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Marillion - Sugar Mice - Guitar Solo Tab

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BPM
Key E minor
Marillion - Sugar Mice guitar tab video
Steph Le Gratteux
Steph Le Gratteux Top Contributor
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Amp Settings

Classic Rock

Gain6
Bass6
Mid7
Treble6
Presence5
Master7
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AI-selected preset based on genre and era — adjust the knobs to taste.

Roll back the gain slightly and pick near the neck for a warmer, more open crunch.
Marillion.Cl / En.El.Marquee album cover
Marillion.Cl / En.El.Marquee
2019 5:59
Listen on Spotify
Marillion Progressive Rock 2019 E minor
Capo Advisor 0 E minor · Original key

About Sugar Mice

"Sugar Mice" is one of the more emotionally restrained pieces in the Marillion catalogue, and that restraint is exactly what makes it tricky to play well on guitar. The song sits in E minor at a steady 120 BPM in standard tuning, so the technical demands are not extreme, but the feel demands real control: dynamics, clean picked arpeggios, and sustaining a gentle, melancholic tone throughout. The challenge is resisting the urge to over-play. Chord voicings need to ring cleanly, and any picked figures require a light, consistent touch so the emotional weight of the track comes through. If you are working on the arpeggiated passages, use the Practice Toolbar to loop them slowed down until your picking hand is completely even before bringing it back up to tempo. Progressive Rock guitar often rewards patience over flashiness, and this song is a clear example of that. Focus on tone, phrasing, and letting the spaces breathe.

  • Played in E Standard tuning and rooted in E minor, the song rewards clean open chord voicings and careful attention to how long each note is allowed to ring.
  • At 120 BPM the tempo is moderate, but maintaining an even, controlled picking dynamic throughout is harder than the speed suggests.
  • The main challenge is expressive restraint: keeping picked arpeggios light and consistent rather than reaching for volume or distortion.

How to Play Sugar Mice

Tuning: E Standard · Key: E minor · Tempo: 120 BPM

Use the section loop to isolate a passage, drop the speed below 100%, and set the metronome to 120 BPM to build it up to tempo.

Fender Stratocaster
Guitar

Fender Stratocaster

Steve Rothery's primary instrument for Marillion's classic sound, the Strat delivers the glassy single-coil tone and dynamic range essential to his swelling passages and biting solos on albums like 'Misplaced Childhood.' Its responsive volume knob allows him to transition seamlessly from whisper-soft clean textures to cutting leads.

Gibson Les Paul Standard
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Standard

Rothery deploys the Les Paul's thicker humbucker tone for heavier, more saturated sections within Marillion's progressive arrangements, providing harmonic weight while maintaining the clarity he demands from moderate-output pickups.

Gibson Les Paul Custom
Guitar

Gibson Les Paul Custom

The Custom variant offers Rothery enhanced versatility for darker, weightier tones in Marillion's heavier passages, with its construction supporting the sustained, compressed character needed to cut through dense layered arrangements.

Boss DD-3 Digital Delay
Pedal

Boss DD-3 Digital Delay

Rothery uses this tempo-synced delay to create the shimmering, repeating textures and atmospheric depth that define Marillion's sound, layering it with chorus and reverb for lush, spacious soundscapes.

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