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Guitar Songs, Tabs & Lessons

Europe

19 guitar songs · Tabs, Lessons & Tone Guide Hard Rock

Choose a Europe Song to Play

The Final Countdown - Guitar Tab Guitar Tab

The Final Countdown - Guitar Tab

YouTube Stats: 1M · 16K

Mr. Tabs Guitar Tab
Danger On The Track - Guitar Tab Guitar Tab

Danger On The Track - Guitar Tab

YouTube Stats: 1.5K · 104

StephLeGratteux Guitar Tab
Carrie - Guitar Lesson Guitar Lesson

Carrie - Guitar Lesson

YouTube Stats: 25K · 909

GuitarLessons365SongLessons Guitar Lesson
The Final Countdown - Guitar Cover Guitar Cover

The Final Countdown - Guitar Cover

YouTube Stats: 5.2M · 101K

Kfir Ochaion Guitar Cover

Band Overview

History and Guitar Legacy

Europe emerged from Upplands Väsby, Sweden in 1979 as a defining 1980s melodic Hard Rock band. While 'The Final Countdown' brought mainstream success, guitarists recognize the exceptional technical skill of John Norum and later Kee Marcello as the band's true foundation. Norum fused Ritchie Blackmore's neoclassical phrasing with Gary Moore's blues-rock intensity, creating a distinctive tone that remains one of rock's most underrated guitar voices.

Playing Style and Techniques

Europe's catalog spans blazing pentatonic and harmonic minor runs, melodic vibrato passages, and precision palm-muted power chords. 'The Final Countdown' features clean position shifts, locked-in downpicking, and masterful melodic shredding with wide vibrato. 'Carrie' demonstrates a different approach through arpeggiated clean tones and dynamic phrasing that builds emotion. The band's technique showcases how to balance speed with expressive string bending and controlled articulation.

Why Guitarists Study Europe

Europe offers multiple learning opportunities across rhythm and lead playing. The band teaches locked-in palm muting, position accuracy, and how to adapt melodies between instruments. Studying Norum's fluid legato passages and signature vibrato develops technical precision while understanding that technique serves feel and expression. Learning their material builds both rhythmic tightness and melodic vocabulary within a Classic Rock framework applicable across genres.

Difficulty and Learning Path

Rhythm parts fall within the intermediate range, accessible to players with one to two years experience. Solos demand advanced chops, particularly Norum's fluid legato passages and aggressive wide vibrato. Mastering Europe's catalog requires serious technical development but rewards dedicated study with expressive playing skills. The progression from rhythm fundamentals to soloing complexity makes Europe ideal for guitarists transitioning from intermediate to advanced skill levels.

What Makes Europe Essential for Guitar Players

  • John Norum's vibrato is one of the widest and most distinctive in rock, a rapid, almost vocal-like oscillation generated primarily from the wrist. Studying his vibrato on songs like "Carrie" will dramatically improve your expressive lead playing.
  • The rhythm guitar in "The Final Countdown" relies on tight, palm-muted downpicking on power chords with quick chord changes. This is excellent practice for developing the kind of locked-in right-hand precision essential for any hard rock rhythm guitarist.
  • Norum frequently blends pentatonic scales with harmonic minor and Dorian modes, giving his solos a neoclassical flavor without sounding overly academic. His solo in "The Final Countdown" is a perfect example of mixing blues-rock bends with scalar runs.
  • Clean arpeggiated passages in ballads like "Carrie" require careful pick-hand dynamics and finger control to let notes ring cleanly across strings. This is ideal practice for developing your touch and dynamic range on electric guitar.
  • Kee Marcello, who replaced Norum from 1987–1992, brought a more technically refined shred approach with heavier use of legato, tapping, and sweep picking. Comparing both players' approaches to similar material is a great exercise in understanding how different techniques shape musical identity.

Did You Know?

John Norum was only 17 years old when Europe recorded their debut album in 1983, yet his playing already showed a maturity and tone awareness that rivaled players twice his age.

The iconic synth melody of "The Final Countdown" translates beautifully to guitar and has become one of the most popular guitar cover melodies on YouTube, it's a fantastic exercise in position shifting and clean single-note accuracy on the high strings.

Norum left Europe in 1986, just as "The Final Countdown" was becoming a global hit, partly because he felt the band was moving too far toward pop and away from the guitar-driven sound he loved.

John Norum's early tone was achieved by running a Marshall JMP or JCM800 wide open with very little in the effects chain, proof that a great player with a good guitar into a cranked tube amp is all you really need.

During the recording of "Wings of Tomorrow" (1984), Norum reportedly tracked many of his solos in single takes, preferring the raw energy of a first performance over studio perfection.

When Europe reunited in 2003 with Norum back on guitar, his playing had evolved significantly, incorporating more blues influence and even heavier vibrato, making the reunion albums a fascinating study in how a guitarist's voice matures over decades.

Kee Marcello used a custom-built "Marcello" model guitar with a Floyd Rose and active pickups, giving his tone a more compressed, modern shred character compared to Norum's raw, passive-pickup Marshall growl.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

The Final Countdown album cover
The Final Countdown 1986

This is the essential Europe album for guitarists. The title track teaches palm-muted rhythm precision and contains one of the most recognizable melodic solos of the '80s. "Carrie" develops your clean-tone dynamics and emotional phrasing. "Rock the Night" and "Danger on the Track" offer fast-paced rhythm work and aggressive lead sections that build picking speed and stamina.

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Wings of Tomorrow album cover
Wings of Tomorrow 1984

This is where John Norum truly shines without the pop polish of later albums. The guitar work is rawer and more aggressive, with extended solo sections that showcase his Blackmore-meets-Schenker approach. Tracks like "Open Your Heart" and "Stormwind" are excellent for developing fast alternate picking and wide-interval pentatonic licks. If you want to learn Norum's core style, start here.

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Out of This World 1988

Kee Marcello's debut with Europe is a shred guitar showcase disguised as a pop-metal album. "Superstitious" features dazzling legato runs and tapping passages, while the deeper cuts reveal sophisticated chord voicings and layered rhythm guitar arrangements. Great for intermediate players looking to push into advanced territory with more technical lead work.

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War of Kings album cover
War of Kings 2015

A surprising recommendation, but this reunion album shows a matured John Norum delivering some of his most soulful and blues-inflected playing. The riffs are heavier and more groove-oriented, and the solos prioritize tone and phrasing over speed. Tracks like "War of Kings" and "Nothin' to Ya" are perfect for players developing their blues-rock vocabulary within a hard rock framework.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

John Norum is synonymous with Gibson Les Paul Standards and Customs, primarily late '50s-style models with a thick mahogany body and maple cap. He's also extensively used Fender Stratocasters (especially in his solo career and post-reunion era), often with humbuckers in the bridge position for added output. His '68 goldtop Les Paul was a key instrument on early Europe recordings. Kee Marcello used custom superstrats with Floyd Rose tremolo systems and thinner neck profiles suited to his faster legato and tapping techniques.

Amp

Norum's classic tone comes from Marshall amplifiers, specifically JMP and JCM800 heads cranked to high volumes for natural power-tube saturation. He's run these into 4x12 cabinets with Celestion Greenback or Vintage 30 speakers. In more recent years, he's also used Marshall JVM and Plexi-style amps. The key to his sound is minimal gain staging, he lets the amp's natural breakup do the work rather than stacking overdrive pedals. Kee Marcello leaned toward higher-gain Marshall tones with more preamp saturation for his smoother shred sound.

Pickups

Norum's Les Pauls typically run PAF-style humbuckers in the 7.5–9k ohm output range, delivering a warm but articulate attack with plenty of pick dynamics intact. The lower output means notes clean up beautifully when you roll back the volume knob, a technique Norum uses frequently for cleaner rhythm passages. His Stratocasters often feature a Seymour Duncan or DiMarzio humbucker in the bridge for lead tones while retaining single-coils in the neck and middle for cleaner, glassier textures. This versatility is a big part of his tonal range.

Effects & Chain

Norum keeps his effects chain remarkably simple. A wah pedal (Dunlop Cry Baby) is his most-used effect, appearing prominently in solos for vocal-like filter sweeps. He uses a moderate delay (often a Boss DD-series or analog-style unit) set to short slapback or dotted-eighth patterns for lead depth, and occasionally a chorus for clean passages. There's very little overdrive pedal use, his distortion comes almost entirely from the amp. This minimalist approach means his tone is extremely responsive to picking dynamics and volume knob adjustments, making it a great model for players who want to develop touch sensitivity.

Recommended Gear

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

John Norum's Stratocasters blend single-coil clarity in the neck and middle with a bridge humbucker for aggressive leads, giving Europe's sound versatility between glassy rhythm tones and saturated solo work. This hybrid approach lets him switch textures without changing instruments, crucial for his dynamic playing style.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Norum's late '50s-style Les Paul Standards with PAF humbuckers deliver the warm, articulate foundation for Europe's classic hard rock tone, responding beautifully to his volume knob technique for clean rhythm passages before cranking for full saturation.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

The Gibson Les Paul Custom, particularly his '68 goldtop, anchored Europe's early recordings with thick mahogany body resonance and vintage humbucker character that cuts through high-volume Marshall saturation while maintaining pick definition.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

Norum's JCM800 head driven at high volume creates Europe's signature natural power-tube breakup without relying on gain stacking, letting his touch and dynamics shape the tone rather than pedal settings.

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah
Pedal

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah

The Cry Baby wah is Norum's most essential effect, featured prominently across Europe's solos for vocal-like expressive sweeps that showcase his legato technique and add character to lead passages.

How to Practice Europe on GuitarZone

Every Europe song page on GuitarZone includes a built-in Practice Toolbar. No app to download, no account needed. Open any song, then use the toolbar to slow the video to 0.5× speed, set an A/B loop around the exact riff you're working on, and jump between song sections instantly.

The toolbar appears automatically on every guitar tab, lesson, and cover page. Pick a song below, hit play, and start practicing at your own pace.

Practice The Final Countdown - Guitar CoverPractice The Final Countdown - Guitar TabPractice Danger On The Track - Guitar Tab