Members Only
Hangar 18
Allen Van Wert teaches this epic Megadeth song that has no less than 11 guitar solos.
Length: 120:00 Difficulty: 4.0 Members Only
Come As You Are
Allen teaches this song from the great American grunge band Nirvana.
Length: 16:57 Difficulty: 0.5 Members Only
Lithium
Allen Van Wert teaches this classic grunge song from the album Nevermind.
Length: 20:17 Difficulty: 1.0 Members Only
Endless Sacrifice
Resident JamPlay metallurgist Allen Van Wert tackles the 11 minute epic "Endless Sacrifice" by Dream Theater. Allen meticulously explains all of John Petrucci's guitar parts in this 80 minute lesson. If...
Length: 79:14 Difficulty: 5.0 Members Only
Pull Me Under
Here is a lesson on Dream Theater's most popular song. Recognizable by its brooding clean intro and brutal distorted rhythms, this song is a must learn for metal guitarists. Chances are if you want to...
Length: 120:06 Difficulty: 4.0 Members Only
House Of The Rising Sun
Allen returns to his song lesson series with an in-depth look at the classic rock tune "House Of The Rising Sun" from The Animals. Allen provides a beginner version, the original recorded version, and...
Length: 40:37 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Dead
Allen Van Wert is back once again with a look at a great rock tune. This lesson covers the song "Dead" by Buckcherry.
Length: 87:16 Difficulty: 3.5 Members Only
It's A Party
Allen Van Wert provides another great rock tune for his song lesson series! This time, he takes a look at the Buckcherry tune "It's A Party"!
Length: 55:23 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Home
Allen Van Wert returns to his songs series with a metal tune from the band Three Days Grace. "Home" is a hard hitting song, with a lot heavy tones going on. Crank up the distortion on this one!
Length: 22:41 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Still Frame
Allen Van Wert takes an in depth look at the song "Still Frame" from the band Trapt. This is a a simpler rock song with a catchy melody to put under your fingers.
Length: 30:08 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
Gel
Allen Van Wert is back with a look at another 90's rock tune! This time around he teaches the rhythm and lead to "Gel" by Collective Soul.
Length: 20:04 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
Dance Dance
Allen Van Wert continues his song learning series with a 2000's pop rock anthem from venerable rockers "Fallout Boy!" Dance Dance is a complex rhythmic tune with lots of overdubbing and driving guitars!
Length: 17:31 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Where's Your Boy Tonight
Continuing with his look at modern pop rock songs, Allen brings a lesson on Fall Out Boy's "Where's Your Boy Tonight". This tune has layered guitars in multiple tunings.
Length: 30:19 Difficulty: 3.0 Members Only
Face to the Floor
Allen is back to his song series with a heavier tune. In this lesson, you'll learn "Face to the Floor" by modern metal band Chevelle.
Length: 14:22 Difficulty: 2.5 Members Only
The Red
Allen is back again with a look at another song from modern rockers Chevelle. In lesson 21, he covers the popular hit "The Red".
Length: 15:30 Difficulty: 2.0 Members Only
About Allen Van Wert
View Full Biography
Allen Van Wert got the nickname "ROBOT" from his unusual guitar tapping techniques that often sound like a video game more than a guitar. He has studied and played a wide variety of genres. His experimental and eclectic amalgamation of music combining shred guitar, crazy tapping techniques, and electronically infused composition contrasted by a highly emotional soft melodic side, make his debut album a really fun and interesting listen for just about anyone.
Allen has recorded guitar for the famed video game soundtrack composer Jesper Kyd (Composer of Hitman, Splinter Cell and many other big title games) as well as composing and recording for movie trailers and TV commercials. He has also been producing, recording and co-writing for local artists in his small home/project studio.
His three books on guitar technique, ear training and songwriting have helped many students over the past couple of years. Allen has also played in various cover bands in many genres since the age of 16 and has played to over 5000 on a few occasions. He was a featured guest musician on the album "West Coast Shred Fest".
In his spare time, Allen programs video games for fun. Wooo!
Acoustic Guitar Lessons
Our acoustic guitar lessons are taught by qualified instructors with various backgrounds with the instrument.
Rich Nibbe
Rich Nibbe takes a look at how you can apply the pentatonic scale in the style of John Mayer into your playing.
Free LessonSeries Details
Tyler Grant
Tyler Grant is back with an introduction to his new series "Classic Country Chops." In this series, Tyler goes in-depth...
Free LessonSeries Details
Mitch Reed
Mitch teaches his interpretation of the classic "Cannonball Rag." This song provides beginning and intermediate guitarists...
Free LessonSeries Details
Dave Yauk
Learn a simple mini song that illustrates just how intertwined scales and chords really are. Dave uses a G chord paired...
Free LessonSeries Details
Kaki King
In lesson 6, Kaki discusses how the left and right hands can work together or independently of each other to create different...
Free LessonSeries Details
Justin Roth
In this lesson Justin introduces his series on playing with a capo and dishes out some basic tips, including how to properly...
Free LessonSeries Details
Nick Amodeo
Nick explains how to play some of the most commonly used chords in the bluegrass genre.
Free LessonSeries Details
Randall Williams
In this lesson Randall introduces the partial capo (using a short-cut capo by Kyser) and talks about how it can make the...
Free LessonSeries Details
Calum Graham
Award winning, Canadian fingerstyle guitarist Calum Graham introduces his Jamplay Artist Series, which aims to transform...
Free LessonSeries DetailsElectric Guitar Lesson Samples
Our electric guitar lessons are taught by instructors with an incredible amount of teaching experience.
Horace Bray
Horace provides a short etude on how to practice connecting the different shapes of the G Major open triads. This helps you...
Free LessonSeries Details
Braun Khan
In this lesson, Braun teaches the chord types that are commonly used in jazz harmony. Learn how to build the chords and their...
Free LessonSeries Details
Eric Madis
In this lesson Eric talks about playing basic lead in the Memphis Blues style.
Free LessonSeries Details
Prashant Aswani
Do you want to play more musical sounding solos? Do you want to play solos with more emotion behind them? Maybe you're the...
Free LessonSeries Details
Andy James
Get an in-depth look into the mind of virtuoso guitarist Andy James. Learn about Andy's early beginnings all the way up to...
Free LessonSeries Details
Joe Burcaw
Join Joe as he shows one of his favorite drills for strengthening his facility around the fretboard: The Spider Technique.
Free LessonSeries Details
Brent-Anthony Johnson
Just like with the plucking hand, Brent-Anthony shows us the basics of proper fretting hand technique. In addition, he shows...
Free LessonSeries Details
Evan Brewer
Evan Brewer explains everything you need to know in order to get going with your bass guitar. Topics include the parts of...
Free LessonSeries Details
David Ellefson
David Ellefson, co-founding member of Megadeth, explains his overall approach to teaching and learning bass in this introductory...
Free LessonSeries DetailsJoin over 504727 guitarists who have learned how to play in weeks... not years!
Signup today to enjoy access to our entire database of video lessons, along with our exclusive set of learning tools and features.
Unlimited Lesson Viewing
A JamPlay membership gives you access to every lesson, from every teacher on our staff. Additionally, there is no restriction on how many times you watch a lesson. Watch as many times as you need.Live Lessons
Exclusive only to JamPlay, we currently broadcast 8-10 hours of steaming lesson services directly to you! Enjoy the benefits of in-person instructors and the conveniences of our community.Interactive Community
Create your own profile, manage your friends list, and contact users with your own JamPlay Mailbox. JamPlay also features live chat with teachers and members, and an active Forum.Chord Library
Each chord in our library contains a full chart, related tablature, and a photograph of how the chord is played. A comprehensive learning resource for any guitarist.Scale Library
Our software allows you to document your progress for any lesson, including notes and percent of the lesson completed. This gives you the ability to document what you need to work on, and where you left off.Custom Chord Sheets
At JamPlay, not only can you reference our Chord Library, but you can also select any variety of chords you need to work on, and generate your own printable chord sheet.Backing Tracks
Jam-along backing tracks give the guitarist a platform for improvising and soloing. Our backing tracks provide a wide variety of tracks from different genres of music, and serves as a great learning tool.Interactive Games
We have teachers covering beginner lessons, rock, classic rock, jazz, bluegrass, fingerstyle, slack key and more. Learn how to play the guitar from experienced players, in a casual environment.Beginners Welcome.. and Up
Unlike a lot of guitar websites and DVDs, we start our Beginner Lessons at the VERY start of the learning process, as if you just picked up a guitar for the first time.Our teaching is structured for all players.Take a minute to compare JamPlay to other traditional and new methods of learning guitar. Our estimates for "In-Person" lessons below are based on a weekly face-to-face lesson for $40 per hour.
 |
||||
| Price Per Lesson | < $0.01 | $4 - $5 | $30 - $50 | Free |
| Money Back Guarantee | Sometimes | n/a | ||
| Number of Instructors | 92 | 1 – 3 | 1 | Zillions |
| Interaction with Instructors | Daily Webcam Sessions | Weekly | ||
| Professional Instructors | Luck of the Draw | Luck of the Draw | ||
| New Lessons | Daily | Weekly | Minutely | |
| Structured Lessons | ||||
| Learn Any Style | Sorta | |||
| Track Progress | ||||
| HD Video | - | Sometimes | ||
| Multiple Camera Angles | Sometimes | - | Sometimes | |
| Accurate Tabs | Maybe | Maybe | ||
| Scale/Chord Libraries | ||||
| Custom JamTracks | ||||
| Interactive Games | ||||
| Community | ||||
| Learn in Sweatpants | Socially Unacceptable | |||
| Gasoline Needed | $0.00 | $0.00 | ~$4 / gallon! | $0.00 |
Mike H.
"I feel like a 12 year old kid with a new guitar!"
I am 66 years young and I still got it! I would have never known this if it had not been for Jamplay! I feel like a 12 year old kid with a new guitar! Ha! I cannot express enough how great you're website is! It is for beginners and advanced pickers! I am an advanced picker and thought I had lost it but thanks to you all, I found it again! Even though I only play by ear, I have been a member a whopping whole two weeks now and have already got Brent's country shuffle and country blues down and of course with embellishments. Thank you all for your wonderful program!
Greg J.
"With Jamplay I can fit in a random session when I have time and I can go at my own pace"
I'm a fifty eight year old newbie who owns a guitar which has been sitting untouched in a corner for about seven years now. Last weekend I got inspired to pick it up and finally learn how to play after watching an amazing Spanish guitarist on TV. So, here I am. I'm starting at the beginning with Steve Eulberg and I couldn't be happier (except for the sore fingers :) Some day I'm going to play like Steve! I'm self employed with a hectic schedule. With Jamplay I can fit in a random session when I have time and I can go at my own pace, rewinding and replaying the videos until I get it. This is a very enjoyable diversion from my work yet I still feel like I'm accomplishing something worthwhile. Thanks a lot, Greg
Bill
"I believe this is the absolute best site for guitar students."
I am commenting here to tell you and everyone at JamPlay that I believe this is the absolute best site for guitar students. I truly enjoy learning to play the guitar on JamPlay.com. Yes, I said the words, ""enjoy learning."" It is by far the best deal for the money.
Member Comments about this Lesson
Discussions with our instructors are just one of the many benefits of becoming a member of JamPlay.We want more!
Is this the same version played by Kurt Cobain? It seems pretty hard to play and sing that song at the same time...
If you practice it slowly you may be able to sing it. Take it a few words at a time and work on rhythm.
I find it hard to sing to sing any song while playing guitar so im afraid i cant tell
What is the amp settings used for this song both for clean and distorted. I have a vox tonelab st, so I can have any of the 33 amp models and one effect and one time based effect. The output of this I am feeding to a small physical amp Marshall MG 10
I have a query about the muting that Nirvana do a lot - that sort of 'waka waka' sound. Is the muting done only with the left hand rather than palm muting?
Come on OHIO... the upside down and backwards fretboard SUCKS... please put these back to normal.
I don't know that they have any current plans to start filming them the old way again, I apologize! I know that some don't enjoy the new angle while some do. I will point out that the majority of the lessons going on the site are still filmed the original way. The feedback is appreciated. :)
I know I am NOT the only one who LIKES that angle.. It shows what you would be looking at while YOU were looking down at your own fretboard, which ALL people do while learning and 99% of "the greats" still do from time to time.... Keep that angle OHIO boys!!
Please just use a normal front facing angle when showing us the fretboard, this upside down angle is horrible and really ruining my efforts here because as a lefty I can't make out what he is doing on the fretboard, it makes it nearly impossible for me to just look at it and play. This is why I canceled my subscription in late 2010 because this angle made it very difficult for us lefties to learn anything and when I told you guys about it then I was basically told "We have more right handed players than we do left handed, everyone enjoys the new angle" which is true, if you're right handed.
I really like the "new" angle too and personally would like to see it in MORE lessons. I really hope Jamplay continues to crank out videos using both angles so eveyone can benefit depending on how they learn the best. It would be a shame to see this angle not used...I just think more people that don't like it are voicing their opinions. I bet their are plenty of us that do appreciate this angle.
Yeah both angles would work perfectly. I'm a lefty, and the upside down view is really difficult to learn from just looking at it. I understand it is a perfect angle for right handed players but it somewhat difficult mirroring it. Wouldn't it be perfect if the JW player that Jamplay uses could get some kind of instant mirroring feature. That way everyone, left or right would be happy.
I prefer the overhead angle any day. Easier to see the fretboard and what's going on. You have both the front angle in the bottom left and the overhead in the top. So whats the problem?
Good lesson, but I have to agree with "Sylvia" above that the camera angle is not very appealing or easy to learn from. Would be great to have it back to an easier angle.
Keep em coming Allen! Love Nirvana, already knew it, but it's a wonderful song to play/hear. Thanks!
Nice one, I really like grunge, nice lesson