Riff by Riff: Ghost of Perdition by Opeth

Greg breaks down every note of Ghost of Perdition, followed by a playthrough.
For the transcriptions, go to www.turrigenous... and click on Tabs
Playthrough: 53:48
Tuning: 0:50
Intro: 1:32
Riff of Meme Legend: 2:30
"Devil cracked...": 6:42
Hold Before Pull-off: 9:00
"Rode into the dark...": 13:31
12-string Ahs: 15:24
Short Solo: 20:02
6 Downbeats, not 2 Triplets: 21:00
"Darkness by her side...": 21:59
Octave Lead I: 24:13
Bass Does Cool Stuff: 28:20
"Inside the hissing...": 29:16
I'm Calling this the Chorus: 30:49
Flutes, Despair: 33:35
Octave Lead II: 36:22
Solo: 37:37
Mysterious Riff: 43:32
Transition Most Evil: 48:02
6-string Ahs: 49:43
Heavy Ahs: 50:00
Ending: 52:12

[@MiikeyLawless]

One of the best song lessons ive ever come across. I really love that you make sure to go over the rhythm as thats the hardest part of the song imo!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Glad I could help! When I teach I always try to include the overall musical concepts (rhythm, chords, scales, etc) because I think it makes it all more meaningful

[@Qayth]

you're the best dude, thank you.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

vikernes you’re welcome!

[@blainnoone375]

Brilliant breakdown and each section was very well explained :)

[@clmbrr.1316]

Awesome ! I've been trying to learn this song since I was 17 years old. (I'm 28, now, btw.) Usually, I tend to learn things by ear, but since this is in a REALLY odd tuning I was never able and neither had the patience to learn it. Thanks !

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

R. Colombero I actually learned the song in a totally wrong tuning (D standard) years ago, but I knew it wasn’t quite right. Glad to help!

[@shahin75pf97]

52:10 Of course I'm still with you! Took me about a month to finish the video😂 and I had such a great time. I cant even try express how grateful I am for all your efforts making this video. Thank you for being an amazing teacher🤘

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it and got a lot out of it! -Greg

[@adrianurrusuno2607]

First Heir Apparent, now this... Workout for all the next week!! Thank you so much man!

[@rudysmom2646]

Dude holy moly this is amazing, will you consider doing some more lessons on opeth in the near future?

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thank you, and yes! They're a bit slow coming, but I love that classic stuff so there will be more

[@rudysmom2646]

@@TurrigenousOfficial Can't wait man, also thanks a lot for your lessons on GoP and Heir Apparent. It's crazy how they manage to sound so heavy even in standard tuning.

[@thekingofhenk5944]

thank you for living

[@eugencristianudrea]

I must confess this song is way more complex than expected, but your video has to be the most complete lesson and all the details are really awesome. I have been religiously practicing bits and pieces of it and I can already master a few of the passages. I can't wait until I reach the level where I can do a complete playthrough on this! Thank you so much, Turrigenous!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

It’s my pleasure!

[@eugencristianudrea]

@@TurrigenousOfficial by the way, I see you are very keen on Allan Holdsworth covers, any chance you will be adding additional Opeth lessons? :)

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks but that isn't me haha. John (me) does the Allan stuff. Greg does the Opeth stuff. I've been trying to twist his arm for a year now to do more.

[@eugencristianudrea]

@@TurrigenousOfficial ooooh, haha, I thought you just changed over the years, makes sense now :D. Do keep at it, I mean I know life gets in the way, but his guitar and teaching skills are quite synergetic.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

It's OK haha you weren't the first! I agree. This was an idea I had and the Allan stuff took off so it was easy but didn't want this to just be an only Allan tribute page! So I'd like him to do more to even it out since we have somewhat different music loves

[@ESPViper100]

I came here to find the solo, but watched through the whole thing in one sitting. Your teaching is amazing, and the way you play is damn clean and accuracte as well. Awesome! More, PLEASE!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks so much; glad you got so much out of it! I've got some more stuff coming, although not Opeth. I will eventually do some more classics from them, though

[@KANAICHARAN089]

Great lesson. Is there any plan to make another opeth tutorial ? I wanted to request the song blackwater park.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Slowly but surely, hah. I was thinking about doing one song from each classic album

[@KANAICHARAN089]

@@TurrigenousOfficial If that's the case then I would like you to make a lesson on the song black rose immortal from morningrise.

[@WellingtonSilvaf1]

Congrats man, I hope I can see a Blackwater Park version of this

[@Jeff-ik9zj]

DUDE YOU ARE A HERO, i started learning this song a week ago but was never able to make it sound good because all the tabs for this are wrong, but your lesson is spot on! amazing explanation on the rythms too!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Online tabs are often a mess, but for my students and songs I really love I do my own transcriptions and try to get them as accurate as possible. Thanks! -Greg

[@gallachermatt]

Your lessons are always amazing. picked up so many subtle things in Heir apparent that were not in any tab that I found. And the explanations and exhibition of playing it slowly just making things so much more digestible. You gotta keep making these song breakdowns!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks so much! I've got a lot more coming, but not Opeth at the moment...

[@christopherackerman2191]

Thank you so much for doing this lesson! I tried to learn this song around this time last year and ultimately gave up because I couldn't figure it out on my own, and other lessons I found online just didn't cut it. Now I'm about half-way done learning the song, and confident that I'll see it through. Once I really get the song down good, I think I'll post a cover video of my own. Thanks again, you're awesome man!

[@arrtv3139]

Sing it too!

[@benjammin3381]

Awesome lesson, i love the accuracy of the right notes which is really a rare thing on youtube. Its such a fun song to play. Really a masterpiece.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks, Ben!

[@FellishBeast]

I’ve been playing guitar for about a month and decided I want to learn to play this song. Thanks for doing this. So far, it is mostly above my skill and knowledge level (had to look up what hammer on and pull off was, lol) but I’m making progress. 😅

[@sarbajitdam2562]

Thank you so much, dude. It took me more than two days, but I finished it. Your tabs helped a lot too. Thank you for teaching me this great masterpiece. Love from India.

[@quercingtime]

Being a beginner at this instrument, I find it very hard to see exactly what you are doing. But I can get some parts out of it so it definitely helped.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Awesome, keep at it! Not an easy song for a beginner. Remember, there’s also a link to my tablature so you can really follow along. If you can’t read tab yet, I strongly suggest learning it ASAP. It’s not too hard, and it’ll help you learn more complex passages than you’ll most likely ever be able to get without

[@quercingtime]

@@TurrigenousOfficial I think I can read a bit of simple tab but it takes a long time and it really helps to have a video and someone playing to look at. It will take a long time but I will eventually be able to play songs from my favourite band: Opeth 😄 Thanks for the videos, Heir Apparent is also a goal of mine :) We need more people who makes tutorials of this band 👍

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

AexoTheBlade keep at it; reading tab will get easier the more you do it. I’ve seen it a thousand times with my private students!

[@quercingtime]

@@TurrigenousOfficial👍

[@metallicafever9602]

Thanks for the lesson man. Could you do Harlequin forest anytime soon?

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Probably won’t do another from GR, but you never know…

[@metallicafever9602]

@@TurrigenousOfficial Ah alright. What about BWP then? Or Damnation? I reckon Damnation is easier a bit..

[@ahmadelzawawy6874]

FINALLY ANOTHER OPETH TRACK

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Sorry for the wait 😬

[@ahmadelzawawy6874]

@@TurrigenousOfficial well worth it tho

[@stellaotto5654]

Dude, this is great. Thank you so much. ❤❤❤❤

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

You’re quite welcome!

[@davidmcleod1760]

The long short long thing is definetely the way I've been that little octave lick.

[@prawtism]

wow, no excuse to not learn it now

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Praw right on! Let me know how it goes

[@SeanRobertLandis]

Guitar tone sounds good. Tuned perfect

[@TheEndwalker]

What a legend! Thank you so very much!

[@BMHighGain]

Nice. I’ve been hoping you would do another Opeth song after your Heir Apparent tutorial. Props!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

You’re quite welcome! Anything in particular you’d like to see next?

[@BMHighGain]

Definitely either The Amen Corner or Godhead’s Lament. Keep up the great work!

[@Ramdas_Devadiga]

@@TurrigenousOfficial How do we support you for the sheer amount of valuable work you are putting out? I cannot thank you enough.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Ramdas Devadiga part of what we do is to bring attention to our original music in Turrigenous. Check it out! 😁

[@Ramdas_Devadiga]

@@TurrigenousOfficial Now Playing- Black Stone Opus on Spotify! Followed too. Thank you for being awesome \m/

[@yashdixit1349]

Please do a fair judgement 🙏

[@markcameron2353]

Awesome lesson! I've only got the first bits down so far but thanks so much for this and the tab. Do you have a patreon or paypal tip jar? Also, can you tell me what you are using to get that awesome tone? Cheers.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thank you, Mark! Nothing is set up yet, but if you could check out our original music that's more than we could hope for (2 newest songs are as videos on this channel). For tone, it's just my PRS 513 directly into my interface, using Ampire (the amp plugin bundled with Presonus' Studio One)

[@salvationp3951]

Blessings 🙏 from Morocco

[@milesabuv]

How so many riffs fit together so good? the mystery of Opeth

[@alejopieroni4590]

Such a work of art, the song and your transcription. Thanks for just handing this to the world 🤘

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

My pleasure!

[@kowen6695]

This is amazing! Thank you so much man, awesome guitar lesson

[@jeffhutchins6874]

I can't find the tab on the Turrigenous web page. Is it still available.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Hey Jeff. Sorry about that: there’s something wrong with the mobile site right now. If you use the regular desktop version, you should be able to find them. Please let me know if you still can’t find them!

[@Xenouvious]

Great! Are you open to suggestions? One of my favourite Opeth tracks is The Amen Corner, so it would be cool to see that covered.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

TGS I’ve got a couple requests so far. That’s on the short list. I may do one song from every pre-Heritage album first, not decided

[@PappaAbe]

Totally amazing lesson. Gotta ask, what’s the meme thing about? 😅

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

There are a bunch of memes about first time, unsuspecting listeners and how loud it kicks it at 8 seconds

[@LamaraZedek]

Im pretty sure i will never be able to play this! But! You did a great jooooob! 52:56

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Just keep at it and you will. Thanks!!

[@Tobiastobwy]

Website doesn't work dude. Tried to access the tab for this and unable to :/ otherwise awesome tutorial

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

That's strange. The website worked for me, as well as I was able to open the tab. Are you outside the US?

[@dandylion6]

New subscriber. You are an awesome teacher. Thank you

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thank you so much! 🤘

[@PotatoL001]

Do you have an alternate link for your tabs? Your website doesnt show them

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

We're having some issues with the mobile site right now, but if you're on a computer browser there shouldn't be an issue. Please let me know if you still have a problem getting them!

[@D4n13L76]

Harlequin Forest next?

[@IDGAF_PLUS]

THANKS FOR THIS!!!!!!

[@stepitupandgo67]

"before you get scared out of your shoes"...it was too late for lots of folks right there hah!!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

🤣

[@SamridhSharma-xh8vp]

Great cover man. Btw which guitar are you using?

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks! I'm using a PRS 513

[@audioengineer86]

Brroooooo My Missing Half!! Love those guys!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Great band. We've played with them a couple times

[@cybsworld]

Thank you

[@okamyst2135]

Thanks a lot !

[@jim-cl]

Holy F*! First time I watch one hour Tutorial of a Song.. insane! Thanks man!

[@jolup1]

Amazing lesson man! I noticed that Opeth use the strumming pattern at 33:57 a lot, and I was wondering how you get those muted notes to sound so clean? I get a lot of unwanted harmonics ringing out from the dead strings.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks! It’s hard to see because I’m doing it very quickly, but to not get harmonics you have to mute the strings in more than one place. So as I keep my fingers on the strings but don’t press hard enough for them to ring, I may also (depending on the chord and finger availability) get my pinky to cover the strings in addition. Make sense? It’s totally one of those things that’s tricky at first but is intuitive once you get the hang of it

[@jolup1]

@@TurrigenousOfficial Thanks for the tip! I guess I'll get better at it the more I practice

[@victoriashybetska2422]

YEEEE OPETH

[@gabrielwolff7326]

Amaing

[@vyacheslavkhrushch8151]

This one deserves at least 10 000 likes

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Vyacheslav Khrushch thanks! Working on it...

[@four4r92]

This is amazing, great lesson. Thank you!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

four4r happy to help 🤘🏻

[@thomasscales5376]

Sweet my missing half shirt!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Great band, cool guys. Turrigenous has played with them a few times

[@HemeHaci]

At minute 25 riff, Mikael actually plays the flattened notes in between as well. Not just the octave notes. Great job buddy

[@BungleJoogie68]

You and John are saints for making great lessons.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

You’re too kind! We’re glad to share our passion and knowledge

[@saschamarr495]

Thank you very much for all your hard work and all the attention to detail!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

My pleasure!

[@alexz6912]

Have been playing guitar for a month (mexican strat). Took up the hobby inspired in major part to learn to play Opeth melodies, especially motivated by the prospect of learning the segment 56:38--57:57. VERY helpful tutorial, thank you so much.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

You're welcome! My first guitar was also a MiM strat 👍🏻

[@MetalDoraemon6]

EXcellent work. 5/5

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

:-D Thanks!

[@k5elevencinc0]

Thank you! About to study the hell out of this video.

[@joex-mn4we]

Hope you can do a lesson on Bleak, I’ve never found anything accurate for that

[@kishankuldip4438]

Please do a lesson for Blackwater park! I've managed to pick it up till the clean part. not able to figure out the next heavy riff after the clean part. Someone please help! there's no lesson video on YT for this song.

[@kowxley1793]

hi, I suggest you try to listen to every note you can hear and try to find the chords by ear (or you could just do the old looking at the tabs on the internet, but it's not the best idea) That's how I learned it, since as you said, there's no tutorial for it.

[@MertSimsekGuitar]

Dude you are the man!! Very helpful lesson!! When i started the learn this song i couldn't be able to solve rhythmic shenanigans mostly and the theory, but you saved me. And what a song, way more complex than i expect. Thank you so much for the lesson and your time. 🤘🏼🤘🏼

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Glad you took a lot from it!

[@martinj2814]

Man, i love you. I learned heir apparent thanks to you, and now ghost of perdition? Thank you sooo much man

[@stepitupandgo67]

the 513 is sure sick

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thank you! 😁

[@manueldemirdzhiyan7992]

You explain stuff extremely well! I had to go to sleep, but I stayed until the end, just because I can't stop the video :D

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks a lot!! Glad you enjoyed it.

[@mohammedayane4695]

LEGEND. can you please tell me the gear you're using. And thank you for such a helpful tutorial

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Just my PRS 213 into my DAW, which is Presonus Studio One. The sounds are from the included plugin, Ampire

[@Thrasher181]

I wish you had Harlequin forest and blackwater park lessons like this. This is amazing

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks! Maybe in the future

[@strange_logic]

Awesome lesson, and thanks so much for providing the tab. I'm about 90% finished learning it.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

My pleasure!

[@ramirogimenez6525]

holy shit, its perfect

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

😁 thank you!

[@NorthernLights831]

Man i keep coming back to this video. So in depth and thorough its insane how perfect this lesson is taught. Thank youb

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks!!

[@glennsantiago8705]

Thank you for sharing sir.. 😁😁

[@MPMGBoss]

subscribed exclusively due to this video helping me so much , im still very new to guitar im having trouble figuring out how you mute in the first section of the song the chords that go -> 2 , 0 and 1, 0 and 0, 0 right before the usual mikael lick, the rest of the thinner strings always ring out for me no matter how gently i play

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

General rule: the pick hand kills the lower (thicker) strings, the fret hand is responsible for killing the higher strings. Try keeping part of your fingers on the highest strings (gently, though!)

[@SpiritCrusher89]

This is exactly what I needed, since I'm currently learning this song... Thanks man, your tutorials are the best out there, keep it up!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Giuseppe Carboni thanks so much! It’s what we do when we’re not doing our original stuff

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Giuseppe Carboni glad to help! I’ll post more of my favorites soon

[@TeckgamerFTW]

Thanks to you , im able to learn the song of my dreams , much love!

[@Mike_Shirobokov]

Awesome work, dude! My congratulations, thank you)

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

You’re welcome, Mikhail!

[@therealradagast]

This lesson is so ridiculously good. Half the stuff you have in here isnt necessary to get it mostly right, but you have every detail I can think of. You can play in drop D, you dont have to use open strings, you dont have to palm mute the turn around fills...but you have all that. (For the first section)

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks, Chase! When I teach privately or upload a vid, I like to get it as close to the original as possible. Try to get into their head! -Greg

[@TheConfusionalCat]

42:44 - point of reference because im using slow mode and its a pain to get to the right place

[@TheConfusionalCat]

got to the end of learning the solo but I've got clean it up and put it all together lol, I'm hoping that i can play the term picking bit before sept 16th though because that's the end of the summer holidays

[@TheConfusionalCat]

trem*

[@TheConfusionalCat]

good video though, ive just been learning it the past few months

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thank you!

[@ryankeeler6149]

Any chance you could do an Agalloch lesson? Perhaps “Into the Painted Grey” from Marrow of the Spirit?

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Probably not going to get to that one. I do teach private lessons online, in which case I’d teach you absolutely anything you want!

[@Metal_Fishing_420]

The tuning, i knew i was missing something hahaa KILLER!!!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

I forget which show, but one time in NYC Mikael started the song by saying, "so I had this writer's block, so we decided on trying this tuning..." and he slowly arpeggiated the open strings, which confirmed what I'd thought earlier. The entire album is in this tuning except Atonement and Beneath the Mire, iirc

[@michaelsnyder1492]

How'd you get the distorted tone? What's the amp EQ?

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Michael Snyder you’re hearing the plugin that comes with Studio One DAW. EQ is all pretty flat. The secret for me is to not use TOO much distortion, but plugins tend to not “behave” quite right compared to an amp. TBH, I set this tone really quick and didn’t think about it too much 😜

[@andym28]

Why the departure from Holdsworth? I take me hat off to you anyway.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

- John here. This isn't me haha. Greg and I are in a band together and I had an idea of doing cool song lessons for bands/artists we love. The Allan stuff just took off and now only Greg is starting to release some vids. But after over 30 Holdsworth song lessons, I think thats plenty haha.

[@yashdixit1349]

Oh god I'm so happy to have found this!!!!! Can you please please do more of these videos. Only been on your channel for 10 seconds and i am already grateful to you!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Glad to help! It takes me a little while between all my other projects, but there’ll be some more. Any requests?

[@yashdixit1349]

@@TurrigenousOfficial i guess requesting for black rose immortal would be a tall order, but there needs to be a video on the internet now! Though i would be equally happy if you could do A fair judgement.

[@shinzousasageyo7066]

Nice lesson! What model of PRS is that?

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks! It’s a 513

[@scivern]

thanks alot man

[@pooyashirazi1991]

this was great. i watched and played along with it for nearly 2 hours. thanks man. i wish there was more of Opeth stuff on your page.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Thanks! I’ve got an idea of what I want to do next, but do you have any favorites?

[@pooyashirazi1991]

@@TurrigenousOfficial perhaps something from the Blackwater Park album since it's that album's 20th anniversary. maybe the title track itself!

[@stepitupandgo67]

great job !!

[@subzeromountaineer307]

excellent lesson, thanks !

[@SamuraiJoe81]

Awesome job dude.

[@trelli85]

Congrats, that's a PERFECT tutorial!!! Could you do The Lotus Eater tutorial?

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Federico Locatelli it’s on the short list, but I haven’t decided which to do next

[@trelli85]

@@TurrigenousOfficial DO 'EM ALL😂

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

😱

[@morganwhitecotton3053]

Can’t find the tab

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

If you're looking at your phone, I think you'll have to be in landscape mode to access the menu

[@morganwhitecotton3053]

Ok ill see if I can figure that out

[@morganwhitecotton3053]

When on mobile if you go directly to safari from KZbin it doesn’t work. Even in landscape. You have to open the link in safari instead of going to safari from KZbin.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

@@morganwhitecotton3053 Interesting. Thanks for the info, i'll pass this along!

[@HenryDarr]

Bravo 🤙🏽

[@lifeblood06]

goddamit thats fun to play!!!! awesome lesson!!!!

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Armin Gajardo so satisfying, right? Do you have a favorite riff? Mine is definitely the meme riff

[@lifeblood06]

@@TurrigenousOfficial i love the riff after the "devil cracked the earthly shell" verse. So rockin'!!! I would to see more opeth lessons

[@OlafMcKrak]

i used to play this in a minor open.is this? too drunk right now

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Open Dmadd9. Low to high: DADFAE Enjoy! Hope you didn't get a hangover 😁 -Greg

[@sheharyarkhan2384]

Yes bro. Thank you

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Sheharyar Khan YW!

[@joex-mn4we]

HE CAME BACKKKKKK

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Paulo Estrada I was hiding 😜. Hope to do more in the coming weeks

[@mapleleafer74]

Great instruction man, thanks, this song is one of my main inspirations on the album I'm working on.

[@WheresTheLambSAAAAAAAUCE]

Thank you so much for such a detailed tutorial that's very easy to follow! Please do more Opeth tutorials because it's hard to figure out what's being played on my own and the tabs are fine but doesn't sound right.

[@TurrigenousOfficial]

Rohith Kumar glad you enjoyed it! We have a few requests and I’m thinking of which Opeth tune to do next. Any in particular?

[@WheresTheLambSAAAAAAAUCE]

@@TurrigenousOfficial Serenity Painted Death? Because there's no proper tutorials in youtube and the tabs for it are just overwhelming. But I will be happy with any Opeth lesson :)