Session view

Interstate Love Song

Stone Temple Pilots · Purple (1994)

Thu, Oct 8, 2026 · ~30-60 min

Drums

Bass

Gtr 1

Gtr 2

Vox

C♯m / ESTD84 BPM~30-60 min

Beato Bot · Grok Bot · AI-generated · not written by Kevin

Interstate Love SongC♯m / ESTD84 BPM~30-60 min

Objective Tune back up to standard, play the E-major riff with the high E ringing, walk the verse down (easy power-chord way first), and change G♯sus4 → G♯ → A in the chorus: playable, not perfect. Short reps; fingertips first.

Materials

Sunburst Strat · light drive SD-1 or TS9 · low gain FGX5 · intro/chorus chords PolyTune 3 · standard Looper · RC-500 / Ditto / JamMan Ultimate Guitar Pro

What makes it great

Verse is a bass line walking down by half steps: C♯, B♯, B, A♯, A. Beato names the chords C♯m, G♯/C, C♯7 over B (third inversion), B♭m7♭5 (6:26 from the W.M.T.S.G. episode). The chords are weird; the line under them is simple.
Chorus hook: G♯ is the V of C♯m (a secondary dominant), so your ear expects C♯m next. It goes to A (the IV) instead. Beato calls that the move that makes the song (13:30).
sus4 → major: the C♯ in G♯sus4 drops to B♯, the leading tone, which makes the pull to resolve even stronger.
Riff: open B and high E droning under the moving notes (Beato at 5:30).

Deep dive

What Makes This Song Great

Referenced in this lesson (no episode link in the source notes). Timestamp chips from the write-up.

00:03:56 intro 00:05:30 riff 00:06:26 verse 00:09:43 2/4 bar 00:13:30 hook

Learn the parts

Marty Music · Interstate Love Song

How-to walkthrough used in this session.

00:01:07 chorus 00:02:29 riff 00:05:37 Melissa 00:06:39 easy verse 00:09:08 full verse

Solo the part

Seven blocks. Jam nights skip freely.

TRK 01

Tune + warm-up

Standard tuning on the PolyTune 3: E A D G B E. Yesterday's 1979 was a half step down, so tune back up and let the strings settle. Every UG version checked lists standard tuning, no capo (not drop D, not half-step down)
Tomo · nightly routine, first block only: chromatic 1212 3212 3432 1234 at 0:54, descending at 2:00, picking + muting at 2:45 to 4:55. Takeaway: slow, clean, kill the ghost notes. Skip the rest tonight
Alt: Justin Finger Gym
Sore tips: light touch, stop at the first sting. Bends come later; don't start with them

5 min

TRK 02

Picking hand: riff reach + muted eighths

Watch first: Marty at 2:29 for the riff. Second fret B string, bend up a half step and back while the open high E rings with it; then G string 2nd fret, 1-to-2 hammer, open B and E
Pick hand job: after each B-string note, reach up and catch the high E. Two bend reps, then rest the finger. Half-step bends only, don't overshoot
Verse feel: UG tabs ver 3 and ver 6 write the verse as hits mixed with muted chucks (x). Keep the hand moving in steady eighths, lift fretting pressure to choke the chucks
Click at 65, then 75, then 84. 60-second sets, shake out between

5-8 min

TRK 03

Skills: E major / C♯ minor (same notes)

Scale: E major, one position: E F♯ G♯ A B C♯ D♯. Start it on C♯ and it's C♯ natural minor, where the verse lives
Arpeggio: C♯m (C♯ E G♯), then G♯ (G♯ B♯ D♯). That B♯ is outside the key: the leading tone pulling to C♯
Triads, one zone, strings G-B-e (frets G / B / e): C♯m 9-9-9 · E 9-9-7 · A 9-10-9 · G♯sus4 8-9-9 · G♯ 8-9-8. Play the chorus order through them, nearest note each time
Notice: G♯sus4 → G♯ moves one note (high e 9 → 8). G♯ → A moves every note up one fret. That's the voice leading
Tomo · triads 3 ways: vertical at 7:12, horizontal at 10:48, same-position inversions at 13:30. Takeaway: learn triads by moving them, not by memorizing shapes

8-10 min

TRK 04

Chord changes + voicings

C♯m / EKeyrelative keys, same notes

84 BPMTempostart ~65

StandardSetupno capo · Strat, light drive

Verse walk-down, riff colour chord, chorus (UG top-rated voicings; E and A are the open shapes)

Section	Changes
Riff	E-major riff, then E → F♯m11/E → E twice, open B and E ringing
Verse	C♯m7 → G♯/B♯ → C♯/B → A♯m7♭5 → A
Chorus	C♯m7 → E → Asus2 → G♯sus4 → G♯ → A → E, then A → G♯sus4 → G♯ (G♯7) → A → E

Easy verse first (Marty at 6:39): C♯ power chord, then the bass note on the A string walks down a fret at a time (4, 3, 2, 1) and lands on A. Full voicings at 9:08 once that's in the hands
Verse C♯m7 is the chorus shape with the high e muted
One-minute changes: G♯sus4 ↔ G♯ (G string 6 → 5, the rest stays), then E ↔ F♯m11/E (the "Melissa" move, Marty at 5:37)

10-15 min

TRK 05

Close

Riff + one chorus with the UG Pro player, slowed
One sticky note (the riff reach, the walk-down, or the G♯ → A pull)
Leave it in standard; nothing to retune tonight

3-5 min

The chord that does it

G♯sus4 → G♯ → A. G♯ is the V of C♯m, so your ear expects C♯m. Landing on A (the IV) instead is the move that makes the chorus hook pull. The sus4 drops C♯ to B♯ before it resolves, which tightens that pull.

Play it back

Loop the chorus chords at ~65 on the FGX5 (the record opens with them strummed on acoustic). Over it, Strat triads from TRK 03
Loop the verse walk-down (power chords are fine), play the riff over the gap after it
Swap to the Strat with light drive for riff + chorus, gain low so the open strings stay clear
Ultimate Guitar · chords (ver 1, top rated) and Official tab (Pro) in the UG app; slow the Pro player

Take is good

Riff at ~65 with the high E ringing through the bend
Verse walk-down (power chords or full voicings) in time with the looper
Chorus G♯sus4 → G♯ → A without stopping · jam nights ignore this

Session meter · 3 exit checks

Sources

Tuning, key, chords + 84 BPM: UG chords ver 1 (top rated) and UG tabs ver 3 + 6 · Hooktheory · Tunebat / SongBPM · Wikipedia (Robert DeLeo wrote it on a nylon-string guitar) · Marty Music · Rick Beato · Tomo timestamps from his YouTube chapters

Beato Bot · Grok Bot Thu, Oct 8, 2026 · built 8:14a CT

← 1979 All setlist