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Kate Bush

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Wuthering Heights - Guitar Tab

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Artist Overview

Kate Bush is a British art-pop pioneer who emerged in 1978 with her debut single "Wuthering Heights," instantly establishing herself as one of the most inventive songwriters of her generation. While Bush is primarily known as a vocalist, pianist, and producer, guitar has always played a crucial supporting role in her arrangements. Her music blends Progressive Rock, art pop, New Wave, and experimental textures, and the guitar parts in her catalog range from delicate clean arpeggios to atmospheric layered textures and occasional punchy rhythmic work. For guitarists, learning Kate Bush material is an exercise in tasteful restraint, creative voicings, and serving a song that is driven by vocal melody and piano rather than guitar pyrotechnics. The guitar work across Bush's discography has been handled by a rotating cast of exceptional players. Early albums featured contributions from Ian Bairnson (of the Alan Parsons Project), who played the iconic electric parts on "Wuthering Heights" and many tracks from The Kick Inside and Lionheart. Later albums brought in session greats like David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, who was actually instrumental in helping Bush get her record deal and contributed guitar to several tracks. Other notable contributors include Alan Murphy, Del Palmer, and Stuart Elliott's guitar overdubs. Each brought a different flavor, from Gilmour's soaring, sustain-heavy Stratocaster leads to Bairnson's more rhythmic and melodic electric work. For guitarists approaching Kate Bush songs, the difficulty sits in the intermediate range technically but demands a mature musical sensibility. You will not find shredding or complex soloing here. Instead, the challenge is in nailing clean tone, precise dynamics, tasteful vibrato, and playing parts that interlock with piano, Fairlight CMI samples, and layered vocal arrangements. The real skill is learning to play with space, knowing when to lay back and when to push forward. It is excellent material for guitarists who want to develop their ear for arrangement and texture rather than pure speed or aggression.

What Makes Kate Bush Essential for Guitar Players

The guitar part on "Wuthering Heights" is a masterclass in clean-tone electric playing, using arpeggiated chord voicings that weave around the vocal melody without ever competing with it. Precision and dynamics are essential here.
Kate Bush's arrangements often use guitars for textural layering rather than lead work, making her songs ideal for practicing clean arpeggios, gentle strumming patterns, and chord embellishments with hammer-ons and pull-offs.
David Gilmour's contributions to Bush's work bring a Stratocaster-driven approach with long sustain, smooth bends, and expressive vibrato. Studying these parts helps guitarists develop feel and emotional phrasing.
Many Bush tracks feature acoustic guitar as a foundational rhythm element, often in open or altered tunings. Learning these parts develops fingerpicking technique and a sensitivity to how acoustic guitar sits under dense production.
The interplay between guitar and piano in Bush's music teaches guitarists how to find complementary voicings. Instead of playing full barre chords, you often need partial voicings, triads up the neck, and inversions to avoid clashing with the piano register.

Did You Know?

David Gilmour of Pink Floyd was the one who helped a teenage Kate Bush secure her EMI record deal, and he played guitar on several of her tracks, including contributions to her debut album The Kick Inside.

Ian Bairnson recorded the electric guitar parts on "Wuthering Heights" using a clean, slightly compressed tone that sits remarkably well in the mix. It is one of the most recognizable clean electric guitar tones in pop history.

Kate Bush was one of the first artists to extensively use the Fairlight CMI synthesizer/sampler, which often replaced traditional guitar roles in her arrangements, pushing guitarists into more textural and atmospheric territory.

On the album Hounds of Love, guitars are used sparingly but with maximum emotional impact. The production approach was to strip away anything that did not serve the song, making each guitar note count.

Alan Murphy, who played guitar on several Bush tracks and toured with her, was also known for his work with Level 42 and Go West. His clean funk-influenced technique added a unique rhythmic dimension to Bush's art-pop sound.

Bush's 2014 live residency "Before the Dawn" featured full band arrangements of her catalog, giving the guitar parts new life in a live setting with layers of delay and reverb recreating the studio textures.

Despite being a non-guitarist herself, Bush was known for being very specific about what she wanted from guitar parts in the studio, often humming lines and describing textures she envisioned rather than writing traditional guitar notation.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

The Kick Inside 1978

This is the essential starting point, featuring "Wuthering Heights" and some of the most guitar-forward arrangements in Bush's catalog. Ian Bairnson's electric work here teaches clean tone control, melodic phrasing, and how to play tasteful fills around a dominant vocal. Tracks like "Moving" and "James and the Cold Gun" offer a range from delicate arpeggios to more energetic rock playing.

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Hounds of Love 1985

Widely considered Bush's masterpiece, this album uses guitar as a textural instrument to stunning effect. The title track features rhythmic, almost percussive strumming patterns, while "Running Up That Hill" demonstrates how a minimal guitar part can add immense emotional weight. It is perfect for learning restraint and the art of serving a larger production.

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Never for Ever 1980

This transitional album bridges Bush's early guitar-driven sound with her later synth-heavy approach. "Babooshka" features memorable melodic guitar hooks, and the album as a whole offers great examples of how electric and acoustic guitar can coexist with emerging electronic textures. Ideal for guitarists learning to blend traditional playing with modern production styles.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

Ian Bairnson primarily used a Gibson Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster on Bush's early recordings, choosing between the two based on the tonal needs of each track. David Gilmour brought his signature black Fender Stratocaster (with its custom 0.010 gauge strings and shortened tremolo arm) for his contributions. For acoustic parts, standard steel-string acoustics and nylon-string classical guitars appear throughout the catalog.

Amp

Much of the early Kate Bush guitar work was recorded through clean Fender-style amps or direct into the console with studio compression. The goal was always clarity and warmth rather than grit. Think a Fender Twin Reverb or similar clean platform set with the volume around 4 to 5, treble at 6, and reverb dialed in subtly. Gilmour's contributions likely used his Hiwatt DR103 setup for that signature smooth, sustained clean-to-light-breakup tone.

Pickups

The clean, articulate tones on tracks like "Wuthering Heights" suggest single-coil pickups (likely neck or middle position Stratocaster pickups) for their clarity and chime. When humbuckers were used via Les Paul, they were typically in the neck position with the tone rolled back slightly to keep things warm and smooth. The overall pickup philosophy across Bush's recordings favors articulation and dynamic response over high output.

Effects & Chain

Chorus and subtle delay are the most common effects on Kate Bush guitar tracks, adding width and atmosphere without overwhelming the clean signal. A Roland Jazz Chorus amplifier or a Boss CE-2 chorus pedal can approximate many of the tones. Light studio reverb (plate or spring) is present on most tracks. Compression was often added at the mixing desk rather than via pedals. For Gilmour's contributions, expect his signature setup: a Big Muff (used sparingly), delay (Binson Echorec or MXR Digital Delay), and careful use of the Strat's volume knob for swells.

Recommended Gear

Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Ian Bairnson and David Gilmour used Stratocasters on Kate Bush recordings for their articulate single-coil clarity, especially on tracks like 'Wuthering Heights' where chime and dynamic response were essential. The Strat's tonal versatility allowed switching between bright neck pickups for warmth and middle positions for cutting definition.

Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Bairnson paired the Les Paul with the Stratocaster, selecting it when tracks needed the warmer, smoother humbucker voice of the neck pickup rolled back slightly. This dual-guitar approach gave Bush's arrangements tonal contrast while maintaining the overall clean, articulate aesthetic.

Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

The Les Paul Custom's thicker, warmer humbucker character provided an alternative to single-coils for passages requiring smooth sustain without aggression. Neck position selection with tonal roll-back kept these parts integrated into Bush's signature intimate, atmospheric production style.

Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

This clean-platform amp with subtle reverb and moderate volume settings delivered the warm, articulate tones foundational to Kate Bush's early recordings. The Twin Reverb's natural breakup characteristics and lush reverb tank created the spacious clarity that defined her guitar textures.

Pedal

Boss CE-2 Chorus

The CE-2 Chorus generated the signature width and atmospheric shimmer present across Bush's catalog, adding spatial depth without overwhelming her intimate vocal arrangements. This subtle effect became essential for creating the ethereal quality of her clean guitar layers.

Pedal

Boss DD-3 Digital Delay

Digital delay provided the atmospheric space and dimension heard throughout Kate Bush's recordings, complementing her sparse arrangement philosophy. This effect, used subtly in mixing, enhanced the dreamlike quality of her guitar work without adding obvious repeats.

How to Practice Kate Bush on GuitarZone

Every Kate Bush 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 Wuthering Heights - Guitar Tab