“Blitzkrieg Bop” is a song by the American punk rock band Ramones. It was released as the band’s debut single in February 1976 in the United States. It appeared as the opening track on the band’s debut album, Ramones, that was released April 23, 1976. The song, whose composition was credited to the band as a whole, was written by drummer Tommy Ramone (music and lyrics) and bassist Dee Dee Ramone (lyrics).[6] The song is based on a simple three-chord pattern. The song is popular at sporting events where the iconic chant “Hey! Ho! Let’s go!” is sometimes shouted as a rallying cry. “Blitzkrieg Bop” is a 4/4 time song written in the key of A major. It contains four chords; A major (I), B minor (ii), D major (IV), and E major (V).   The song relies heavily on the I, IV, and V chords, most notably used in the intro and verses in the form of the I–IV–V chord progression. The ii chord appears only briefly towards the end of the refrain. Johnny Ramone played the entire song with barre chord shapes, as these were signature to his playing style. Dee Dee Ramone simply played the root note of whatever chord the guitarist was playing. Both the rhythm guitar and bass parts, played using downstrokes exclusively, utilize almost constant eighth notes to generate a “wall of sound”.

Hi, my name is Ryan Van Tuyl, and since 2004 I’ve helped thousands of kids learn piano, singing, guitar, bass, drums, and songwriting in schools all over the world. The programs I’ve created teach kids how to achieve their musical dreams and become better, hardworking individuals through learning to play and perform rock, pop, hip-hop, blues, metal, and jazz music. Graduates of my programs have attended prestigious music colleges and universities. However, these programs have only been able to exist in middle-to-upper-class communities, where parents can afford to fund music education for their children directly.

While all of this has been a fantastic experience, it has left out kids who attend schools in underprivileged, more diverse communities without funding for modern music education. Schools and districts in these areas lack funding for the equipment, teachers, curriculum, and support necessary to facilitate rock-band-style programs like the ones I’ve created.

My mission was to tackle this head-on and bring these exceptional programs to students in economically challenged areas, so I sold my music schools and am launching The Van Tuyl Music Foundation to forever change music education. Our foundation will directly provide the funding for the equipment, instruction, curriculum, and support necessary to facilitate these programs.

Ryan Van Tuyl