Under My Thumb: Lead Sheet

This collection captures the Stones' formative years in one comprehensive reference that treats rock music with the same scholarly rigor as any classical songbook. The inclusion of fundamental instrumental riffs and 29 transcribed guitar solos grounds each tune in its actual recorded arrangement, making this far more useful than a generic lead sheet collection. For guitarists and bandleaders building rock repertoire literacy, this book is an essential tool that honors both the musicianship and the cultural impact of these songs.

These songs pulse with the swagger and urgency of early rock and roll, from the stripped-down energy of blues covers to the layered psychedelia that emerged by 1971. Opening this book feels like stepping into a master class on how simple blues forms transformed into sophisticated pop arrangements while maintaining an edge and attitude that defined an era.

This book serves guitarists and multi-instrumentalists who want to understand rock music at a deeper level than casual chord charts provide. It is equally valuable for band directors and music educators designing curricula around rock history, rock composition, or the development of popular music in the twentieth century.

• Study the included guitar TAB section alongside the lead sheets to internalize the signature riffs and solos that define each song. These transcriptions are not ornamental; they are the sonic identity of the arrangements.
• Use the instrumental figures notated on the lead sheets as a roadmap for comping and solo space. The Stones' recordings rarely follow simple chord progressions, and these notations clarify the actual harmonic movement.
• Reference the full-color discography to locate studio recordings of unfamiliar songs. Hearing the original arrangement before performing gives you essential context for tempo, groove, and instrumentation.
• Pay attention to the early blues covers in the collection. Understanding how the Stones interpreted Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly reveals their foundational influences and offers valuable lessons in arrangement and reharmonization.

Use individual songs from this collection as performance pieces in rock or contemporary music ensembles, selecting from the chronological range to show stylistic evolution. Alternatively, assign lead sheets from this book as transcription study or as the foundation for student arrangements in composition courses exploring how popular music is structured and deconstructed.

• Reading and interpreting lead sheets with instrumental riffs and solos notated
• Understanding blues-based chord progressions and their variations across rock arrangements
• Analyzing how guitar riffs and harmonic figures drive song identity and arrangement choices
• Studying rhythm section interplay through transcribed performances from studio recordings
• Applying TAB notation alongside standard notation for practical performance preparation