The Rolling Stones - Paint It, Black

How to play The Rolling Stones - Paint It, Black by ABKCO on guitar

This song is a great one to learn because the riff-driven feel makes even a simple part sound dramatic and recognizable. At about 120 BPM, it sits in a steady groove that feels tense and driving, so you get a lot of impact without needing a lot of chord changes.

You’ll use a mix of open shapes and barre shapes, so the main challenge is switching cleanly between the easier chords and the harder grips. The opening progression, A# - Fm - A# - C#m, is the change to watch closely, since it asks you to move between barre shapes with little time to relax.

Start by practicing the opening progression slowly and making each change feel smooth. Then loop the barre shapes on their own, add the open shapes, and only after that bring everything together at full tempo. Once the moves feel automatic, you can focus on keeping the pulse steady and the part tight.

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.