No Expectations: Guitar TAB

This collection captures Keith Richards' most iconic guitar work in accurate, playable arrangements that respect both the original parts and the realities of learning them. Rather than simplified versions or generic approximations, each arrangement preserves the fingerings and tunings Richards used, giving students direct insight into how one of rock's greatest guitarists approaches the instrument.

Raw, rhythmic, and blues-soaked. These arrangements capture the swagger and precision that made The Rolling Stones a cornerstone of rock and roll. You'll feel the interplay between rhythm and melody, the power of a well-placed riff, and the way electric guitar can be both a harmonic anchor and a lead voice.

Intermediate guitarists who want to move beyond simplified tabs and learn the actual parts as recorded. This collection works equally well for rock-focused students building performance repertoire and for players interested in how great songwriters construct guitar-driven arrangements.

• Pay attention to the tuning notations at the start of each song. Several tracks use alternate tunings that are central to their sound; tuning to standard pitch alone will change the character considerably.
• Work through the rhythm parts before focusing on any lead lines or fills. The driving quality of these Stones arrangements depends on locking the pulse and groove first.
• Reference the original recordings while learning. The TAB captures what Richards played, but hearing the tempo, tone, and phrasing in context helps you understand why these fingerings and positions were chosen.
• Watch for dynamics and articulation markings. The difference between a palm-muted section and an open, ringing part is often what makes a Stones riff instantly recognizable.

Feature individual Stones songs in rock ensemble or solo performance contexts, or use selections from this book as part of a broader unit on rock songwriting and guitar idiom. The variety of tempos, styles, and moods across these 20 hits makes it easy to select pieces for different rehearsal or recital settings throughout the school year.

• Reading full notation and TAB in parallel
• Playing in alternate tunings (open G, open D, and others used in the arrangements)
• Executing palm-muted rhythms and percussive articulation on electric guitar
• Understanding how riffs function as both compositional hooks and structural anchors
• Matching fingerings and positions to recorded references for authentic tone and phrasing
• Navigating chord-to-riff relationships in blues-based rock harmonic structures