You Can't Always Get What You Want: Authentic Guitar TAB

This collection captures the creative arc of two of rock's greatest songwriters during their most prolific period. The transcriptions preserve the signature guitar work across 21 iconic tracks, from the blues-based rawness of early covers to the sophisticated arrangements of later hits, giving guitarists direct access to the exact voicings and techniques that defined a generation of rock music.

Working through this collection is a masterclass in rock guitar language. Each track reveals different technical and creative approaches: the blues-inflected bends and slides of "Time Is on My Side," the interlocking rhythms of the greatest hits, the textural experiments of deeper cuts. You'll feel the band's evolution unfold across your fretboard.

Intermediate to advanced guitarists who want to understand how The Rolling Stones built their sound through the 1960s and early 1970s. This book serves both students seeking to deepen their knowledge of rock guitar vocabulary and performers preparing these classics for recital or ensemble contexts.

• Study the original recordings alongside the TAB. Hearing Mick Taylor's and Keith Richards' tone choices illuminates nuances of attack, sustain, and expression that notation alone cannot capture.
• Pay close attention to the rhythm guitar patterns, especially on tracks like "Honky Tonk Women" and "Brown Sugar." The syncopation between lead and rhythm parts is essential to nailing the pocket these songs demand.
• Work through the open tunings and alternate tunings used across the album. Songs like "Sympathy for the Devil" and "Paint It, Black" rely on specific tuning choices that dramatically affect tone and playability.
• Prioritize the groove over technical perfection early in your learning. These songs live in their rhythmic feel; lock in the timing before obsessing over note-for-note accuracy.

Program individual tracks from this collection alongside other rock repertoire in recitals, or use them as core material in a rock history unit that explores how songwriting and arrangement techniques developed across a decade. Guitarists can also study complete songs as capstone projects that integrate rhythm playing, lead work, and interpretation skills.

• Blues-based lead phrasing and bending techniques
• Open and alternate tuning systems
• Syncopated rhythm guitar patterns and groove locking
• Chord voicing choices and how they shape tone
• Transcription listening skills and arrangement analysis
• Dynamic control between rhythm and lead passages