Led Zeppelin - Heartbreaker / Living Loving Maid - Guitar Tab

About Heartbreaker / Living Loving Maid

Few riffs in rock are as immediately recognisable as the opening figure of "Heartbreaker": a stop-time groove in A major where Jimmy Page locks in with John Bonham before unleashing one of the most celebrated unaccompanied guitar solos ever committed to tape. That solo is the real challenge here. Page shifts between bluesy bends, rapid pull-offs, and stuttering alternate-picked runs, often with a loose, slightly behind-the-beat feel that resists being drilled mechanically. Getting those pull-offs clean at speed without tensing up takes patience, so use the Practice Toolbar to isolate the passage and loop it slowed down until the fingering feels natural before pushing the tempo. The transition into "Living Loving Maid" is seamless on the record, so many guitarists learn both together, which means tracking the riff shift and the slightly different rhythmic pocket. Led Zeppelin recorded "Heartbreaker" live in the studio during a North American tour, and that energy comes through in how free the arrangement feels, so let the groove breathe rather than locking it too rigidly to a click.

• The centrepiece of "Heartbreaker" is an unaccompanied guitar solo where Page moves through pull-offs, hammer-ons, and picked runs with no backing band.
• The song is in A major, and the main riff relies on a stop-time feel that requires tight muting and precise timing between guitar and rhythm.
• "Living Loving Maid" follows immediately on the record, so practising both riffs back to back helps you match the energy shift between the two grooves.