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Queens of the Stone Age

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No One Knows - Guitar Tab

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Band Overview

History and Guitar Legacy

Queens of the Stone Age emerged from California's desert rock scene in the late 1990s, founded by guitarist and vocalist Josh Homme in 1996. The band fused heavy, detuned riffs with pop sensibility and psychedelic textures, creating a rhythmically tight sound. Homme proved that feel, conviction, and a great signal chain matter more than shredding speed when crafting influential guitar work for the 21st century.

Playing Style and Techniques

QOTSA uses C-standard tuning (C-G-C-F-A-D) to achieve thick, syrupy low-end tones without seven-string guitars or drop tunings. Homme's riffing blends tight palm-muted staccato passages with open, droning chords and chromatic movement requiring excellent fretting-hand control. Troy Van Leeuwen, who joined in 2002, adds textural counterpoint using baritone guitars, E-Bow, and effects-heavy lines that create layered, complex stereo imagery.

Why Guitarists Study Queens Of The Stone Age

QOTSA demonstrates how relatively simple riffs become massive through tone, tuning, and relentless groove. The interplay between Homme's crunchy, mid-heavy rhythm work and Van Leeuwen's ambient, effects-driven playing reveals sophisticated layering beneath the surface. Learning their songs teaches how detuning shapes riff character, the importance of rhythmic accuracy, and how to lock in tightly with drums.

Difficulty and Learning Path

QOTSA songs sit at solid intermediate level. Individual parts aren't lightning-fast, but nailing the feel, tone, and surgical tightness requires dedication. Sloppy muting or timing will expose weaknesses immediately. Mastering their material dramatically improves rhythm playing, understanding of how tuning influences riffs, and your ability to synchronize with drummers with absolute precision.

What Makes Queens of the Stone Age Essential for Guitar Players

Josh Homme's signature rhythmic style relies heavily on tight palm-muting and staccato picking in C-standard tuning. The low tuning means you need precise muting technique with both hands to avoid muddy, uncontrolled string noise, a fantastic exercise for any rhythm guitarist.
QOTSA songs frequently use chromatic riff movement and unexpected note choices within otherwise heavy, rock-based frameworks. Homme will slide a half-step up or throw in a tritone where you'd expect a power chord, giving their riffs a menacing, slightly dissonant character that sets them apart from typical stoner rock.
Troy Van Leeuwen adds enormous textural depth using baritone guitars, volume swells, E-Bow, and ambient delay/reverb work. Studying his parts teaches guitarists how to think in terms of sonic space rather than just notes, a hugely underrated skill for anyone playing in a two-guitar band.
Homme's lead playing is melodic and vocal-like rather than technically virtuosic. He favors pentatonic-based lines with strong vibrato and well-placed bends, often in the 'robot rock' style where precision and note choice matter more than speed. His solos in songs like 'No One Knows' are perfect for intermediate players looking to develop tasteful lead skills.
The band's rhythmic feel is built on a machine-like tightness between guitar and drums. Practicing QOTSA riffs with a metronome or drum machine at exact tempo will level up your internal clock, Homme's downpicking consistency rivals James Hetfield in terms of metronomic discipline.

Did You Know?

Josh Homme deliberately chose C-standard tuning (C-G-C-F-A-D) to create a heavier sound without losing string tension or playability. He uses relatively light gauge strings (.011-.052) tuned low, which gives a slinky, almost bass-like feel to riffs.

Homme's guitar tone on early QOTSA records was largely driven by a modified Ampeg VT-22, a bass combo amp, which gives that thick, compressed midrange growl that defines the desert rock sound. He's openly said he prefers amps not designed for guitar.

The main riff of 'No One Knows' was written in collaboration with Dave Grohl during the Songs for the Deaf sessions. Homme has described the creative process as competitive and intense, with Grohl pushing the band to be tighter and heavier than ever.

Troy Van Leeuwen is known for using a Maton MS500, an obscure Australian-made guitar, for many QOTSA parts. Its unique, slightly nasal single-coil tone cuts through Homme's wall of distortion perfectly.

Homme has stated he often records guitar parts with the amp in the control room rather than isolated in a booth, blending the amp's direct sound with room ambience for a more live, three-dimensional tone.

QOTSA's 'Songs for the Deaf' album features different guitar tunings and tones on almost every track. Studying the full record is like a crash course in how one band can get wildly different tones from similar gear just by changing approach.

Josh Homme was a founding member of the desert rock supergroup Them Crooked Vultures alongside Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, further proof of his riff-writing credentials among rock guitar royalty.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Songs for the Deaf 2002

This is the QOTSA album for guitarists, period. 'No One Knows' teaches tight alternate picking and palm-muting in C-standard, 'Go with the Flow' is a masterclass in driving eighth-note rhythm guitar, and 'A Song for the Dead' features some of Homme's heaviest, most unhinged riffing. The interplay between Homme and Van Leeuwen is at its peak here.

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Rated R 2000

A slightly weirder, more experimental record that's perfect for learning dynamic control. 'The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret' features catchy, almost pop-punk riffing in low tuning, while 'Feel Good Hit of the Summer' is a lesson in how one grinding, palm-muted riff can carry an entire song. Great for developing economy of motion and groove.

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…Like Clockwork 2013

This album showcases QOTSA's more textural, atmospheric side. 'My God Is the Sun' has a ferocious main riff that demands precise downpicking, while 'I Sat by the Ocean' features clean, jangly arpeggios that prove Homme can do delicate as well as crushing. Essential for learning tonal variety within a single band's catalog.

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Queens of the Stone Age 1998

The self-titled debut is raw, heavy, and hypnotic. Tracks like 'Regular John' and 'Avon' feature repetitive, trance-like riffs that demand stamina and rhythmic precision. This is where you learn the desert rock fundamentals: low tuning, relentless grooves, and tone that sounds like the amp is melting. Perfect for building endurance and palm-muting discipline.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

Josh Homme's primary guitars are the Ovation GP (a semi-hollow, solidbody-style guitar from the 1970s) and various Maton guitars from Australia. He's also closely associated with his Schcter signature model and Gibson ES-335-style semi-hollows. Troy Van Leeuwen favors the Maton MS500 and various Fender Jazzmasters. Homme typically plays with medium-light strings tuned to C-standard (C-G-C-F-A-D), and his guitars tend to be bone-stock without heavy modifications, the tone shaping happens at the amp.

Amp

Homme's signature tone comes from an Ampeg VT-22 (a 100-watt tube combo originally designed for bass/keys) cranked hard for natural tube saturation. He also uses Fender Bassman heads and has been seen with various boutique amps like Ecstasy and Burriss. The key to his sound is pushing a high-headroom, mid-focused tube amp into breakup, not scooped modern high-gain, but thick, warm overdrive with lots of midrange bark. He runs the mids high (7-8) and keeps bass tight to avoid flub in C-standard tuning.

Pickups

Homme's Ovation GP guitars feature vintage-spec humbuckers with moderate output, think PAF-territory around 7-9k ohms, that maintain clarity and dynamics even with heavy amp saturation. The Maton guitars used by both Homme and Van Leeuwen feature proprietary Maton single-coils and humbuckers that have a slightly nasal, cutting quality. The emphasis is on mid-forward pickups that punch through a mix rather than modern ultra-high-output ceramic humbuckers.

Effects & Chain

Homme runs a relatively simple pedal setup: a Boss GE-7 EQ pedal for solo boosts and tone sculpting, an Electro-Harmonix POG or Micro POG for octave effects, and occasional use of a tremolo pedal (Boss TR-2 or similar) for the band's psychedelic, pulsating clean tones. Van Leeuwen uses more effects including heavy delay, reverb, and E-Bow for atmospheric textures. Homme's philosophy is fundamentally amp-driven, the core overdrive tone comes from cranked tubes, not stacked gain pedals. A wah occasionally appears for solos, but the emphasis is always on the raw amp tone and picking dynamics.

Recommended Gear

Guitar

Gibson ES-335

Josh Homme uses ES-335-style semi-hollows to achieve his signature warm, thick tone with natural resonance that complements the Ampeg VT-22's tube saturation. The semi-hollow body adds harmonic complexity and sustain crucial for Queens' heavy, mid-forward riffs in C-standard tuning.

Guitar

Fender Jazzmaster

Troy Van Leeuwen's Jazzmaster, paired with the band's offset-body approach, provides bright, cutting single-coil tones that punch through Queens' dense guitar textures. Its natural jangle works perfectly for atmospheric leads and delayed textures layered over Homme's thick rhythm foundation.

How to Practice Queens of the Stone Age on GuitarZone

Every Queens of the Stone Age 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 No One Knows - Guitar Tab