When asked, many people will tell you that the world of rock guitar peaked in the 70’s and 80’s. Groups like Led Zeppelin, Queen, Van Halen, and AC/DC changed the game, and no guitarist since then has been able to compare to their musicianship and technical skill. However, what many people don’t realize is that there are incredible young guitar players to this day, up and coming in a world of YouTube and digital streaming. There is a lot to be learned from the way that these guitarists play and write. One such guitarist is Andrew John Hozier-Byrne, known by his stage name, Hozier.

Hozier was born in Ireland in 1990 in County Wicklow, Ireland. At 29, he is somewhat young compared to many other influential players today, but his skill as a guitarist, singer, and songwriter is undeniable. His style can be best described as Indie Rock/Blues, but the influence of his Irish folk music upbringing is gives his music a classic feel. Hozier’s music is distinct in its composition. If you listen to both of his albums, Hozier, and Wasteland, Baby!, you will notice similarities in his use of language, melody, harmony, and playing style. This article will lay out some of these similarities, as well as explain the theory behind these nuances, and why learning Hozier’s music will improve your playing.

Use of the Blues Scale

Most beginner guitarists, at least the ones who want to do more than just bang out power chords, start by learning a few basic scales. One of the simplest and most versatile of these is the minor pentatonic scale, and its variant, the Blues Scale. Consisting of the same chord tones as a minor pentatonic scale, only adding the “blue note,” a #4/b5, connecting the 3rd and 4th notes of the scale. This scale has many uses in rock, blues, and jazz music, and is an easy way to add some grit and emotion to your music. However, if you’re not careful, it’s easy to sound expressionless and mechanical while playing from the blues scale. Hozier uses the blues scale to craft the melody of several of his songs, but uses rhythms and chord progressions to create a sound that is gripping and dramatic, rather than lifeless and uninspired.

To Be Alone

To Be Alone, from Hozier’s debut album, is a song of drug-fueled, toxic love. It starts simply, with a repeated bass note on the low E string of his guitar, before the song’s melody enters in the upper register. It is a simple enough melody, devoid of huge leaps or crazy accidentals, but when broken down, reveals itself to be nothing more than notes from the blues scale. Translated into its scale degrees, it looks something like this:

♭7 – 1 – ♭3 – 1 – ♭7 – 5 – 4 5 – ♭7 – 4 ♭5-4-♭3-1 – ♭3 – 4- ♭3 – 1

If this looks like total nonsense to you, that’s ok – the important part to understand is that all of these notes are in the standard blues scale, and the line is simple to play. Learning how to play To Be Alone will improve your independence between the fingers and thumb of your picking hand, since you’ll have to nail the timing of the melody, while sustaining the repeated quarter notes in the bass. It will also improve your comfort with the blues scale, especially in the open E position. Lastly, it’s just a really cool song.

Moment’s Silence (Common Tongue)

Moment’s Silence has a similar sound to To Be Alone, albeit a little less dark and brooding. Listening to the two songs back to back, however, you can tell that Hozier’s playing improved immensely between his first and second albums. If To Be Alone is an ice cold Miller Lite, Moment’s Silence is an IPA; same general concept, but richer, fuller, and with more satisfying flavors. The phrasing is improved, the rhythms are more complex. He uses the same open E blues as the basis of the melody, but this time, throws in a major 3rd scale degree once each verse (in this case, briefly landing on the 1st fret of the G string, before resolving the phrase back down to the root of E, on the 2nd fret of the D string). Using the Major 3rd in a minor blues is a fairly common motif used by blues artists to add an extra twist to an already soulful melody.

Moment’s Silence is also deeper from a compositional standpoint. While To be Alone remains on one chord for pretty much the whole song, Moment’s Silence contains satisfying chord progressions that only add to the drama. I’m not here to tell you that one song is objectively better than the other, since I believe that music is inherently subjective, but if you’re trying to improve your guitar playing, Moment’s Silence is the logical next stepping stone from To be Alone. It uses many of the same skills already learned, and expands on them, while also teaching new riffs and techniques. Plus, it’s also a really cool song.

Hozier’s Style of Fingerpicking

As demonstrated in both examples so far, Hozier uses a distinct style of fingerpicking. He rejects the commonly heard Travis Picking style of Dust in the Wind and Landslide, in favor of his own unique brand. In most of his fingerpicked songs, he uses his thumb to repeatedly strum the bottom E string, repeating the root of the chord over and over. He uses the rest of his fingers, as well as hammer ons and pull offs with his fretting hand, to play the song’s melody. This allows him to simulate the sound of having multiple instruments, while playing in a solo acoustic setting. This style also lends itself well to playing and singing simultaneously, since the melody is usually the same between guitar and vocals. This technique takes some practice, but it becomes easier with each song you learn. Nailing this style will help your coordination and timing, which will improve your playing in all other types of music.

Like Real People Do

Perhaps the simplest example of this style is Like Real People Do, from Hozier’s Debut Album. It is somewhat similar in style to To Be Alone, but replaces its brooding angst with dreamlike nostalgia. It begins the same way, with a repeated bass note on the low E string (noticing a pattern?). However, this time the bass note is a G instead of the open E. This will require you to use the 2nd finger on your fretting hand to press down the 3rd fret of the E string for pretty much the whole song. This makes it a bit trickier to fret some of the melody lines, but the song makes up for it by having a simple, repeating melody in G major. If you’ve already nailed To Be Alone, Like Real People Do shouldn’t take you more than a good 20 minutes of concentrated practice to get comfortably into your hands. Which is good, because it can serve as a warm up for our next song.

Cherry Wine

Many of Hozier’s songs delve into heavy issues, like violence, drug abuse, and domestic violence. One such song is Cherry Wine, from his first album. On first listen, it is a gentle, sweet love song. Once you dissect the lyrics, however, it weaves a story of a toxic relationship, filled with abuse. The guitar part is similar to that of Like Real People Do, but once again, more complex, both rhythmically and harmonically. It is also played in G major, but with a capo on the 6th fret. The closer fret spacing of the upper neck takes some getting used to, as does the increased pressure required to make the notes sound. Learn this one after Like Real People Do. It will still provide a challenge, but will seamlessly pick up, and build upon, those same skills and techniques learned in the first song. Look out for a few tricky spots though: It contains a 2 against 3 rhythm between the static bass note and the descending melody line at the end of each chorus. It also features a beautiful solo section, revolving around an Am7 – G Major chord progression, using slides, hammer ons, and pull offs to create a hauntingly sweet melody.

Shrike

Shrike, in my opinion, is an underrated masterpiece of a song. It contains all the beauty, and sorrow, of Cherry Wine, and creates yet another bittersweet allegory of an abusive relationship. I recommend watching a live performance of the song, so you can see just how effortless Hozier’s guitar playing has become in the last year. Shrike takes the most difficult parts of Cherry Wine, makers them even harder, and bases the whole song around them. It uses yet another repeating bass note, but this time the bass line alternates strings. It uses a similar 2 against 3 rhythmic pattern, this time making up the majority of the melody. It contains more short guitar solos, this time sliding up and down the next throughout, rather than staying in the same G major box. Did I mention it also uses an alternate tuning? Simply put, Shrike shows us that Hozier has been continually improving as a guitarist and songwriter since the release of his first album, without losing any of his emotional character, penchant for deep, metaphorical lyrics, or rustic Irish charm.

Alternate Time Signatures

Listening to the popular music of the last, well, almost forever, you’ll notice that the majority of music is written in common time, or 4/4 time. This means that each measure of music contains four beats, and each beat is equal in length to one quarter note. With Hozier, however, this is not the case. The last three songs featured in this article, for example, are all in 3/4 time signature, which means that there are 3 beats in each measure. To Be Alone is even stranger, using a 6/4 time signature for the majority of the song, with an occasional 4/4 measure thrown in. In the grand scheme of things, these time signatures aren’t all that difficult to play in. 3/4, while not as common as 4/4, is still seen quite a bit, and shouldn’t be too hard for a beginner guitarist to get the feel for. 6/4 might throw you for a loop, but it really just ends up feeling like two 3/4 measures put together. But, of course, Hozier doesn’t stop there. He managed to create a catchy, upbeat, commercially successful song with a 5/4 time signature, a feat not often achieved since Dave Brubeck’s Take Five.

From Eden

From Eden, from Hozier’s first album, has a fun, tongue-in-cheek pop/neo-soul sound. It is a complicated song about a man longing for somebody he can’t have, containing biblical themes of lust and sin. While most of the songs listed above use open chord positions with slow progressions, From Eden quickly changes between chords all over the next, using pull offs to create its distinctive opening riff. Personally, I didn’t even notice that this song is in an alternate time signature until months after my first listen, and even then, I had to count along just to make sure. The uneven lilt of a compound (uneven) time signature feels completely natural in this setting. The album version of this song even has a cool, retro surf-guitar style solo in the middle. For this reason, and many others, this song is worth learning on guitar. The other songs listed in this article will improve your folk and blues playing, but this song will build skills necessary to be a great rhythm guitar player, like quick chord changes, complex picking, and comfort in compound time signatures.

This article has laid out a handful of Hozier’s best songs, ones that are especially good for a beginner guitar player to learn. I encourage you to learn as many of these songs as you can, and I challenge you to use the skills and techniques you learn to create your own music. At the very least, I hope this article has convinced you to listen to Hozier’s music, and given you an appreciation for what is going on behind the tabs.