Guitar Songs, Tabs & Lessons

Lana Del Rey

1 guitar song · Tabs, Lessons & Tone Guide Pop Rock

Choose a Lana Del Rey Song to Play

High By The Beach - Guitar Cover

YouTube Stats: 67K · 2.2K

Artist Overview

Lana Del Rey, born Elizabeth Woolridge Grant, emerged from New York City's indie scene in 2011 and quickly became one of the most distinctive voices in modern alternative pop. While she is primarily known as a singer-songwriter rather than a guitar-driven artist, her music is deeply rooted in cinematic, surf-rock, and dream-pop guitar textures that make her catalog surprisingly rewarding for electric guitarists to explore. The guitar work across her albums blends reverb-drenched clean tones, tremolo picking, and moody arpeggios that draw from 1960s surf rock, spaghetti western soundtracks, and shoegaze. For guitarists looking to develop atmosphere, restraint, and tasteful use of effects, Lana Del Rey's music is an excellent study. Her studio recordings feature contributions from a rotating cast of session guitarists and producers, with Blake Stranahan handling live guitar duties on several tours and producers like Dan Auerbach (of The Black Keys) and Jack Antonoff shaping her guitar tones in the studio. Auerbach's work on her "Ultraviolence" album is particularly notable for guitarists, featuring raw, bluesy riffs and gritty overdrive that contrast sharply with her more polished pop releases. The guitar parts across her discography range from simple, open-chord strumming to more nuanced fingerpicking patterns and ambient textural work. For guitarists, the difficulty level of most Lana Del Rey songs is beginner to intermediate. The chords are generally straightforward, often revolving around familiar open and barre chord shapes. What makes her music challenging to replicate authentically is the tone and feel: getting that washy, reverb-soaked clean sound with just the right amount of vibrato and tremolo requires attention to dynamics and effects. Songs like "High By The Beach" are great entry points for players developing their sense of mood and sonic space. If you are a guitarist who wants to work on clean tone shaping, reverb management, and playing with emotional restraint rather than technical fireworks, Lana Del Rey's catalog offers a goldmine of material.

What Makes Lana Del Rey Essential for Guitar Players

Reverb and tremolo are the backbone of Lana Del Rey's guitar sound. Learning her songs teaches you how to use time-based effects musically rather than as a crutch, dialing in spring or hall reverb with a slow tremolo to create that vintage cinematic vibe.
Many of her songs use simple open chord progressions (Am, F, C, G patterns) but demand precise dynamics. Playing softly with clean tones and letting the chords ring out is harder than it sounds, and it is a great exercise in touch sensitivity and pick control.
The surf-rock influence in tracks like "High By The Beach" calls for clean, bright single-coil tones with a slight twang. Practicing these parts helps guitarists develop their ability to use the guitar's volume and tone knobs expressively during performance.
On the "Ultraviolence" album, Dan Auerbach brought in grittier, blues-rock guitar tones with crunchy overdrive and subtle slide work. These tracks are excellent for intermediate players looking to blend clean sections with pushed amp tones seamlessly.
Fingerpicking patterns appear throughout her catalog, often in arpeggiated forms that outline the chord progression. These parts are great for developing right-hand independence and smooth transitions between fingerpicked verses and strummed choruses.

Did You Know?

Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys produced Lana Del Rey's "Ultraviolence" album, recording much of it to analog tape at his Easy Eye Sound studio. The guitar tones on that record were captured largely through vintage tube amps with minimal post-production processing, giving the album a raw, live-in-the-room quality.

The guitar riff in "High By The Beach" was created during the production process with a heavy emphasis on layered synths mimicking guitar textures, making it a fascinating study in how modern pop blurs the line between synthesized and real guitar sounds.

Lana Del Rey can play guitar herself and has been spotted performing with acoustic guitars during intimate live sets and songwriting sessions. She often writes on guitar before her songs get the full production treatment.

Her music draws heavily from the Ennio Morricone spaghetti western guitar tradition, with reverb-heavy clean tones and tremolo effects that recall the classic scores of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly." This makes her catalog a great gateway for guitarists interested in exploring that iconic sound.

On tour, her live band has used a mix of Fender Jazzmasters, Telecasters, and semi-hollow guitars to capture the dreamy, vintage tone her recordings are known for. The Jazzmaster's warm, rounded single-coil sound is particularly well-suited to her aesthetic.

Several of her songs sit in drop D or standard tuning with a capo, making them accessible for beginner guitarists while still sounding sophisticated and atmospheric.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Ultraviolence 2014

This is the album for guitarists. Produced by Dan Auerbach, it features the most prominent and organic guitar work in Lana Del Rey's catalog, with bluesy overdrive, tremolo-laden clean tones, and even some gritty slide guitar. Tracks like "Shades of Cool" showcase beautiful, reverb-heavy arpeggios and a soaring guitar solo, while the title track "Ultraviolence" features a raw, distorted riff that intermediate players will love learning.

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Born to Die 2012

Her debut major-label album is heavily orchestrated, but beneath the strings and production there are accessible guitar parts built on simple chord progressions and dreamy clean tones. "Video Games" is a perfect beginner song with its stripped-down chord movement, and "Blue Jeans" features a moody, atmospheric guitar line that teaches restraint and the art of playing fewer notes with more feeling.

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Norman Fucking Rockwell! 2019

Produced by Jack Antonoff, this album leans into folk-rock and Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter territory with warm acoustic guitar textures and gentle electric flourishes. "Venice Bitch" is a nearly ten-minute track that builds from soft fingerpicking to a massive, psychedelic guitar freakout with layers of fuzz and delay, making it an incredible exercise in dynamic building and effects-driven improvisation.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

Lana Del Rey's studio and live guitar sound is most closely associated with Fender Jazzmasters and Telecasters, both of which deliver the bright, clean, slightly twangy tone that defines her aesthetic. Semi-hollow guitars like the Gretsch Electromatic or Epiphone Casino have also been used by her touring guitarists for warmer, more resonant tones on ballads. If you are trying to nail her sound on a budget, any Fender-style guitar with single-coil or P-90 pickups will get you in the right ballpark.

Amp

A Fender tube amp is the ideal platform for replicating Lana Del Rey's guitar tones. A Fender Twin Reverb or Deluxe Reverb set clean with the reverb and tremolo circuits engaged captures the vintage, spacious character heard across her recordings. Keep the amp volume moderate so it stays clean, and let the onboard spring reverb do the heavy lifting. For the grittier "Ultraviolence" tones, a slightly pushed Fender amp or a Vox AC30 with some natural breakup works well.

Pickups

Single-coil pickups are the foundation of Lana Del Rey's guitar sound. Fender-style single-coils in the neck or middle position deliver the warm, glassy clean tones her music demands. For the "Ultraviolence" era, P-90 style pickups or overwound single-coils add enough grit and midrange push to handle the dirtier moments without losing clarity. Low to moderate output pickups (around 6-7k ohms) are ideal because they preserve the dynamic range needed for her atmospheric playing style.

Effects & Chain

Reverb is absolutely essential. A good spring reverb (either from the amp or a pedal like the Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail or Strymon Flint) set to a long, lush decay is the foundation. Tremolo is the second most important effect, and amp-based tremolo or a dedicated pedal like the Boss TR-2 set to a slow, deep wave adds that classic cinematic pulse. A subtle analog chorus or vibrato pedal can add shimmer to clean arpeggios. For the "Ultraviolence" tracks, an overdrive pedal like the Ibanez Tube Screamer set low provides just enough grit. A tape-style delay (like the Strymon El Capistan) with a few repeats rounds out the chain for ambient sections.

Recommended Gear

Guitar

Fender Telecaster

The Telecaster's bright single-coil pickups deliver the twangy, clean tone central to Lana Del Rey's vintage aesthetic. Its sharp attack and clarity cut through her atmospheric arrangements while maintaining the glassy character her sound demands.

Guitar

Fender Jazzmaster

Lana Del Rey's go-to guitar, the Jazzmaster's offset body and warm single-coils create the slightly twangy, spacious tone that defines her studio and live sound. Its natural resonance pairs perfectly with reverb-heavy production.

Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

The Twin Reverb's lush spring reverb and tremolo circuits are essential to Lana Del Rey's signature spacious, cinematic tone. Set clean with moderate volume, it delivers the vintage character heard throughout her discography.

Amp

Fender Deluxe Reverb

This amp's onboard spring reverb and tremolo provide a more compact platform for Lana Del Rey's clean, atmospheric guitar tones. Its moderate headroom keeps her playing pristine while adding that classic shimmer.

Amp

Vox AC30

The AC30's natural breakup and chime work perfectly for the grittier 'Ultraviolence' era tracks where Lana Del Rey needs more grit without losing clarity. Its warm, woody tone adds character to her darker moments.

Pedal

Ibanez Tube Screamer TS9

Set low, the TS9 provides subtle overdrive for Lana Del Rey's 'Ultraviolence' dirtier passages, adding just enough midrange push and grit while preserving the dynamic range essential to her atmospheric style.

How to Practice Lana Del Rey on GuitarZone

Every Lana Del Rey 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 High By The Beach - Guitar Cover