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Guitar Songs, Tabs & Lessons

Whitesnake

13 guitar songs · Tabs, Lessons & Tone Guide Hard Rock

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Band Overview

History and Guitar Legacy

Whitesnake formed in 1978 when David Coverdale left Deep Purple to assemble elite British blues-rock musicians. Early players like Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody delivered gritty Les Paul-fueled riffs and soulful solos. The band's guitar sound exploded when John Sykes joined for the 1987 self-titled album, bringing ferocious, technically demanding style. Subsequent touring lineups with Adrian Vandenberg and Steve Vai cemented Whitesnake as a guitar-centric late '80s Hard Rock force.

Playing Style and Techniques

Whitesnake masters the fusion of blues feel with shred-era technique. 'Still of the Night' showcases aggressive palm-muted power chords, wide octave jumps, atmospheric clean passages, and explosive fast pentatonic runs with dramatic bends and vibrato. 'Here I Go Again' offers memorable chord progressions with arpeggiated verses and lyrical, melodic soloing. 'Is This Love' blends warm clean tones with tasteful lead fills that emphasize dynamics and restraint over raw speed.

Why Guitarists Study Whitesnake

Whitesnake provides a masterclass in combining blues vocabulary with technical precision. Their catalog teaches tension and release through powerful riffs and expressive phrasing. The band demonstrates how to balance aggression with finesse in classic hard rock contexts. Songs span from accessible melodic passages to complex solo work, offering guitarists multiple learning angles and stylistic approaches for developing well-rounded playing across rhythm and lead techniques.

Difficulty and Learning Path

Whitesnake's difficulty ranges from intermediate to advanced. 'Here I Go Again' and 'Is This Love' suit intermediate players comfortable with open and barre chords. 'Still of the Night' presents serious challenges: tight palm-muting precision on the main riff, clean string-skipping octave work, and advanced solo techniques including fast legato runs, wide vibrato, and whammy bar control. This progression makes Whitesnake ideal for developing aggression and finesse simultaneously.

What Makes Whitesnake Essential for Guitar Players

  • The 'Still of the Night' main riff is built on aggressive palm-muted power chords in E minor with dramatic open-string pull-offs. Nailing it requires a tight, consistent downpicking attack and precise muting to keep the low end punchy without turning to mud.
  • John Sykes' vibrato is one of the most identifiable in rock, wide, controlled, and coming from the wrist rather than the fingers. Studying his bends and vibrato on the 'Still of the Night' solo section will dramatically improve your lead expressiveness.
  • The octave riff in 'Still of the Night' uses Wes Montgomery-style octave shapes moved across the neck. This is a great exercise for developing accurate string muting with the fretting hand, since you need to silence the strings between the two fretted notes.
  • 'Here I Go Again' features an arpeggiated clean tone intro and verse that's excellent practice for pick-hand accuracy and letting notes ring into each other. The solo combines pentatonic bends with melodic phrasing, it's more about feel than speed.
  • 'Is This Love' teaches dynamic control: the verses use warm, clean chord voicings with subtle embellishments, while the chorus opens up into fuller strumming. The lead fills throughout the song are a lesson in serving the vocal melody without overplaying.

Did You Know?

John Sykes actually wrote and recorded the majority of the guitar parts on the 1987 Whitesnake album, including the iconic 'Still of the Night' riff, but was fired before the album's release. Adrian Vandenberg then performed the parts live on tour.

The 'Still of the Night' intro was directly inspired by Led Zeppelin's 'Black Dog,' and Coverdale has openly acknowledged the Zeppelin influence. For guitarists, comparing the two riffs is a great study in how similar rhythmic ideas can produce very different feels depending on tone and phrasing.

Steve Vai joined Whitesnake for the 'Slip of the Tongue' album (1989) after Vandenberg injured his wrist. Vai brought his Ibanez JEM and radically different technique to the band, making that album's guitar parts noticeably more technical and effects-heavy.

Bernie Marsden's 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard, nicknamed 'The Beast', was used extensively on early Whitesnake recordings and is now one of the most famous vintage Les Pauls in rock history, valued at well over $1 million.

John Sykes recorded much of the 1987 album using a 1978 Gibson Les Paul Custom through Marshall amps, layering multiple takes to create that massive wall-of-guitars sound. He often tracked rhythm parts three or four times and hard-panned them for width.

The clean interlude in 'Still of the Night' was inspired by classical and flamenco guitar textures. Sykes used a chorus effect and a slightly overdriven clean tone to create an eerie, atmospheric section that contrasts dramatically with the heavy riffing.

Whitesnake's guitar tone on the 1987 album was shaped significantly by producer Mike Stone and mixer Keith Olsen, who used extensive EQ sculpting and compression to make the guitars cut through the mix while retaining low-end weight, a production technique worth studying for anyone recording hard rock.

Essential Albums for Guitarists

Whitesnake (1987) album cover
Whitesnake (1987) 1987

This is the album. 'Still of the Night' is an advanced riffing and soloing masterpiece that covers palm-muting, octave riffs, clean interludes, and blazing pentatonic solos. 'Here I Go Again' and 'Is This Love' offer accessible rhythm work and melodic lead playing. John Sykes' guitar tone here is one of the best recorded Les Paul-through-Marshall sounds in rock history.

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Slide It In album cover
Slide It In 1984

A transitional album that bridges Whitesnake's bluesier early period with their polished '87 sound. John Sykes and Mel Galley share guitar duties, and tracks like 'Slow an' Easy' and the title track feature crunchy mid-gain riffing and classic blues-rock soloing. Great for intermediate players looking to develop a raw, less produced hard rock style.

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Slip of the Tongue album cover
Slip of the Tongue 1989

Steve Vai's playing on this album is technically extraordinary, whammy bar acrobatics, tapping, exotic scales, and layered harmonics are everywhere. 'Fool for Your Loving' (re-recorded) and 'The Deeper the Love' showcase how Vai adapted his virtuoso style to serve a hard rock song format. Challenging but incredibly rewarding for advanced players.

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Saints & Sinners album cover
Saints & Sinners 1982

Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody's dual-guitar interplay on this album is a goldmine for learning classic British blues-rock phrasing. 'Here I Go Again' appears in its original, bluesier form, comparing it to the 1987 version is a fantastic exercise in understanding how arrangement and tone shape a song's guitar identity.

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Tone & Gear

Guitar

John Sykes is synonymous with the Gibson Les Paul Custom, specifically a black 1978 model with gold hardware that he used throughout the 1987 era. Adrian Vandenberg played Peavey signature models and custom Strat-style guitars. Steve Vai brought his Ibanez JEM 777 with its distinctive monkey grip and Floyd Rose tremolo. For the classic Whitesnake tone, a Les Paul with humbuckers is the starting point.

Amp

Marshall is the core of Whitesnake's guitar sound. Sykes used Marshall JCM800 heads cranked for natural tube saturation, delivering that thick, harmonically rich distortion heard on 'Still of the Night.' Vandenberg also relied on Marshalls during his tenure. The key is pushing the preamp hard while keeping the presence and treble controls high enough to retain pick attack and clarity in the upper mids.

Pickups

Sykes' Les Paul Custom used stock Gibson humbuckers, likely a combination of a T-Top or Tim Shaw pickup in the bridge position, delivering moderate-to-hot output with a warm midrange growl and enough top-end bite for solos to cut. The slightly overwound bridge humbucker character is essential for that thick, sustaining lead tone with controlled compression when pushed through a cranked Marshall.

Effects & Chain

Whitesnake's guitar sound is predominantly amp-driven with minimal pedal use. Sykes used a wah pedal (Dunlop Cry Baby) for solo accents and occasional chorus for clean passages like the 'Still of the Night' interlude. A short delay or slapback was sometimes added in the studio for lead depth. Vandenberg used similar setups. The philosophy is classic: guitar straight into a cranked Marshall, letting volume knob rollbacks handle clean tones. Tone comes from the hands, the pickups, and the tubes.

Recommended Gear

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

While John Sykes favored the Les Paul Custom, the Standard delivers the same thick humbucker warmth essential to Whitesnake's classic rock tone. Its slightly lighter weight and traditional specs make it an accessible alternative for achieving that powerful, sustained lead sound through cranked tube amps.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

John Sykes' black 1978 Les Paul Custom with gold hardware is the definitive Whitesnake guitar, its stock Gibson humbuckers producing the warm midrange growl and controlled compression needed for 'Still of the Night' solos. This guitar's thick, harmonically rich character became inseparable from the band's signature hard rock voice.

Ibanez JEM
Guitar

Ibanez JEM

Steve Vai brought the Ibanez JEM 777 and its Floyd Rose tremolo to Whitesnake, enabling expressive solo techniques and pitch-bending flexibility that complemented the band's shredding era. The JEM's bright, articulate character contrasted with traditional Les Paul tones while maintaining cutting power through Marshall stacks.

Marshall JCM800
Amp

Marshall JCM800

The Marshall JCM800 is the sonic foundation of Whitesnake, delivering the thick, tube-driven natural saturation and harmonically rich distortion that defines songs like 'Still of the Night.' Sykes pushed these heads hard in the preamp, maintaining high presence and treble to retain clarity and pick attack in solos.

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah
Pedal

Dunlop Cry Baby Wah

John Sykes used the Dunlop Cry Baby Wah sparingly but effectively for solo accents and expressive passages, adding dynamic color without cluttering Whitesnake's amp-driven aesthetic. This pedal's responsive sweep complemented his Les Paul's warm tone while enhancing the emotional impact of key lead moments.

How to Practice Whitesnake on GuitarZone

Every Whitesnake 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 Is This Love - Guitar LessonPractice Still Of The Night - Intro, Verse & Main Riff - Guitar LessonPractice Here I Go Again - Guitar Tab