Gimme Shelter

How to play Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones on guitar

These are the sounding chords. With a capo on fret 4 you play F, A, D, Am, G, C and more, the shapes the player above shows.

This song is worth learning because it has a tense, driving feel that stays interesting from start to finish. You get a strong, steady groove at about 120 BPM, and the progression gives you a classic rock push that feels powerful once it locks in.

You can lean on the open shapes A and E for some relief, but the barre shapes C#, F#, C#m, B, and Bm do most of the work here. The change to watch is the opening move from A to C# to F# to C#m, since it asks you to shift cleanly between shapes without losing momentum.

Start by practicing that opening progression slowly and evenly until the changes feel automatic. Then add the rest of the chart in short loops, keeping your fretting hand relaxed. When you can move through the barre shapes without hesitation, bring the tempo up little by little until it feels natural.

Use the play-along above to follow each chord change in time with the music, or learn the shapes first with the chord diagrams below.