The Batman TV show was a huge commercial success in the 60s. The quirky, fun surf-influenced theme song of the show made it a natural for surf guitar masters The Ventures to cover. We pick apart their version, looking at the main bat riff, the breaks, the solo, how to play the "batman" vocals on guitar, and of course a playalong. Wham! Biff! Get your Batman costume on, and get playing.

Although this is a classic intro this trick can also be used within a tune - usually at the end of a turnaround.In a piece in the key of E this would typically link from a B ( or B7 ) chord back to the root chord E ( or Em )It covers 2 beats more or less so the way to play it is to come in with it on beat 3 of your B chord and then time the slide down the neck so that the last note ( the open E )c...

Many artists have been inspired by the rythmic lead style of Chuck Berry. The Beach Boys used this style in many of their songs. This example starts in Eb with a Chuck Berry style lead and follows with a basic blues bass pattern in Bb and Eb.

This surf style from Dick Dale has a strong Spanish feel with pentatonic melody patterns. The progression is centered around A, G, and F but adds some 7 under tones and ends with A minor. The first tab and video will allow you to master the basic melody pattern and chords. In the second video, I simply add some picking sweeps to accentuate the melody. A great example of this style is ...

A common ingredient in surf music is a repeating melody with a heavy reverb. In this example, we transition from A minor to F major arpeggio melodies. Then, a turn-around on E major ending with a return to A minor and a slight dive and vibrato on the tremolo bar. This style was used often by the Ventures, Dick Dale, and the Surfaris

Surf music just doesn't pick up a good vibration without vibrato. You have to be careful with vibrato though. You don't want to over do things. After all, you will be using quite a bit of reverb on your amplifier with an echo effects module. I prefer hollow body guitars with a Bigsby style tremolo. The touch is lighter and works great for a light vibrato effect. A solid body guitar with a St...