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Lenny Kravitz

5 guitar songs · Tabs, Lessons & Tone Guide Rock

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Artist Overview

History and Guitar Legacy

Lenny Kravitz emerged from New York City in 1989 with a guitar-driven sound drawing from Jimi Hendrix, Curtis Mayfield, and Led Zeppelin. He channeled Classic Rock, funk, and soul into a modern framework that felt both timeless and fresh. As a multi-instrumentalist who plays virtually everything on his records, Kravitz proved that guitar-based music could be iconic without technical shredding, focusing instead on groove, tone, and feel.

Playing Style and Techniques

Kravitz operates between classic rock riffing, funk rhythm work, and bluesy lead phrasing. His right hand features tight palm-muted grooves, choppy funk strumming, and precise downpicking locked with drums. Lead work emphasizes pentatonic and blues scales with expressive bends, controlled vibrato, and double stops. His real mastery lies in dynamics and knowing when to dig in or pull back, creating a massive vintage wall of sound through restraint and pocket awareness.

Why Guitarists Study Lenny Kravitz

Kravitz teaches guitarists that economy of notes and groove matter more than technical complexity. Every riff serves the song rather than showcasing technique. His catalog provides a goldmine for developing rock-solid rhythm chops, vintage tone awareness, and riff-writing vocabulary rooted in classic influences. He demonstrates how understanding dynamics, timing, and attitude transforms simple ideas into iconic parts.

Difficulty and Learning Path

Most Kravitz riffs are accessible to intermediate guitarists, making his material approachable for learners. The real challenge lies in capturing the feel, swing, and massive tone. Songs like 'Are You Gonna Go My Way' and 'Always on the Run' exemplify this: riffs aren't technically brutal, but nailing the right attitude, timing, and pocket separates good covers from great ones. Craig Ross serves as his live guitar collaborator.

What Makes Lenny Kravitz Essential for Guitar Players

  • Kravitz's rhythm playing is built on tight, controlled palm-muted riffs with precise downpicking. His main riffs lock into the kick drum pattern, creating a massive groove that feels effortless but requires excellent right-hand discipline and timing to replicate.
  • His lead style is rooted in minor pentatonic and blues scale phrasing, with an emphasis on expressive whole-step and half-step bends, slow vibrato, and tasteful use of double stops, very much in the Hendrix tradition but with a more restrained, vocal quality.
  • Funk-influenced rhythm guitar is a huge part of his sound. Tracks feature choppy 16th-note strumming patterns with muted ghost strokes, requiring you to develop that relaxed wrist motion and percussive attack that makes funk guitar groove rather than plod.
  • Kravitz relies heavily on open-position power chords and first-position riffs that use open strings for resonance. This gives his guitar parts a bigger, more expansive sound than standard barre chord rock, and it's a great lesson in how chord voicing affects tone.
  • His dynamic control is exceptional, he moves seamlessly between clean, barely-touched verses and full-throttle overdriven choruses by adjusting his picking attack and guitar volume knob rather than stomping on pedals. Learning this approach will level up any guitarist's expressiveness.

Did You Know?

Kravitz famously recorded his debut album 'Let Love Rule' almost entirely by himself, playing every instrument including all guitar parts, in a deliberate effort to recreate the organic analog sound of late-1960s and early-1970s rock records.

The main riff from 'Always on the Run' was actually co-written with Slash from Guns N' Roses, who plays the guitar on the studio recording, one of the most iconic rock collaborations of the early '90s that many fans don't realize.

Kravitz is obsessed with vintage gear and recording techniques. He's known to refuse digital recording equipment, insisting on analog tape machines, tube consoles, and vintage microphones to capture that warm, saturated tone.

His signature 1967 Gibson Flying V, which he's played extensively throughout his career, was reportedly found in a New York pawn shop, a lucky find that became one of the most recognizable guitars in modern rock.

Craig Ross, Kravitz's longtime touring guitarist, has been with him since 1989 and is largely responsible for the rawer, more aggressive guitar tones heard in live performances compared to the polished studio recordings.

For the recording of 'Are You Gonna Go My Way,' Kravitz tracked the guitars through a cranked vintage Marshall with minimal effects, capturing the explosive wah-drenched intro and crunchy rhythm parts mostly live in the room.

Kravitz has stated in interviews that he deliberately limits himself to simple gear setups and avoids modern effects processors, believing that great guitar tone comes from the interaction between fingers, a good guitar, and a loud tube amp.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Are You Gonna Go My Way album cover
Are You Gonna Go My Way 1993

This is Kravitz's most guitar-forward album and the best place to start learning his style. The title track is a must-learn riff with its explosive wah-wah intro and driving power chords, while 'Believe' and 'My Love' showcase his funk rhythm and cleaner bluesy lead work. It covers the full spectrum of his playing in one record.

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Mama Said album cover
Mama Said 1991

Features 'Always on the Run' with its Slash co-written riff, an essential lesson in pentatonic riff construction and groove-locked rhythm playing. The album also includes 'Fields of Joy' and 'It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over,' which teach you Kravitz's softer side: clean arpeggios, subtle chord embellishments, and how to play dynamically within a soul-rock context.

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5 album cover
5 1998

Home to the massive hit 'Fly Away,' which is one of the most fun intermediate-level rock riffs to learn, simple open-position power chords with a driving feel. 'American Woman' (his cover of The Guess Who classic) is a great exercise in aggressive wah-wah riffing and controlled feedback. This album is where Kravitz's tone is at its fattest and most overdriven.

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Let Love Rule album cover
Let Love Rule 1989

Kravitz's debut is a masterclass in vintage tone and understated guitar work. The title track features beautifully layered clean and overdriven guitar parts that teach arrangement and dynamics. 'Mr. Cab Driver' has a killer funk-rock riff with syncopated 16th-note strumming. Essential for understanding how Kravitz builds songs from the guitar up.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

Kravitz is most associated with a 1967 Gibson Flying V, his go-to for the heavy riff-driven tracks that defined his sound. He also frequently uses a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard and various vintage Fender Stratocasters for cleaner, funkier tones. His Flying V is typically stock with original PAF-style humbuckers. He's also been seen with Gibson ES-355s and SGs, always gravitating toward vintage instruments with that warm, woody resonance.

Amp

Kravitz's tone is built around cranked vintage Marshall amplifiers, primarily a 1968 Marshall Super Lead 100-watt (Plexi) pushed to natural breakup for that thick, harmonically rich overdrive. He also uses vintage Fender Twin Reverbs for cleaner passages and occasionally layers both for studio recordings. The key to his sound is volume: these amps are driven hard for natural tube saturation rather than relying on pedal-based gain.

Pickups

His Gibson Flying V and Les Paul run original PAF-spec humbuckers with moderate output (around 7.5–8.5k ohms), which deliver warmth and clarity without excessive compression. This lower-output humbucker character is critical to his tone, it responds dynamically to picking attack and volume knob adjustments. On his Stratocasters, he uses vintage-spec single-coils for the glassier, funkier rhythm tones heard on tracks like 'Fly Away.'

Effects & Chain

Kravitz keeps his effects chain minimal and vintage. His most recognizable effect is a classic Dunlop Cry Baby wah pedal, used prominently on 'Are You Gonna Go My Way' and 'American Woman.' He occasionally uses a Uni-Vibe or rotary speaker effect for psychedelic textures, and a simple analog overdrive for boost. But the philosophy is decidedly 'less is more', most of his tone comes from cranking the amp and using his guitar's volume knob for dynamics. No modern multi-effects or digital processing.

Recommended Gear

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Kravitz uses vintage Stratocasters with their glassy single-coil tone for funkier rhythm work and cleaner passages, as heard on tracks like 'Fly Away.' Their responsiveness to picking dynamics complements his minimalist effects philosophy.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

A frequent choice alongside his Flying V, Kravitz's 1959 Les Paul Standard delivers warm, woody tones from original PAF humbuckers that respond dynamically to his attack and volume knob adjustments.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

While less documented than his Standard, the Custom variant offers Kravitz similar tonal warmth and versatility through its PAF-style humbuckers, fitting his preference for vintage instruments with rich harmonic character.

Gibson Flying V
Guitar

Gibson Flying V

Kravitz's signature instrument for heavy, riff-driven tracks, his 1967 Flying V with stock PAF humbuckers feeds into cranked Marshall Plexis to create the thick, harmonically saturated overdrive that defines his sound.

Marshall Plexi (1959 Super Lead)
Amp

Marshall Plexi (1959 Super Lead)

His 1968 Marshall Super Lead 100-watt Plexi cranked to natural breakup is the backbone of Kravitz's tone, providing the thick, tube-driven overdrive that comes from volume rather than pedal-based gain.

Fender Twin Reverb
Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

Kravitz uses the Twin Reverb's clean, articulate platform for softer passages and layered studio recordings, complementing the Marshall's aggression while maintaining his preference for warm, vintage tube tone.

How to Practice Lenny Kravitz on GuitarZone

Every Lenny Kravitz 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 Are You Gonna Go My Way - Guitar TabPractice Always on the Run - Guitar TabPractice Sister - Guitar Tab