Little Red Rooster - Howlin' Wolf / The Rolling Stones - Tutorial + Tab

 


Little Red Rooster is one of the most well known blues songs. The original version is attributed to Willie Dixon but it has been covered by many different artists. In this video I want to have a look at two of the most famous versions by Howlin' Wolf and The Rolling Stones. I will have a look at how to set up your guitar, the structure of the song, and then playthough each of the two versions with the tab on screen, so you can play it yourself. The song is played on a guitar tuned to Open G.

Here is the downloadable tab for the song below:

Little Red Rooster - Howlin' Wolf Version Tab  -    Power Tab - PDF - TXT
Little Red Rooster - Rolling Stones Version Tab  -  Power Tab - PDF - TXT 

Playing Advice

  • Using a Slide - To play either versions of this tune, you will need to use a slide to get that distinctive sound. What type of slide you use is up to you. But I think a full length metal slide works best. It gives a nice raspy sound on the strings like the Howlin' Wolf version. If you aren't sure how to play with a slide, watch my video with an introduction to slide guitar.


 

  • Understanding the Structure - Understanding how the song is structured makes it easier to understand and play. The structure is quite striaghtforward and is based on three chords in the Key of G. G - C and D. The song has a guitar riff which is repeated everytime the G chord is played. The song starts with 4 bars of G i.e. playing the riff. After that, it has a loose 12 bar blues structure. Below is the chord structure used. Once you learn this structure and the underlying riff, you will have mastered the majority of this piece of music.



  • Pick or Not - Most of the music I play is fingerstyle and you have to use your fingers to pluck the strings. However, some of them can be played with a plectrum. This is one piece of music you can play with a plectrum if you wish. I play it with my fingers because that's what I prefer. But if you like using a pick more, it can easily be played with one. It may however give a harsher sound than playig with your fingers.
That's all I want to say about this piece. It is an easy piece of music to play if you can play with a slide. You can also use a plectrum to play it if you prefer as it doesn't require multiple notes to be picked at once. I hope you have fun playing this classic tune.

Thanks for Reading,
Neil

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