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The Rolling Stones

13 guitar songs · Tabs, Lessons & Tone Guide Rock

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Band Overview

History and Guitar Legacy

The Rolling Stones emerged from London in 1962 as blues-obsessed musicians and evolved into arguably the greatest rock and roll band of all time. The guitar interplay between Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood, along with earlier members Mick Taylor and Brian Jones, established the gold standard for two-guitar harmony. Their approach demonstrates how guitarists can lock together without competing for space, making them essential study for band players.

Playing Style and Techniques

Keith Richards pioneered open-G tuning, dropping the low E string entirely to create a five-string setup that defined classics like 'Start Me Up' and 'Brown Sugar.' His rhythm playing uses ghost notes and chord fragments that blur rhythm and lead lines. Mick Taylor brought fluid, blues-drenched legato lead work with gorgeous sustain, while Brian Jones contributed slide guitar and sitar. Richards essentially invented the guitar riff as a song's signature element.

Why Guitarists Study The Rolling Stones

The Stones prove that feel, groove, and attitude matter more than technical displays. Learning their material teaches you how to serve the song rather than your ego, developing a solid rhythmic foundation and understanding how two guitars weave together musically. Keith Richards' signature looseness and swinging approach to rhythm playing offer invaluable lessons in rock guitar fundamentals and open-tuning vocabulary for electric players.

Difficulty and Learning Path

Stones songs range from beginner to intermediate levels. Standard tuning tracks like 'Wild Horses' and 'Angie' suit newer players, while 'Brown Sugar' and 'Satisfaction' demand solid rhythm chops and developed swing feel. The real challenge isn't the notes but the feel: Richards plays behind the beat with controlled looseness that sounds effortless until you attempt replication. Mastering this approach builds essential rock guitar skills.

What Makes The Rolling Stones Essential for Guitar Players

  • Keith Richards' open-G tuning (G-D-G-B-D on five strings) is the secret weapon behind the Stones' biggest riffs. Learning this tuning unlocks a whole vocabulary of two- and three-finger chord voicings that ring out with a naturally chimey, open quality you simply can't get in standard tuning.
  • The 'weaving' rhythm guitar approach, where Keith and Ronnie (or Mick Taylor) play complementary parts rather than identical chords, is a masterclass in guitar arrangement. One player often handles choppy, percussive rhythm while the other fills gaps with melodic fragments, creating a single massive guitar sound from two distinct parts.
  • Keith's right-hand technique is crucial to the Stones sound: a loose, almost flailing strum that catches strings inconsistently on purpose, producing ghost notes and rhythmic accents that give the riffs their swagger. This is harder to learn than it sounds, you have to unlearn precision to find that groove.
  • Mick Taylor's lead work on albums like 'Sticky Fingers' and 'Exile on Main St.' showcases buttery legato phrasing, expressive string bending with wide vibrato, and blues-scale fluency that's perfect for intermediate players looking to develop a more melodic, less pentatonic-box approach to soloing.
  • Many iconic Stones riffs use simple techniques, the "Satisfaction" riff is essentially a fuzz-driven melody built on a few notes, and "Start Me Up" is open-G power chords with rhythmic muting. The takeaway: economy of notes plus rhythmic precision equals timeless guitar parts.

Did You Know?

Keith Richards removes the low 6th string from his guitars when playing in open-G tuning. He's done this for decades, and many of his iconic Telecasters are strung with only five strings, which is why his chord voicings sound so distinct and airy.

The iconic fuzz riff on "Satisfaction" was originally meant to be a placeholder for a horn section. Keith recorded it through a Gibson Maestro Fuzz-Tone pedal as a demo idea, but the raw, buzzy tone was so perfect that it became one of the most recognizable guitar riffs in history.

Brian Jones played sitar on "Paint It Black", one of the earliest uses of the instrument in Western rock music. The droning, hypnotic quality of the track has inspired countless guitarists to experiment with open tunings and sustained drone notes to approximate that sound on six strings.

The slide guitar intro on "Gimme Shelter" was recorded by Keith Richards in open-E tuning, giving it that haunting, vocal-like quality. The entire part was reportedly captured in just a few takes, with Keith playing through a cranked amp to get natural tube saturation and feedback.

Mick Taylor's extended solo on the live version of "Sympathy for the Devil" (from "Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out!") is considered one of the greatest live guitar performances ever recorded, a fluid, wah-inflected blues exploration that runs for several minutes of pure melodic invention.

Keith Richards has been known to use Nashville tuning on certain recordings, a technique where the lower four strings of a guitar are replaced with lighter-gauge strings tuned an octave higher, creating a shimmery, almost 12-string-like texture that adds sparkle to acoustic tracks like "Wild Horses."

The two-guitar interplay on "Brown Sugar" is actually Keith playing rhythm in open-G tuning while Mick Taylor plays a complementary part in standard tuning, the tension between the two tuning systems is a big part of what makes the track sound so raw and alive.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Sticky Fingers album cover
Sticky Fingers 1971

This is the essential Stones guitar album. "Brown Sugar" teaches you open-G riffing with attitude, "Wild Horses" is a beautiful acoustic study in dynamics and fingerpicking-meets-strumming, and "Can't You Hear Me Knocking" features one of Mick Taylor's greatest solos, a jazz-blues odyssey that's a masterclass in sustain, phrasing, and knowing when to let a note breathe.

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Exile on Main St. album cover
Exile on Main St. 1972

A sprawling, raw double album where the two-guitar interplay between Keith and Mick Taylor reaches its peak. The lo-fi production means the guitars are right in your face. Tracks like "Tumbling Dice" and "Rocks Off" are essential for learning how open-tuning rhythm parts and standard-tuning lead lines coexist. The sloppy-on-purpose feel is a lesson in groove over perfection.

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Let It Bleed album cover
Let It Bleed 1969

"Gimme Shelter" alone makes this album required listening, Keith's open-tuned slide intro and the layered guitar textures are iconic. "You Can't Always Get What You Want" showcases restrained, tasteful acoustic work, while the album as a whole demonstrates how to use different guitar tones and tunings to create atmosphere. A great album for learning dynamics and arrangement.

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Some Girls album cover
Some Girls 1978

The Stones' punk-influenced late-70s record is lean, mean, and full of tight, punchy guitar work. "Miss You" has a disco-funk rhythm guitar part that's great for learning muted 16th-note strumming, and the album overall shows Keith and Ronnie Wood developing their own dual-guitar chemistry, more aggressive and stripped-down than the Taylor era. Great for building rhythm chops.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

Keith Richards is synonymous with the Fender Telecaster, specifically a butterscotch-blonde 1953 Telecaster nicknamed "Micawber" that he's used live and in the studio for decades, often with the neck pickup removed and a Gibson PAF humbucker installed at the bridge. He also relies heavily on a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard (used on "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Gimme Shelter") and various Gibson ES-345s for their warmer, semi-hollow tone. Ronnie Wood favors Fender Stratocasters and Gibson Les Paul Standards. Brian Jones played Vox teardrop guitars, Gibson Firebirds, and various acoustic instruments.

Amp

Keith Richards has long been associated with Fender Twin Reverbs cranked for clean-to-slightly-breaking tone, their headroom and clarity complement his open-tuning chord work beautifully. In the studio, he's also used Ampeg Gemini amps and small Fender Champs pushed to full distortion for gritty, compressed tones. Live, Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifiers have appeared in his rig for more gain. The key to Keith's amp sound is moderate breakup, not fully clean, not heavily distorted, just that sweet spot where the tubes are working hard and every pick attack changes the dynamics.

Pickups

Keith's modified Telecasters typically feature a Gibson PAF-style humbucker in the bridge position, giving him a fatter, warmer attack than a stock Tele single-coil while retaining the Telecaster's natural twang and snap. The neck pickup on "Micawber" has been removed entirely, just an empty slot. This humbucker-in-a-Tele setup produces a unique tone that's thicker than a standard Telecaster but more cutting than a full Les Paul, sitting perfectly in a band mix. Mick Taylor and Ronnie Wood used stock PAF humbuckers in their Les Pauls and standard single-coils in their Strats.

Effects & Chain

The Stones are famously minimal with effects. The Gibson Maestro Fuzz-Tone (the original transistor fuzz) defined "Satisfaction" and appears on several early tracks. Keith occasionally uses a wah pedal and a MXR 10-Band EQ for tone shaping, but his signal chain is predominantly guitar-straight-into-amp. Mick Taylor used a wah pedal (Cry Baby) more liberally for expressive lead work. The overarching philosophy is that tone comes from the fingers, the tuning, the guitar's wood and pickups, and a good tube amp, not from a pedalboard. If you're chasing the Stones sound, invest in your right-hand dynamics before you invest in pedals.

Recommended Gear

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Ronnie Wood relies on the Strat's versatile single-coil tone for bright, cutting leads that complement Keith's darker textures. The guitar's natural snap cuts through the Stones' dense arrangements without losing warmth.

Fender Telecaster
Guitar

Fender Telecaster

Keith Richards' modified butterscotch Telecaster, fitted with a Gibson PAF humbucker, delivers the fatter, warmer attack that defines his rhythm work while maintaining the instrument's natural twang and cutting presence.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

This guitar anchors iconic Stones tracks like 'Sympathy for the Devil' and 'Gimme Shelter,' providing the thick, sustained tone and natural breakup Keith needs for his open-tuning chord work.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

While not specifically mentioned in Keith's primary rig, the Custom's thicker body and hardware enhance sustain and warmth, making it an alternative for achieving the deeper, more compressed tones the Stones occasionally pursue.

Fender Twin Reverb
Amp

Fender Twin Reverb

Keith's preferred amp, the Twin Reverb's headroom and natural breakup create that sweet spot where tubes work hard without full distortion, perfectly complementing his open-tuning dynamics and pick attack sensitivity.

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier
Amp

Mesa/Boogie Dual Rectifier

For live shows requiring more gain and punch, this amp provides the boosted output the Stones need while maintaining the moderate tube breakup that's central to Keith's tone philosophy.

How to Practice The Rolling Stones on GuitarZone

Every The Rolling Stones 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 Angie - Guitar LessonPractice Paint It Black - Guitar LessonPractice Sympathy For The Devil - Guitar Tab