A Little Bit Off is a song by the American metal band Five Finger Death Punch about singer Ivan Moody’s “laundry list of little anxieties”. It’s based around an acoustic guitar part that’s fairly simple tune to learn while introducing new concepts to beginner guitarists including Drop C tuning and percussive fingerstyle guitar chords.
Here we will breakdown the elements and parts required to play this tune for you so you wont be put off learning to play this one!
Tuning & Setup
To match the key of the original recording the guitar must be tuned to Drop C (C–G–C–F–A–D). This creates a heavy and dark tone even when played on an acoustic guitar. You can use your preferred tuner whether it be a clip-on headstock tuner, built-in tuner (if your acoustic guitar tuner has one), a smartphone guitar tuner app or even a tuner guitar pedal if you have one. Just watch for the tuner’s accuracy when checking the low notes as tuners can struggle to be accurate at these pitches.
If you decide that you like this lower tuning and want to use it more consistently it is recommended to invest in heavier strings or even invest in a professional guitar setup to ensure that it will be easier to play in this tuning with less floppy strings and a more stable tuning.
Main Chord Shapes
To be consistent with my video lesson I’m labelling the chords based on a drop D tuning. If you’re like me and am comfortable with drop D tuning it makes it easier to know the chord shapes I’m playing!
However here they are also labeled with the actual chord pitches if you prefer to see them this way.
Main Progression & Rhythm
- The song revolves around these four repeating chords forming the core of the verse and chorus.
- The string plucking includes muted percussive hits between chord changes on beats 2 and 4 of the bar to create a back beat and match the feel of the original track.
Verse & Chorus Variations
- In the fourth round of the verse, there’s a chord variation where the D (C) chord moves to Em (Dm) to break up the reptitiveness of the main chord progression.
- The chorus uses a similar structure but with subtle rhythmic changes.
Additional Riff
- A small pentatonic‑based riff appears throughout the song at the end of sections.
- Ensure that you practice playing the riff with the 1st and 4th fingers on frets 2 and 5 to transition in and out of it smoothly to the chords.
Overall there is nothing to put you off learning this song as it’s simple and fun to play with a different guitar sound using the Drop C tuning. The guitar chord shapes also aren’t too challenging for beginners while learning to play percussive fingerstyle guitar.
A Little Bit Off – Five Finger Death Punch Guitar Tab PDF available here.