Arctic Monkeys - Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High? - Guitar Lesson

About Why'd You Only Call Me When You're High?

That late-night, languid feel starts with the guitar: a sparse, repeating single-note figure in B minor that sits right in the pocket at 120 BPM without ever rushing. The trick is restraint. Arctic Monkeys strip things back to a bare, almost skeletal groove, so every note you play needs to land with purpose rather than being buried in strumming. The Alternative Rock side of the band is very much on display here, but the guitar part draws just as much from a cool, minimal indie feel, so getting the tone clean and dry will serve you well. E Standard tuning keeps it straightforward, but the challenge is nailing the rhythmic placement and the laid-back attitude behind the notes rather than any physical difficulty. Use the Practice Toolbar to loop the main riff slowed down until that behind-the-beat feel becomes natural in your picking hand, then gradually bring it back up to tempo.

• The song sits at 120 BPM in E Standard tuning, and the main guitar figure is in B minor, giving it a cool, understated nocturnal feel.
• The guitar part is intentionally sparse, so focus on rhythmic precision and a relaxed picking attack rather than complex fretting-hand technique.
• A clean, dry guitar tone suits this track well, since heavy effects would clash with the minimal, late-night atmosphere of the arrangement.