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Roxette

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It Must Have Been Love - Guitar Cover

YouTube Stats: 838K · 16K

Band Overview

Roxette emerged from Halmstad, Sweden in 1986 as a synth-pop and rock duo featuring vocalist Marie Fredriksson and multi-instrumentalist Per Gessle. During the late 1980s and 1990s, they became global superstars, but their guitar foundation is often overlooked in favor of their pop sensibilities and keyboard arrangements. What makes Roxette essential for guitarists is their masterful blend of sharp, melodic rhythm guitar with clean, articulate lead work that sits perfectly in a mix without competing with synthesizers. Per Gessle handles most of the guitar duties, and his approach is fundamentally rooted in Classic Rock sensibility, even when wrapped in 1980s production. He favors melodic phrasing over flashy technique, using well-placed single-note runs, arpeggiated passages, and rhythm figures that prioritize hook and catchiness over difficulty. For guitarists learning Roxette, you're looking at intermediate-level material that rewards precision, timing, and understanding how to craft memorable phrases within a pop-rock context. The band's production choices, particularly the use of clean electric tones layered with synths, taught a generation of guitar players how to cut through dense arrangements without excessive gain or distortion. Studying Roxette builds your sense of melodic composition and arrangement awareness, skills that separate competent players from musicians who understand how songs are constructed.

What Makes Roxette Essential for Guitar Players

Clean, articulate single-coil and semi-hollow body tones layered beneath synth arrangements. Per Gessle prioritizes clarity and note definition over gain or sustain, forcing you to develop precise picking control and attention to muting technique to avoid string noise.
Melodic lead lines built from simple scale shapes and interval jumps rather than finger-gymnastics. Songs like 'It Must Have Been Love' feature conversational lead guitar phrasing that teaches you how to say something meaningful in just 2-4 bars, a skill more valuable than speed.
Hybrid rhythm approach using both strummed chords and fingerpicked arpeggios within the same song. This develops your ability to switch between hand positions smoothly and teaches arrangement thinking, showing you when to open up a progression versus when to tighten it.
Use of capo-based songwriting, particularly in open positions like Cadd9, Dsus2, and Asus4 voicings that create the suspended, yearning quality characteristic of Roxette's sound. Learning their catalog forces you to master capo technique and alternative chord voicings in upper fret positions.
Strategic use of minor pentatonic shapes for lead work, but executed with unusual phrasing and bends that feel more European or introspective than typical blues-rock. This teaches you how to make simple shapes sound sophisticated through note choice, timing, and vibrato control.

Did You Know?

Per Gessle recorded most of Roxette's guitar parts with a Fender Telecaster Plus, a semi-hollow, high-tech guitar from the late 1980s that's relatively obscure compared to standard Teles. This unusual choice influenced his cleaner, almost thin tone that forced him to rely on picking dynamics rather than gear coloration.

The band's synth-dominated production meant Gessle often recorded multiple guitar layers (sometimes 4-6 tracks) to compete for space, teaching him arrangement thinking that most rock guitarists never develop because they're used to louder, simpler setups.

On their biggest hit 'Listen to Your Heart' (1988), the signature guitar riff was actually performed on a Casio keyboard initially, but Gessle immediately translated it to guitar in a way that proved guitar and synth can share the same melodic space without one dominating the other.

Roxette's live sound relied heavily on guitar tone because their synth layers couldn't replicate exactly in real-time without backing tracks. This meant Gessle had to develop a roadworthy, consistent picking style that sounded good night after night, a lesson modern guitarists often skip.

The production aesthetic of Roxette albums involved heavy use of chorus and slight reverb to create width, but rarely any distortion or overdrive on lead lines. This was intentional, teaching a masterclass in how clean guitar tone and production mixing can convey energy and emotion without relying on saturation.

Per Gessle is left-handed but plays right-handed guitar, which may explain his unconventional approach to some lead lines and chord voicings that feel slightly alien compared to standard right-handed patterns.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Look Sharp! 1988

Their breakthrough album where Per Gessle's guitar philosophy is clearest. 'Listen to Your Heart' and 'The Look' feature the cleanest, most articulate lead work and rhythm arrangements. The album is less synth-heavy than later releases, making the guitar tone and technique more audible and learnable.

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Joyride 1991

This album represents Roxette's artistic peak where guitar-synth balance reaches perfection. 'Fading Like a Flower' and 'It Must Have Been Love' showcase intermediate-level lead phrasing, minor pentatonic usage, and how to play melodically in minor keys. The record teaches arrangement awareness better than almost any pop-rock album from the era.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

Fender Telecaster Plus (semi-hollow variant from late 1980s), occasionally paired with a Fender Stratocaster. The Telecaster Plus' combination of semi-hollow construction and Fender pickups created a slightly thinner, articulate tone that cut through synth arrangements without sounding aggressive. Gessle kept these guitars relatively stock, avoiding heavy modifications.

Amp

Primarily Fender Deluxe Reverb and Fender Twin Reverb amplifiers, driven at moderate levels to maintain clean headroom. These amps provided natural, tube-driven reverb and slight compression that suited Roxette's production style. Settings favored cleanliness with moderate treble and mid presence, never pushed into distortion.

Pickups

Stock Fender single-coil pickups (approximately 5.8k output) in the Telecaster Plus and Stratocasters used. Single-coils provided the bright, articulate attack essential for Roxette's tone. Lower output forced reliance on playing dynamics and picking technique rather than pickup output for coloration.

Effects & Chain

Minimal effects chain, relying primarily on amp-based reverb and chorus. Some recordings featured very light chorus or slightly delayed guitar to create width within the synth arrangement. No distortion or overdrive pedals. Gessle's tone came entirely from Telecaster, tube amp dynamics, and playing technique, emphasizing how much tone comes from the player rather than gear.

Recommended Gear

Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Roxette's Marie Fredriksson and Per Gessle used Stratocasters alongside Telecasters for their bright, articulate single-coil voice that cut cleanly through dense synth arrangements. The guitar's versatility allowed them to maintain clarity and dynamic responsiveness without adding coloration to their pop-rock production.

Guitar

Fender Telecaster

Gessle's primary weapon, the Telecaster Plus semi-hollow variant delivered the thin, cutting tone essential for Roxette's sound, sitting perfectly between synthesizers without competing for frequency space. Stock single-coils forced reliance on playing dynamics rather than pickup output, emphasizing technique over gear.

Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

Roxette's choice for its clean headroom and lush tube-driven reverb, the Twin Reverb provided the spacious, natural ambience that complemented their synth-pop arrangements without pushing into distortion. Moderate settings maintained pristine clarity while adding subtle depth to guitar passages.

Amp

Fender Deluxe Reverb

This workhorse amp delivered Roxette's signature clean, warm tone with natural tube compression and built-in reverb that shaped their intimate vocal recordings. The Deluxe Reverb's moderate power allowed controlled dynamics and authentic tube saturation at reasonable volumes.

How to Practice Roxette on GuitarZone

Every Roxette 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 It Must Have Been Love - Guitar Cover