Learn “Monitoring” by DECO*27 (feat. Hatsune Miku) on Guitar

Playing Level: Intermediate / Late Intermediate

Ready to learn a challenging but super fun song?? In this tutorial I'll walk you step-by step through how to play "Monitoring" by DECO*27 featuring Hatsune Miku! The tutorial includes a detailed 20-minute lesson as well as a full play-along at the end. If you'd like to download and print the tabs you can grab those below!

Song Map

Let's begin by taking a look at the overall structure of the song:

1. Intro
2. Verse 1
3. Chorus
4. Interlude
5. Verse 2
6. Chorus
7. Bridge
8. Outro Chorus

As you see, we'll be making our way through a lot of sections in this song. But have no fear--there are really only five sections with multiple repeats of the verse and chorus sections. If you can get the verse and chorus sections down you will already have mastered the majority of the song!

It's also important to know that this song is built from fourteen phrases total. In the above tutorial I play through each phrase individually and cover all of the important details that you need to know in order to get these phrases down.

Give Yourself a Head-Start by Learning the D Minor Pentatonic "Blues" Scale

All of the phrases of this song come right out of the D minor pentatonic "blues" scale. If you don't already know this scale you're in for a treat--it's an awesome sounding scale that is used in a variety of music styles (not just the blues). Since the majority of the notes in this song come right out of the scale you will give yourself a huge head start by getting this scale under your fingers. In the above tutorial I walk through how to descend and ascend the scale properly. Simply begin with the lowest note (indicated in red) and play the notes in order from low to high. After you are able to ascend the scale easily, be sure to practice playing the notes in reverse beginning with the highest note and descending to the lowest. Here is a chart of the scale:

The D Minor Pentatonic "Blues" Scale

Use Alternate Picking for Speed and Timing 

The biggest barrier to mastering this song will be the fast tempo and the tricky timing. The best way to overcome both of these issues is to use alternate picking. Alternate picking is much more efficient than using downstrokes, and once mastered, can lead to a ten-fold increase in speed. 

Alternate picking also improves timing since it puts your picking in sync with the down and up beats of the song. There's a lot of syncopated phrasing in Monitoring (e.g., phrases where the accents are falling on the up-beats) which means that there's an increased risk of your timing being "off". You may be playing the correct notes, but without the correct timing your phrases will not sound like they're supposed to. In the above tutorial I highlight the areas where alternated picking should be used and demonstrate the timing of each phrase to ensure that they're sounding like they're supposed to!  

Use the Play-Along for Mastery (and Slow it Down as Needed)

Ready to take the song on the road? The play-along is the perfect way to practice putting the phrases together (not to mention the fact that play-alongs are extremely fun!). As always, I recommend having the phrases more or less memorized before jumping into the play-along which will give you the best chance of keeping the train on the tracks!

Given the tricky timing and quick tempo of this song, it's important to slow the play-along down to speed that you're comfortable with. Remember that if you're making frequent mistakes while you play you are actually practicing your mistakes! Use the speed controls in the settings of the video player to slow the song down to a speed where you're making very few mistakes and increase speed as you get better.

I hope you have as much fun learning "Monitoring" as I have! If you have any questions are comments feel free to leave them below!